PROFILE Goldbelt’s Muzylowski turns vision into ore

The Galore Creek area, part of the Golden Triangle in northwestern British Columbia, is teeming with geologists hunting for precious metal and polymetallic deposits. Among the active players is Goldbelt Mines, which has various interests in half a million acres of land, directly and indirectly, in the area. Chairman Mike Muzylowski, 55, believes his company will soon make significant discoveries. Muzylowski’s involvement in the Galore Creek area dates back to the mid-1950s when Hudson Bay Exploration and Development discovered the Galore Creek deposit. He stayed with the company for 15 years before joining Granges Exploration Aktiebolag, a Finnish company.

During his term as general manager, 1970-84, Granges grew from a vision to a privately owned firm and then to a noteworthy exploration company within five years. In January, 1976, it discovered the polymetallic Trout Lake mine, near Flin Flon, Man., with which Muzylowski is often identified.

Eight years later, he co- founded Granges Exploration Ltd., a leverage buyout from the parent company, with Douglas McRae. In 1989, Granges’ exploration expenditures exceeded $14.5 million annually, and production reached 100,000 oz. gold.

For his performance at Granges, Muzylowski was given the 1988 Developer’s award by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada last year. In late 1989, he retired from the company as it had reached maturity, says Muzylowski. He, who wanted to start anew, fostering another fledgling company, became the chairman of Goldbelt last November.

Muzylowski was surprised at his own choice of career. He 0000,0600 was born on a farm in Oakburn, Man., and never saw a mine as a youth. “When I registered at the University of Manitoba, I took geology,” he says in an interview with The Northern Miner. “That was the only subject on their list that I had never heard of before and I was curious enough to try to find out what it meant.”

His four children cherish their father’s choice. His wife, Lesia, has toured open pit and underground mines with him.

Will the conflict at the Persian Gulf have an impact on the mining industry? Muzylowski says: “Gold is a stabilising factor in the global economy, a hedge for people with money. Gold mining will benefit from the crisis, but for the wrong reason.”

Base metals, however, will not fare well, he adds. Even if the demand for strategic metals increase, there will be “freezes” of prices, similar to the measures imposed by governments during the Second World War.