It is not hard to imagine where Exmin ran into troubles if you conscider if what Mc Ewen says is even remotely applicable to Exmin's unravelling:
Hochschild has a separate joint venture with Mr. McEwen’s company Minera Andes Inc., and it is not the friendliest of relationships.
“They’re the partner from hell,” is how Mr. McEwen puts it.
With regards to Goldcorp, Mr. McEwen maintains that he has no hard feelings and does not consider it an adversary anymore. While he is no longer a shareholder, he said he is happy that Goldcorp has been so successful and delivered value for investors.
He is not so kind to Hochschild, which he claims is making life a nightmare for Minera. They jointly own the San Jose mine in Argentina, but he said that Hochschild, which operates the project, is acting like the sole owner and it is not meeting its budget and schedule.
“I would certainly advise anybody who has any discussions with [Hochschild] to get the very best legal council they can and don’t give an inch. Because they’ll run over you with a D9 bulldozer,” he said.
Mr. McEwen butted heads with Hochschild early this year, when the company made a sudden demand for US$11.3-million in cash from Minera for the San Jose project, and then offered to buy the entire company when it was short of cash. Mr. McEwen came to Minera’s rescue with a $40-million private placement and became the biggest shareholder.