Steve Todoruk: Junior Explorers are the Most Exciting Place to Be
Tom welcomes back Steve Todoruk back to the show. Steve discusses his background in geology and his work in the Yukon. After 15 years, he became involved with running Junior mining companies. Now he works out of California with Rick Rule in cherry-picking the best of the best mining companies.
Steve discusses the risks with discovery companies and when the optimal time occurs for the optimal investment. Steve details what he likes to see in exploration phases and how to evaluate drill hole results. You want to see sufficient reserves and grade to make mine development practical.
You always want to be invested in the best companies, those with the best discoveries, the best deposits, and good management in an excellent mining-friendly country. You want to understand the metallurgy of a project and the methods necessary to process the ore.
You can’t paint a better picture for gold than the world we live in today. So he tends to think we’re still relatively early in the cycle.
Steve explains why exploration is essential and why Prospect generators are more than welcome. It’s key to bet on good people with excellent track records. He says, “Focus on swimming in the good end of the pool as this is a highly speculative market. In a bull market it’s fairly easy to do well but try and be invested in the best companies. Don’t spread yourself out too thin there aren’t that many good companies.”
Time Stamp References:
0:00 – Introduction
0:40 – Steve’s Background
1:44 – Discoveries and Risk
3:05 – Evaluating Results
5:29 – Finding Ten Baggers
6:22 – Managing Risks
9:18 – Institutional Approach
11:30 – Placements & Deals?
12:59 – Cycle Phase
13:41 – Lack of Discoveries
14:41 – Deposit Considerations
17:30 – Prospect Generators
19:24 – Portfolio Evaluation
20:54 – Concluding Thoughts
Talking Points From This Episode
- Steve’s geology background and his work at Sprott USA.
- Finding good companies and avoiding risk.
- Estimating where we are in the mining cycle.
- Why you want to be invested in the best companies.
Guest Links
Website: https://sprottusa.com
E-Mail: stodoruk@sprottglobal.com
Steve Todoruk moved to California from Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2003 to join Sprott Global. Steve is currently a Professional Geoscientist in good standing in British Columbia. He graduated in 1985 from the University of British Columbia, located in Vancouver, with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Geology.
Following his graduation, Steve worked for several major and junior mining exploration companies as a field geologist in Canada and the southwestern United States. During that time, he also worked in an underground mine in Canada for two years operating equipment to learn that aspect of the mining industry. Between 1993 and early 2003, Steve was the president of two Canadian-based junior mining exploration companies and a mineral exploration consulting and engineering firm.
Steve is the recipient of the 2019 Murray Pezim Award for his perseverance and commitment to financing high-quality early-stage exploration projects that have led to numerous significant metal discoveries. Steve has participated in/or arranged financings that have raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Thus, allowing many exploration companies to advance their projects to the next phase.