Plato guided by entrepreneurial spirit (October 10, 2005)

Anthony Cohen might be president and chief executive of Plato Gold (PGC-V), but a look at his journey through the business world marks him first and foremost as an entrepreneur.

Originally in the real-estate game, Cohen’s enterprising spirit led him toward new possibilities when his business, CEYX Properties, got mired in the doldrums of the late ’80s downturn.

“I thought: ‘here I am in the world centre for mining finance,'” says Cohen, who is based in Toronto. “Ontario has fantastic potential for gold.”

The realization led him to take an organized tour of some gold mining operations in the Timmins area. During the tour, he noticed a mining veteran who was asking tough questions, but seemed to have the respect of everyone there. The man was Harold “Buzz” Neal; a man so steeped in Canada’s mining history that a lake near the iron deposits of Labrador City — where Neal worked for 15 years — is named after his wife.

Cohen started a conversation with Neal and learned Neal had property in the area he wanted to sell.

A deal was struck between them in 1996 whereby Cohen acquired the four properties that currently make up Plato’s portfolio. A condition of the agreement was that Neal join the board of the new company.

Plato holds a 100% interest in the holdings that cover roughly 2.2 sq. km, all situated on, or adjacent to, recognized branches of the Destor-Porcupine fault. Plato, however, is focusing its drilling on just two of those properties–Marriott and Guibord.

Drilling on the first part of a 5,000-metre drill program at Guibord began in September and drilling at Marriott will follow shortly.

Cohen said phase one of the exploration program for Marriott and Guibord will be completed by the end of the year. At Guibord, 14 holes will be drilled, while 13 are scheduled for Marriott.

One analyst described Marriott and Guibord as “small, but interesting explorations.” The analyst referred to the properties’ proximity to larger gold producers Newmont Mining (NMC-T, NEM-N) and Northgate Minerals (NGX-T, NXG-X) as a “good thing.”

Previous drilling at Marriott returned 0.41 gram gold per tonne over 9.5 metres with an intersection of 2.47 grams per ton over 1 metre.

Previous drilling at Guibord returned 0.59 gram gold per tonne over 30.5 metres with an intersect of 47 grams per tonne over 0.91 metre.

Cohen said that Plato will spend the full $1.6 million it raised in flow-through funds, and that, “if gold goes to US$500 an ounce and there is huge demand, we’ll be flexible (about drilling on the other two properties).”

The businessman in Cohen couldn’t resist making some predictions on the likelihood of gold hitting that elusive US$500 level.

He pointed to rising demand and falling production rates resulting from the fact that it takes 5 to 7 years to go from exploration to production as reasons for optimism.

“We’re in a secular bull market that will last for a long time,” Cohen says. “As far as the mining sector’s concerned, we’re in for some good years.”

With a 33% stake in Plato, (in total, management holds roughly 38% of the shares), Cohen has a lot riding on that future.

But being an entrepreneur, Cohen knows how to take advantage of other bull markets.

“I wear a couple of hats,” Cohen said of his position as president and chief executive of Gulf & Pacific Equities (GUF-V), a real-estate company. “Business is business. Any business has a cycle and you have to figure out where you are — whether you’re in a bubble or bear market. You have to have staying power.”