Last night I strode through the rain to the Hyatt Hotel where the BC branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) held their annual students dinner and talk. The foyer was crowded with students drinking and laughing with old folk in the mining industry—the sound bouncing off the plaster and paint of the walls was so terrible that I fled to a quiet bar nearby.
When the crowd finally filtered into the dining chamber, I snuck back in, hoping the noise would have moderated. For my luck I found myself at a table with three third- and forth-year mining students, all women in mining. Over a terrible dinner of untouched lettuce leaves served the same huge size they were picked with some stringent vinegar thrown over for bad measure, and a dense breast of chicken over-cooked and subsequently kept heated for crowd-control, we chatted amiably about student life, working in Fort McMurray, choosing jobs by the random pick method, and the peculiarities of some of the university professors. As one student told me: I know about heap leaching now after two lectures–you pile the stuff up and sprinkle water and chemicals on it.
I joke. These three are smart and informed. They could easily take over the mining industry now and soon in the future. I asked them, “Why Mining?” The answers varied, but came down to the common: good scholarships, open places in the department, the opportunity to travel, and sounds interesting. Good enough for me.
The after-dinner speaker was Don Lindsay, CEO of Teck. I have listened to him talk before. I have seen him walk back alone from a conference presentation through the cold of a winter day in Edmonton. Then last night. He gave a superb speech. As good as anything Obama seems to give off the cuff. The humanism and intelligence coupled with humor and self deprecation shine through. He mostly told stories; here are some that I try to tell as he told them, although I will never capture his tone and rhythms.
After first year university I went to work the holidays in a uranium mine. They put me as a helper to the best driller. He made sure I pulled the fan up to the face where he was drilling as I mucked out behind him. I made money enough to return to university, but before I left is was called to the mine manager. He carefully explained that because of the location of the fan, I hade received excessive radiation exposure—about what you would get from six X-Ray. I suppose I survived and I have two daughters so it is OK. But the lesson, is that on the mines and at Teck, we are all our brother keeper when it comes to health and safety.
He warned about coming uniformed conclusions by telling these stories of the Olympics:
Teck produced the metals for the upcoming winter Olympics in Vancouver. When they “unveiled” them to me, they had TV cameras on my face to record my reaction. Now, I have seen many other Olympic medals and many are very beautiful. They opened the box on the new ones and all I could think was “They are bent and distorted. I could think of nothing to say, until in reply to a question I blurted out ‘I am overwhelmed.’” Only later was I shown a film that explains that the medals depict the Orca Whale and the bend represents the waves in which the Orca lives as part of an integrated pod. Now I see the beauty of the medals, for now I comprehend their symbolism. Point is defer judgement until you know more.
Then there was the time I took three Teck directors to the Beijing Olympics. They were all over seventy as were their wives. We asked if we could see something other than the women’s volleyball–did not seem quite appropriate for old men and their wives. Instead at the last moment I was told we were going to watch women’s weight lifting. My hear sank at the thought of 250 pound mustaches. I was however quite wrong, for the winner was a slim Chinese girl who was fast, precise, skilled, and professional. Point is once again we often make incorrect first judgements.
He proceeded to stories of flying to Toronto to persuade the heads of banks to finance Teck to the tune of $9 billion as it took over Fording Coal last year at the depth of the economic crisis. He told of putting his daughters to bed one evening between Christmas and New Year and then sitting alone in his study, wondering. “How are we ever going to get out of this.” The point is Teck pretty much has and its shares are pretty much back to pre-crisis levels.
Don believes this is because of the inexorable push by the Chinese and Indians for a better life founded on more materials mined by Teck. Maybe we should all pop down and buy a few Teck shares before they go higher. Certainly, my opinion is that as long as Don is in charge this is possible.
