Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/882975
O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 www.resourceworld.com 9 the risks are different than an acquisition with a reserve or a feasibility study. Does it have the size potential we need and is it in a country we think is safe for our people? Is it somewhere where we can raise money to go and explore and build a mine when we look at development-stage acquisitions? Our due diligence won't con- sider anything that requires a higher gold price or exploration success to justify the price. That sounds like an obvious business strategy but you'd be amazed at how many people haven't done that! It is one of the reasons for our success. That discipline and exhaustive due diligence combined with successful financings and our highly-expe- rienced construction and operating teams, is how we went from zero production 10 years ago to coming up close to a million ounces a year in the next couple of months. RW: Why have you focused on rela- tively high risk regions of the world rather than, say, Nevada or Quebec? CJ: Some of the best opportunities aren't always in the easiest areas because they've been explored for a long time or for us the price is too high. So for us, we are prepared and capable of going far afield because that's where we saw the best opportunities. We always said let's not limit ourselves geographically, let's go after the best projects. That's why with Bema Gold and B2Gold we ended up in Colombia, Chile, Russia, Africa, Nicaragua, Namibia and the Philippines. RW: Mining executives tell me how important it is to have in-country knowl- edge? How do you address this being based in Vancouver with projects scattered around the world? CJ: I think the key to succeeding in other parts of the world is having strong teams in those countries and an experi- enced executive team that is open minded. You need to empower these people in those countries and make them a part of your family and corporate culture. Many of us here in Vancouver have been together for 20, 30 years – exploration, engineering, financing, construction and production – all facets of the business done inter- nally. That group is supportive of our various mines but it works both ways. Management at our mines is critical to the success of our operations. You need a cor- porate culture that respects people in other countries and go there without too many preconceived notions. RW: There's been some civil disrup- tion in Mali by jihadists and the United Nation's Stabilization Mission had to go in there. Have you had to deal with civil strife affecting your mining projects? CJ: No, we haven't. The location of our Fekola Mine is about 1,800 km from Timbuktu which is up in the northeast where there have been violent clashes. There are several mines in the Mali belt in the south, where Fekola is located, and none of the mines have had any disrup- tions. Now that doesn't mean we don't take precautions. We have significant security to ensure the safety of our people. There's a lot of communication with the government and other mining companies. Everyone is sharing information to maintain a safe environment. RW: Is the Fekola Project still ahead of schedule? CJ: The Fekola Project is three months ahead of schedule. Originally it was 27 months to build the mine. We're now