Having spent time with Frank and Sasha last week, I am recalling some conversations I had with them.
One of interest is in relation to them spending time in Sainte-Justine and the Beauce. I think a huge part of developing a prospective gold mine is support of the government, environment, First Nations (if there are any), and support of the community.
Given that GNH is part of a developed area with infratstructure, albeit an economically depressed one - support of the locals is going to be a factor, regardless how how mining friendly the Provincial Govt is..
I always like to relate stories to real life experiences. My best investment in my life so far was the first wind farm in Ontario, called AIM Powergen. I was the last investor on the first share offering as a friend of mine was the founder. Similar to GNH, it seemed to good to be true. My buddy/founder was responsible for getting all of the landowners onside...and from his recount, he was whisked off many a porch in the early days and maybe was threatened a dozen or so times. But he kept at it, and got to know the people by name, and befriended some, which turned into many, which eventually became all.
Frank was telling me about how things are in the Beauce. They sound exactly like the area where the wind farm was built. Low economic developement. A small community. A tight community. As a polished Montreal'er I'm quite sure Frank would stick out from the locals. He says it's the most amazing thing that as he stays by the site quite often and frequents the gym and local establishments he is becoming locally known as 'the gold guy', and its a good thing. And how it as been interesting for him to witness the postive energy slowly building and the buzz around town about the prospects for the community. He has engaged a number of community meetings and has become a prescence in the area and has not been shy about getting involved with the local people.
Anyways...just a fun story to share and for some, this kind of information doesn't mean much. For me though, I think this an indication of how the company is doing the right thing by getting involved with the community. Community relations is a very powerful tool as I have seen through both my windmill investment and my Noront investment (let's hope they are working through that) and that this project is probably no differrent. As aside, they have been using the local workforce to carry out the exploration.
Also, I had a 20 minute chat with The Hoov yesterday to talk about the Geochem. I know that he spent 2 hours in a presentation with the developer of this tool, Dale Sutherland at the PDAC. My question to Hoov was simple - after the presentation, was he a believer?
Well, hopefully Hoov will respond to this at some point but lately the poor guy is also being spread thinner than mayonaisse on Kate Moss's sandwich. In short, he is a great believer in the science and finds it fascinating, and potentially revolutionary (or were those my words?) and his favourite way of describing it is that this process allows you to 'Smell the Gold'. It doesn't tell you how much, but it definitely tells you where. "Where there's smoke there's fire'. There are some strong signals, particularly on the latest map.
Glad some people had a chance to talk to Tilsley by the way, and report it here. Let's face it, it's his experience we are relying on. My two pints before that meeting were enough to take me off his playing field. I do remember him telling me that it's because of this property that he isn't retired and playing golf in Florida. Of course, I then immediately asked him what his handicap to find out if he is a shooter on the golf course. I don't think he'll be on the tour anytime soon but I also don't think I'd bet him either. Those geologists know the lay of the land.
B
