BCBusiness

April 2020 – Women of the Year

With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.

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APRIL 2020 BCBUSINESS 47 early on. And then it's just been a wait." Newcrest saw strong similarities be- tween the mining landscape in the Golden Triangle and at Cadia, one of its sites in New South Wales, Australia (which, in 2019, pro- duced 913,000 ounces of gold). "It's one of those districts that, we believe, will lead to multiple discoveries—and, in the future, multiple mines," MacCorquodale said. Similar hope in the Golden Triangle is held by Vancouver-based Pretium Resources, a company started by mining legend (and ex–Silver Standard Resources CEO) Robert Quartermain. Quartermain and a team of investors purchased a 90,000-hectare land package from Silver Standard (now SSR Mining) in 2010, but the prize for Quartermain was always Brucejack: a 3,050-hectare project with four mining leases, over six mineral claims and total gold reserves (proven and probable) of 6.4 million ounces. For Pretium, the payoff at Brucejack came almost immediately. After going into commercial production mid-2017, the company generated some 376,000 ounces of gold the following year and pumped out more than 354,000 ounces in 2019. And Pretium has managed to be cash-f low positive (on an operating level) in every quarter since production began—a rarity in the industry—delivering over $400 mil- lion in cumulative cash flow between Q3 2017 and Q3 2019. But for Pretium's senior leadership team, the draw of Brucejack has always been about more than its financial merits. It's about the thrill of being at the centre of something big. "There's always been a kind of excite- ment around the potential in the Golden Triangle," says Michelle Romero, Preti- um's executive vice-president, corporate affairs and sustainability, who followed Quartermain over from Silver Standard in 2011."You've always seen exploration on the ground happening there, but over the past 10 years, you've seen more excitement because of the developing infrastructure. And the communities up there welcome the development; there's a lot more enthu- siasm and anticipation, including for a higher quality of living." The Brucejack mine has an expected lifespan of 14 years, carrying it to 2031, but Pretium thinks it's only scratched the surface of the area's potential. (In the wake of the Newcrest–Red Chris deal, Pretium is regularly mentioned in the financial press as a potential takeover target.) A key consideration in the Golden Tri- angle, when talking about communities, are the area's Indigenous populations. Red Chris, for instance, sits on the traditional territory of the Tahltan Nation, while three nations lay claim to where Brucejack is located: the Tahltan, Nisga'a and Tsetsaut/ Skii km Lax Ha ( TSKLH). In the case of Red Chris, Imperial Met- als and the Tahltan Nation have had an impact, benefit and co-management agree- ment since 2015, which allows for undis- closed revenue sharing, environmental oversight and provisions for jobs and train- ing to the Tahltan; that agreement was updated when Newcrest took control of Red Chris last August. At Brucejack, a sim- ilar cooperation and benefits agreement was reached with the Nisga'a in 2015 and the Tahltan in 2017. (A more limited agree- BCBUSINESS.CA Fitter, Happier– More Productive TO KEEP MINE WORKERS IN A RED-HOT JOB MARKET, PRETIUM RESOURCES ROLLS OUT THE YOGA MAT Mining companies in B.C.'s Golden Triangle compete for workers not just with each other but with a variety of big developments in the Northwest— especially the coming liquefied natural gas pipeline and its terminal in Kitimat. For Pretium Resources, making its Brucejack mine camp an attractive place to live is critical to retaining workers. "We want to be seen as an employer of choice in the region," says Michelle Romero, Pretium's executive vice-president, corporate affairs and sustainability. Besides focusing on high stan- dards for its catering services, the Vancouver-based company has hired two health and fitness coordi- nators to work full-time at the mine. Among the initiatives they've insti- tuted are group fitness classes (from yoga to circuit training to Tabata), one-on-one personal training and nutrition counselling. –M.O'G. BUYING GLASSES IS A RIP OFF As a consumer, you don't stand a chance. Don't be ripped off. LEARN MORE Get 3 pairs of glasses for $199 Come to Great Glasses for a fantastic selection of eyewear at reasonable prices. glassesripoff.ca GREATGLASSES341.COM VANCOUVER 1754 West Broadway 778-379-5747 MAPLE RIDGE 18–20691 Lougheed Hwy 604-457-1184 LANGLEY C101–20159 88th Ave 778-298-0341 CHILLIWACK 1–45695 Hocking Ave 604-392-2237

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