Editor’s picks: Best TNM Podcast episodes of 2018

It’s been a year of growth and exclusive interviews for The Northern Miner Podcast as we passed several milestones: celebrating our 100th episode in mid-year; growing to 5,000 to 8,000 listens per month with listeners from around the world; approaching 150,000 total listens since inception; bringing on board new sponsors; and relocating the podcast to our Toronto studio with a new set of hosts.

The winner for most “listens”, “likes” and downloads in 2018 is Episode 102: Gold’s superior investment prospects ft Ross Beaty  while the all-time most popular Northern Miner Podcast remains Episode 70: The unabridged Robert Friedland session in London from late 2017.

The following are the best Northern Miner Podcast episodes of 2018, as selected by editor-in-chief John Cumming, in chronological order:

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Episode 98: Peter Munk retrospective – A life lived in full

In this episode Northern Miner editor-in-chief John Cumming and senior staff writer Trish Saywell take a look back at the remarkable life and career of Barrick Gold founder Peter Munk, who died on March 28.

From humble origins as a immigrant to Canada, Munk’s business savvy shone bright through a series of ventures that ranged from consumer electronics and South Pacific resorts to gold mining and real estate.

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Episode 101: The outlook for gold, the royalty model & past glories ft Pierre Lassonde

We travel to the heart of London to bring you this week’s episode featuring an in-depth interview by Northern Miner publisher Anthony Vaccaro with Franco-Nevada chairman and Canadian Mining Hall of Fame inductee Pierre Lassonde.

The interview is recorded live at The Northern Miner’s Canadian Mining Symposium held in late April at Canada House at Trafalgar Square.

Pierre touches on a few stories from his youth; recounts how he and business partner Seymour Schulich bought the fateful royalty on Barrick Gold’s Goldstrike property; assesses Franco’s current royalty model; and gives his outlook for gold in the years ahead.

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Episode 102: Gold’s superior investment prospects ft Ross Beaty

Still podcasting from the heart of London, we feature in episode 102 an exclusive interview by CopperBank Resources executive chairman and CEO Gianni Kovacevic with the iconic mining entrepreneur Ross Beaty, chairman of Pan American Silver and Equinox Gold, and Canadian Mining Hall of Fame inductee.

The interview is recorded live at The Northern Miner‘s Canadian Mining Symposium held in late April at Canada House at Trafalgar Square.

Despite his many years involved with silver and copper projects, Ross reveals himself here to be keenest on gold’s prospects, saying “I love gold right now … I’m buying lots of gold … I’m fired up about it … it’s my principal focus.”

He also touches on copper being the ultimate “energy metal” and has some choice words to say about what he perceives as hypocrisy amongst some environmentalists.

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Episode 105: Cobalt & lithium ft Milewski, Bourassa, Goad, Gordon and Hooper

Cobalt, lithium and other battery minerals are the focus of this week’s episode.

First we interview Cobalt 27 Capital’s chairman and CEO Anthony Milewski and delve into the latest cobalt news.

Follow Anthony Milewski on Twitter at twitter.com/A_Milewski. Download Cobalt 27 Capital’s latest corporate presentation explaining cobalt usage in electric vehicles at co27.com/investors/presentation/

Then we move to a panel discussion at the Northern Miner’s Canadian Mining Symposium in London with Nemaska Lithium president and CEO Guy Bourassa, Fortune Minerals president and CEO Robin Goad, CRU Consulting’s head of technology metals and energy Rebecca Gordon, and Cobalt Blockchain president and COO Lance Hooper.

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Episode 112: Gren and Eira Thomas – feature interview with two icons of Canadian diamond mining

Recorded live at The Northern Miner‘s inaugural Diamonds in Canada Symposium in Toronto in June 2018, this episode features in-depth “fireside” chats with two Canadian diamond mining icons: Canadian Mining Hall of Fame inductee and Diavik co-discoverer Grenville Thomas and his daughter Eira Thomas, president and CEO of Lucara Diamond.

Gren tells about how he got into mining, shares the excitement of the Diavik discovery, and gives his views on the current state of Canadian diamond exploration.

Eira offers her own perspective of the Diavik discovery and updates on us Lucara’s efforts to recover mega-size diamonds. She also discusses Lucara’s new interest in M&A, and its intention to shake up the diamond selling system via a new acquisition named Clara Diamond Solutions Corporation.

Alisha Hiyate, editor of Diamonds in Canada magazine and editor-in-chief of Canadian Mining Journal, is the interviewer.

