Golden Triangle McLeod’s home base

Projects in the Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia have upstaged star performers in other provinces to become Canada’s hottest plays this summer. Among them is Newhawk Gold Mines’ Sulphurets property. Newhawk is one of the six Northair group companies, whose president is Donald McLeod, 62. McLeod was born and raised in Stewart, B.C., a mining community, where his father owned the King Edward Hotel. The town fostered in the boy an interest in mining. Since the late 1940s, McLeod has been involved in the industry, working across Canada from miner’s helper to foreman, superintendent and resident manager.

A self-made man, McLeod is best known for bringing Northair’s Brandywine gold mine to production in 1976 with an $8-million bank loan. It was the first independent gold mine in British Columbia to attain production in more than half a century. The loan was repaid in 1978 and the mine generated more than $70 million in revenue within six years of operations.

Over the past two decades, McLeod raised almost $100 million in exploration and development funding. He received the Proficiency Medal from the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1987, and the Edgar A. Scholz Award from the British Columbia & Yukon Chamber of Mines a year later.

“With my husband’s involve0000,0600 ment, mining has become a significant part of my life,” says McLeod’s wife, Christa. Their son is a professional mining engineer, and their daughter is a stock broker, specializing in junior mining issues.

Despite signs of economic doldrums, McLeod remains optimistic. “The economy in British Columbia as yet shows no significant signs of a major slowdown,” he says in an interview with The Northern Miner. “Our main commodity is gold, which has historically performed very well in times of economic difficulty.”

McLeod, however, urges the government to provide fair legislation so that miners can develop orebodies on a timely basis. He regrets mining companies have to clean up non-toxic waters that are laced with minor traces of metals. “The government should worry more about the sewage discharged into the Fraser River,” he says.

With Eskay Creek and the Golden Triangle at centre stage of the industry, McLeod predicts mining companies will follow Corona’s lead to transfer their capital to British Columbia from Ontario. “Money follows success,” he says. “Where the orebodies are, the money will go.”