Mining some tales with… Scott Berdahl 

Every month, The Northern Miner gets to know a different executive in the mining industry by asking them about everything — except mining.

This month it’s Scott Berdahl, co-founder & CEO of Snowline Gold in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Q: What was your first job?
A: Prospecting. My dad, Ron Berdahl, is a prospector and would take my brother and me on long trips into the Yukon bush when we were kids. I don’t think my first paid trip came until I was maybe 12 or 13, but in thinking about taking a five-year-old out into the bush as an assistant, I guess I did well in not being invoiced for my “help” at that age. 

Q: If you weren’t in mining, where would you be?
A: I’d still be in the Yukon, in some other industry. I was actually preparing to launch a tourism business prior to COVID, after years of failed attempts to advance the projects that ultimately became Snowline. Dr. Craig Hart—an accomplished mineral systems geologist with deep roots in the territory— cornered me at Yukon Geoscience that year and tried to talk me out of it, bemoaning the paucity of younger people entering and staying in the mining industry. A year later, I flipped the conversation back on him, asking for his support in a new exploration venture. Happily, he agreed, and he is now chair of the board for Snowline. 

Q: What is the most used app on your phone?
A: The web, along with texts and email related to work. While technology brings huge advantages, I think I’d have been happier running an exploration company back in the paper days. Fortunately, Snowline’s team still values and gets value from collaborating over big paper maps and sections, and at the same time today’s technology allows us to operate in ways we couldn’t have even just a few years ago. 

Q: What’s your favourite reading?
A: Science fiction, alongside almost everything else. Ted Chiang has some incredible stuff. 

Q: What do you drive?
A 1992 Toyota pickup. I don’t know why Toyota didn’t just stick to this design once they nailed it. Though they could have made the body more resistant to rust, to keep up with the longevity of the engine. I’ve been told the Snowline “executive shuttle” could use some attention. 

Q: Favourite band?
A: It varies by the day. Paul Simon has been getting a lot of airtime lately. 

Q: Marvel or Woody Allen? 
A: Coen Brothers. 

Q: Window or aisle seat?
A: Window. In clear weather, I land with a crick in my neck from looking non-stop at the landscapes below—it’s an incredible view on real world geography, geology and geomorphology. One-hundred and fifty years ago, people might have trained their whole lives just to get that kind of an experience, like astronaut candidates do today. But now, for the price of a plane ticket, you can just show up. Though for the window seat it helps not to go too heavy on the coffee. 

Q: Favourite sports team?
A: My beer league hockey team. 

Q: What’s your kryptonite?
A: Attitudes of entitlement. Though I am probably guilty of these myself in various contexts. 

Q: What are you really into these days?
A: Two-year-old stuff. Dinosaurs, airplanes, and planets. 

Q: What are you avoiding?
A: Two-year-old stuff.

Q: What’s your biggest fear?
A: My two-year-old gaining full access to our fridge. Once he’s inside the swing radius of that door, it’s a stark choice between a happy kid and a kitchen that doesn’t look like it’s been taken out by a hurricane. 

Q: Who is your mentor, guide or guru?
A: Beyond my parents, there are many in the industry that serve as role models and guides. Reaching out, I’ve found a diverse cast of people across the industry who all are incredibly generous with their time and with hard-earned advice. To name just a few: David Caulfield, Sue Craig, Michael Gunning, Quinton Hennigh, Michael Gray, Darin Wagner, Keith Neumeyer, Mike Power, and Katherine Macdonald. Not to mention Snowline’s entire board. 

And don’t tell the team within Snowline, but basically anyone I hired is there because they know a heck of a lot more about something (usually many things, sometimes most things) than I do. I’ve learned a lot in working with them, and with the much larger team that has come together around them. 

Q: What have you learned along the way?
A: Luck takes work. 

Q: What’s your next task? 
A: Building more value through Snowline – both for our shareholders and for the Yukon. We have the dual goals of continuing to explore what we’ve shown to be a fertile and target-rich 3,000-sq.-km claim position and advancing our Valley gold discovery on our flagship Rogue project.