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Episode 116: Graphite – the forgotten battery mineral ft Gregory Bowes

This episode takes a look at the junior graphite market, which is awakening from a five-year slumber as demand for graphite in the electric vehicle and grid storage sectors begins to take off.

Our feature interview is with Gregory Bowes, CEO of Ottawa-based graphite developer Northern Graphite (TSXV: NGC; US-OTC: NGPHF), who gives an overview of graphite prices and the latest global supply and demand trends, plus an update on his firm’s advanced Bissett Creek graphite project in Ontario.

Northern Miner editor-in-chief John Cumming also gives a roundup of junior graphite plays around the world.

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Episode 117: Love me or hate me – The Margaret Kent (Peggy Witte) story, part 1

“There’s a few of us still left around the industry who have seen it all and done it all.”

So begins this exclusive, in-depth interview with Stratabound Minerals chairman Margaret “Peggy” Kent, carried out by Northern Miner senior staff writer Trish Saywell on the sidelines of the PDAC convention in Toronto earlier this year.

In Part 1 of the interview, Peggy reflects on some of the wisdom she’s gained from her long and controversial run as a mining executive, particularly as CEO of Royal Oak Mines (when she was named Peggy Witte) including major problems at the Giant mine in Yellowknife, N.W.T., and the gold major’s devastating bankruptcy in the mid-1990s.

She also talks about the Yukon today and her latest venture Stratabound Minerals, with its grassroots gold property in the territory.

Listen to Parts 2 and 3 here:

Episode 118: Love me or hate me – The Margaret Kent (Peggy Witte) story, part 2

Episode 119: Love me or hate me – The Margaret Kent (Peggy Witte) story, part 3

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Episode 120: The Placer Dome legacy ft Nean Allman

In this episode we welcome into the Toronto studio author, geologist and communications professional Nean Allman to talk about her newly published coffee table book “A history: Placer Development Limited and Placer Dome Inc.”

Nean and Northern Miner editor-in-chief John Cumming explore the rich legacy of the Vancouver-based major that grew to become one of the world’s largest gold mining companies before its takeover by Barrick Gold a decade ago. Nean shares stories that include Placer Dome’s exotic origins and its connection to U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart and her final flight in the South Pacific.

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Episode 121: Where to next for gold? Featuring Cohen, Foster, Groh at Precious Metals Summit

In this episode, staff writer Richard Quarisa interviews three mining portfolio managers at this year’s Precious Metals Summit in beautiful Beaver Creek, Colorado, in late September as all three share their takes on the future for the gold market plus a few of their favourite picks among the precious metals juniors.

In order of appearance, Richard speaks with Doug Groh, portfolio manager at Tocqueville Asset Management; Robert Cohen, vice-president and portfolio manager at Dynamic Funds; and Joe Foster, portfolio manager at Van Eck Associates.

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Episode 123: Sean Boyd and Agnico Eagle’s ‘Culture of the Heart’

This episode features Agnico Eagle Mines vice-chair and CEO Sean Boyd in a “fireside” chat with Northern Miner publisher Anthony Vaccaro. The in-depth interview was recorded live on-stage at The Northern Miner‘s Progressive Mine Forum held at the MaRS Discovery District in downtown Toronto in October 2018.

Sean and Anthony cover a wide range of topics, including: innovation at Agnico’s Goldex and LaRonde gold mines in Quebec; what it was like to follow in the footsteps of Agnico founder Paul Penna; how to foster prudent succession and internal promotions; and Agnico’s emerging Nunavut operational platform.

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Episode 125: ‘Strive to Build’ – in conversation with Rob McEwen, part 1

This special episode features Rob McEwen, chairman and chief owner of McEwen Mining, in a freewheeling conversation with Northern Miner publisher Anthony Vaccaro, recorded live on the sidelines of Cambridge House’s Silver & Gold Summit in San Francisco in late October 2018.

Rob and Anthony cover a wide variety of topics, including: gauging management’s commitment to a company; the history of inflation, interest rates and gold prices; cryptocurrencies; new money entering the mining market; and Rob’s temptation to run for political office.

Listen to Part 2 here:

Episode 126: ‘Breaking Models’ – in conversation with Rob McEwen, part 2

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Episode 127: The year of the lab-created diamond ft Paul Zimnisky

This episode features an in-depth interview with independent diamond analyst and consultant Paul Zimnisky on the rise this year of laboratory-created diamonds and their effect on the retail diamond market as well as the prospects of traditional miners of natural diamonds.

In the interview, Paul and Northern Miner editor-in-chief John Cumming also take a look at some of Paul’s stock-market investments in the diamond-mining sector including Mountain Province Diamonds.