by Jonathan Roth
It is hard to fathom how much our world has been shaped by the United States. From victory in World War II, subsequent wars in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East to defeating the Soviet Union in the Cold War and underwriting the entire global economic system, America’s influence and power has touched the entire earth for well over 70 years.
But things are changing.
Despite the longest stock market bull in history, quiet whispers of market manipulation by the Federal Reserve are turning into panicked shouts of warning from some of the most famous investors on Wall Street. Public and private debts are spiralling out of control, while the long-term status of the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. dollar, looks hazy with a sure-to-come challenge from China.
In the midst of this confusing and chaotic investing world I decided to visit one of the U.S. State Department’s most respected diplomats for some perspective and sober thinking.
Before he retired, Walter Coles Sr. was America’s senior advisor for market reform in the countries of the former Soviet Union following the collapse of communism. He rebuilt the economies of places like Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia, working to bring capitalism into areas that had only known economic deprivation and poverty via communism and socialism.
I visited him on his former tobacco plantation in rural Virginia, a gorgeous locale surrounded by American history.
Coles’ unique point of view on the economic trends dominating the headlines – one that could only be learned by decades of working on the frontlines of American foreign policy – was illuminating.
The truth is, Coles Sr. told me, “Will (gold) be increasingly more important? The answer is yes.”
That comment would ultimately lead me to the northern wilderness of British Columbia. It was there I met Coles’ son, a former Manhattan investment banker who is now working to restart the world’s richest gold mine.
Walter Coles Jr. is President and CEO of Skeena Resources (TSXV:SKE). In 2017 his company secured an option to acquire the Eskay Creek project in the storied Golden Triangle area of B.C. from gold mining supermajor Barrick. For decades it was the world’s highest-grade gold mine before Barrick shut it down in 2008 due to low gold prices and a prohibitively high operating cost.
Since then, Walter and his team have gone to work.
Skeena has discovered Eskay Creek still has four million ounces of gold left. At 4.5 g/t gold equivalent, if Eskay was put back into production today it would instantly become one of the highest-grade open pit mines in the world.
In November Skeena announced their Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). A PEA is a report done by a third party to determine whether the mine could be profitable. Skeena’s PEA revealed just over a year of revenues would easily cover the cost of rebuilding the mine and putting it back into production. So, after 1.2 years Eskay Creek will be debt-free and producing over 300,000 ounces of gold/year.
While at the Eskay Creek property, Skeena’s team introduced me to Chad Day. Chad is the President of the Tahltan Central government. Their massive and beautiful territory includes the Eskay Creek project.
The Tahltan are regarded as one of the most progressive First Nations in the world. They recently partnered to bring several hydroelectric plants to the region, an investment of billions of dollars. This means any future Eskay Creek mine won’t require daily diesel deliveries by helicopter, one of the impediments Barrick encountered before deciding to close it down. The Tahltan and Skeena are working together with the hopes that a future Eskay Creek mine will bring employment and economic development to the area.
My film is an opportunity to glean wisdom from one of the old hands of America’s foreign policy and pull back the curtain on an undervalued gold project with spectacular world class upside.
In the words of Walter Coles Sr., “If you just let a person create his own wealth, they’ll do it.”
And that’s exactly what Skeena Resources is working to do.