Samso Insight Episode 96: This is about the Exploration Discovery of Gruyere. We invited Ian Murray and Justin Osborne who were part of the discovery team at Gold Road Resources Limited (ASX: GOR) to share their experiences.
The Discovery of the Gruyere Gold Deposit has shown that "theories" are to be challenged. Currently, the resource sits at nine million ounces of gold.
I have always been fascinated with this discovery. I remember looking at this belt in my university days. I have always known about it and I remember people telling me that the Yamarna Belt was not the same age and will never be endowed with mineralisation.
When I first came across the Gold Road discovery, its significance did not dawn upon me till much later. It was when I started to gather knowledge about discoveries, that I learnt of the Gruyere deposit.
For me, it has been quite a journey to get someone to talk to about discoveries, and when I realised that I could have both Ian Murray and Justin Osborne to share their experiences on Samso, it got me all excited and fired up.
I was specifically interested in how they made the decisions, or the potential of the wrong decisions. As we all know, it is the small things that are most important in making decisions in business.
We spoke about the need to look for mineral systems as opposed to chasing commodities. What was it like when the results came rolling on that faithful day?
One of the critical decisions that the company made was to take a hiatus from exploration activities and work on strategies.
We discussed what those strategies were and how the market and all the parts of the business reacted.
Justin talks about his entry to the company and how the discovery progressed as they worked to find out how big the discovery really was.
As Justin and Ian share their thoughts, they both agreed that the pivoting move was the Goldfields Joint Venture. In hindsight, was this the deal making decision?
So make yourself comfortable, sit back and enjoy with us the journey of discovery for Gold Road Resources.
Chapters:
00:00 Start
00:20 Introduction
01:36 Start of the story.
06:14 The morning the results came rolling in.
08:06 Sentiment on the Targeting Strategy.
09:43 Central Bore Discovery - What did it mean?
13:31 How was the discussion about the targeting process like?
16:12 A history lesson on the Yamarna.
19:56 The corporate and geologist view back then.
21:24 Geologists Need Thinking Time.
22:16 Justin's Entrance and the Discovery.
28:04 Mineral Systems vs Commodities.
31:02 Seeing Gold Road in Matador.
35:17 A moment where a lucky decision was made.
41:30 Myth or Fact: Getting a hit on the last few holes of the program.
44:00 Discussion on corporate decision making about the project direction.
45:19 The Goldfields Decision that made Gruyere happen.
46:53 Was the JV the best decision for Gold Road?
49:31 What could have been done better?
54:02 Where is the next Yamarna?
57:43 Exploration is all about busting Myths.
59:24 Importance of understanding Mineral Systems.
01:02:14 The Importance of quality projects and management.
01:02:51 Conclusions
PODCAST
Discover more on our Exploration Discovery series
About Ian Murray
Mr Murray is a Chartered Accountant, a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds an Executive degree in Advanced Management & Leadership from the University of Oxford, Saïd Business School. With over 25 years’ mining industry experience in senior leadership positions, including the position of Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) and DRDGold Ltd (NYSE & JSE: DRD), he has also held executive positions with international ‘Big Four’ accounting firms.
Mr Murray brings a wealth of financial, corporate, project development and operational experience to the Board and most recently led Gold Road as it transitioned from explorer to large scale gold producer. Mr Murray has been the recipient of many awards during his leadership of Gold Road, including the Gavin Thomas award for leadership, the Diggers and Dealers Deal of the year award in 2017, after winning the best emerging company award in 2011 as well as the CEO of the year award from CEO Magazine.
About Justin Osborne
Justin has over 30 years’ experience as an exploration geologist and is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and holds a Bachelor of Science, Honours (First Class) from La Trobe University of Victoria.
In addition to his role at Matador, Justin is an Executive Director at Gold Road Resources (GOR.ASX) and played a pivotal role in the rapid and effective resource development of the world class Gruyere Gold Deposit (6.6Moz Au) which currently producers approximately 300,000oz Au per annum.
Mr Osborne has also previously held senior positions on the exploration executive team of Gold Fields Ltd, including Vice President Development Strategy – Growth and International Projects, and General Manager Near Mine Exploration covering all international mining operations. He played an instrumental role in the development of the Damang Superpit project in Ghana, which yielded potential resources in excess of 6 Moz within two years, and had considerable discovery success as Mineral Resource Manager at the St Ives Gold Mine, making the discoveries of the Athena and Hamlet deposits among other significant Reserve additions.
Disclaimer
The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer.
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