Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1211970
S pring 2020 29 PROFILE PHOTOS: COURTESY MICHAEL GRAY An Analytical Mindset M ichael Gray recalls one of his first site visits as a mining analyst. It was mid-2005 and Virginia Gold was pulling high- grade gold over significant widths from the Éléonore project in the James Bay region of Quebec. When he examined the drill core, Gray recognized that the deposit's replacement style gold mineralization characterized by k-feldspar and tourmaline alteration placed Éléonore in the Hemlo family of deposits with the potential for a multimillion-ounce resource. Bravely bucking analyst consensus of $7 to $9 per share, he issued a buy recommendation for Virginia Gold with a target of $13.65 per share on behalf of investment dealer PI Financial. Shortly thereafter, Goldcorp purchased Virginia for about $500 million or $13 per share (including the value of the spinoff company, Virginia Mines). Éléonore is now producing more than 350,000 ounces of gold per year for Newmont Goldcorp over a 10-year projected mine life. This ability to recognize high-quality deposits during the exploration stage is what makes Gray, 58, one of the top small-cap mining equity research analysts in Canada. The former head of Canadian mining equity research for Australia's Macquarie Group is currently using his skills as a partner at Vancouver-based Agentis Capital to ferret out projects that stand a good chance of becoming mines. His main criteria for determining what makes a tier one deposit are: a system footprint large enough to support a 15-year mine life; a grade potential high enough to put the deposit in the lower half of the cost A sharp eye and financial acumen allows Michael Gray to identify winners By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN Working as an equity analyst, Gray is an expert at finding exploration properties that will become profitable, long-lived mines. AM