At the rarefied elevation of 4,000 metres above sea level, you learn to adjust physiologically. You regularly take extra gulps of air to compensate for that occasional, uncomfortable breathless feeling. You move slower, more deliberately. (You do not want to faint in a heap at your host’s feet.) If you’re offered an oxygen bottle in your room at night, don’t worry about your macho image. Say yes and toddle off to your room, the bottle, like a teddy bear, tucked reassuringly under your arm. These simple precautions I learned to take at El Indio, a high-altitude mine in Chile owned by LAC Minerals, the focus of this month’s coverage. But adapting to an oxygen-deficient atmosphere was only part of my week-long acclimatization to Chile.
Early on, it was apparent this country is eager to develop its mineral resources. During a mine opening, I was told by a lawyer from the government’s Foreign Investment Committee that not one project out of more than 400 applications from foreign companies (not all mining related) had been turned down by his committee. Not one. In addition, Codelco, the big government-run copper company has been authorized to seek private-sector partners, domestic and foreign, to evaluate and develop roughly 25% of known mineable mineral deposits. In a phrase, Chile is open for business.
LAC has been aware of that for some time. More than four years ago it negotiated an innovative debt-equity swap that gave it the Toqui zinc mine, south of Santiago. I wasn’t able to make a trip to Toqui, but I was fortunate in touring LAC’s El Indio gold/copper complex high in the Andes. You’ll find a full report on the operation in this issue.
You can also delve into the colorful history of the company in an interview with Peter Allen, Chief Executive Officer and President. As well, we interviewed Gerry Gauthier, senior vice-president, North American operations; Craig Nelsen, senior vice-president, exploration; Phillip Walford, vice-president and chief geologist; and Gordon Maw, senior vice-president and chief financial officer. The interview with Maw focuses on LAC’s gold hedging strategy. The company was an innovator in this field as far back as the late 1970s, a time when most Canadian gold miners viewed hedging as a speculative strategy.
Call LAC a peak performer.
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