Mining
The Story of the Golden Triangle in British Columbia
The Golden Triangle
In a hidden corner of Northwestern Canada lies some of the world’s most significant mineral potential.
Billions of dollars of undiscovered gold, silver, and copper still sit within an unexplored area that was once remote. However, only now can these world-class deposits be finally tapped.
Skeena Resources has generously helped us to put together the story of the famed Golden Triangle.
The History of the Golden Triangle
Even before Canada was officially a country, the area now known as the Golden Triangle was a hub for prospectors looking to strike it rich.
In 1861, Alexander “Buck” Choquette struck gold at the confluence of the Stikine and Anuk Rivers, kickstarting the Stikine Gold Rush. More than 800 prospectors left Victoria to go to the Stikine in search of gold.
A few short years later, an even more significant rush would occur just to the north in the Cassiar region – it’s where British Columbia’s biggest ever gold nugget, weighing in at 73 ounces, would be found. The Atlin Gold Rush, an offshoot of the world-famous Klondike Gold Rush, would also occur just north of the Triangle.
The First Discoveries
The companies that first worked in the Golden Triangle balanced its richness against the costs of its remote location.
1. Premier Gold Mine
The first big discovery in the Golden Triangle was at the Premier Gold Mine, which started operations in 1918.
The company that first owned it, Premier Gold Mining Company, returned as much as 200% on the stock market between 1921 and 1923. At the time the Christian Science Monitor called it “One of the greatest silver and gold mines in the world.”
2. Snip Mine
Discovered in 1964 by Cominco, the deposit stayed dormant until 1986, when it was drilled in a joint venture with Delaware Resources. Murray Pezim’s Prime Resources bought out Delaware after the stock ran from a dollar to $28 a share.
The high-grade Snip mine produced approximately one million ounces of gold from 1991 until 1999 at an average gold grade of 27.5 g/t.
3. Eskay Creek
In 1988, after a 109 drill holes, tiny exploration companies Stikine Resources and Calpine Resources finally hit the hole they needed at Eskay Creek: 27.2 g/t Au and 30.2 g/t Ag over 208m.
Eskay would go on to become Canada’s highest-grade gold mine and the world’s fifth largest silver producer, with production well in excess of 3 million ounces of gold and 160 million ounces of silver.
Grades:
Gold: 49 g/t
Silver: 2,406 g/t
Lead: 3.2%
Zinc: 5.2%
By the time it was all said and done, the stock price of Stikine Resources would go from $1 to $67, after it was bought by International Corona.
Why did these three rich mines shut down?
Despite the gold in the Triangle being extremely high grade, lower gold prices in the late 90s made the economics challenging. Meanwhile, the lack of infrastructure in this remote area of Canada meant that power, labor, and logistics costs were sky high.
Both of these things have changed today, and activity at the Golden Triangle is now fast and furious.
Gaining Access to the Triangle
The Golden Triangle is a hot area for exploration again. This is for three main reasons: higher gold prices, new infrastructure, and modern discoveries.
Higher gold prices
Average gold price (1999): $279 (Adjusted for inflation: $398)
Average gold price (2016): $1202
Gold prices are more than 3x as high today, even after adjusting for inflation. Combined with the Golden Triangle’s high grades, this becomes even more attractive.
New Infrastructure:
Today, road access to the area is easier than ever, and a new transmission line will dramatically reduce the cost of power for companies operating in the Triangle.
Recent improvements:
- Completion of a $700 million high-voltage transmission line to the Golden Triangle. The Northwest Transmission Line goes 335km from Terrace to Bob Quinn Lake, and north to the Red Chris mine
- Paving of the Stewart-Cassiar highway north from Smithers (Hwy 37)
- Opening of ocean port facilities for export of concentrate in Stewart
- Completion of a three dam, 277 MW hydroelectric facility located 70km northwest of Stewart
With new infrastructure in tow, the Golden Triangle is now open for business.
Modern Discoveries
The next gold rush at the Golden Triangle has already started.
Just some of the new discoveries in the area include Seabridge’s KSM project, Pretium’s Valley of the Kings deposit, and Imperial Metal’s Red Chris mine.
Yet, despite this track record of new discoveries and mines being built in the area, a British Columbia government report estimates that only 0.0006% of the Golden Triangle has been mined to date.
Mining
Ranked: The World’s Largest Copper Producers
Many new technologies critical to the energy transition rely on copper. Here are the world’s largest copper producers.
Visualizing the World’s Largest Copper Producers
This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.
Man has relied on copper since prehistoric times. It is a major industrial metal with many applications due to its high ductility, malleability, and electrical conductivity.
Many new technologies critical to fighting climate change, like solar panels and wind turbines, rely on the red metal.
But where does the copper we use come from? Using the U.S. Geological Survey’s data, the above infographic lists the world’s largest copper producing countries in 2021.
The Countries Producing the World’s Copper
Many everyday products depend on minerals, including mobile phones, laptops, homes, and automobiles. Incredibly, every American requires 12 pounds of copper each year to maintain their standard of living.
North, South, and Central America dominate copper production, as these regions collectively host 15 of the 20 largest copper mines.
Chile is the top copper producer in the world, with 27% of global copper production. In addition, the country is home to the two largest mines in the world, Escondida and Collahuasi.
Chile is followed by another South American country, Peru, responsible for 10% of global production.
| Rank | Country | 2021E Copper Production (Million tonnes) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 🇨🇱 Chile | 5.6 | 27% |
| #2 | 🇵🇪 Peru | 2.2 | 10% |
| #3 | 🇨🇳 China | 1.8 | 8% |
| #4 | 🇨🇩 DRC | 1.8 | 8% |
| #5 | 🇺🇸 United States | 1.2 | 6% |
| #6 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 0.9 | 4% |
| #7 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 0.8 | 4% |
| #8 | 🇿🇲 Zambia | 0.8 | 4% |
| #9 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 0.8 | 4% |
| #10 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 0.7 | 3% |
| #11 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 0.6 | 3% |
| #12 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | 0.5 | 2% |
| #13 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 0.4 | 2% |
| 🌍 Other countries | 2.8 | 13% | |
| 🌐 World total | 21.0 | 100% |
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and China share third place, with 8% of global production each. Along with being a top producer, China also consumes 54% of the world’s refined copper.
Copper’s Role in the Green Economy
Technologies critical to the energy transition, such as EVs, batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines require much more copper than conventional fossil fuel based counterparts.
For example, copper usage in EVs is up to four times more than in conventional cars. According to the Copper Alliance, renewable energy systems can require up to 12x more copper compared to traditional energy systems.
| Technology | 2020 Installed Capacity (megawatts) | Copper Content (2020, tonnes) | 2050p Installed Capacity (megawatts) | Copper Content (2050p, tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar PV | 126,735 MW | 633,675 | 372,000 MW | 1,860,000 |
| Onshore Wind | 105,015 MW | 451,565 | 202,000 MW | 868,600 |
| Offshore Wind | 6,013 MW | 57,725 | 45,000 MW | 432,000 |
With these technologies’ rapid and large-scale deployment, copper demand from the energy transition is expected to increase by nearly 600% by 2030.
As the transition to renewable energy and electrification speeds up, so will the pressure for more copper mines to come online.
Gold
How Gold Royalties Outperform Gold and Mining Stocks
Gold royalty companies shield investors from inflation’s rising expenses, resulting in stronger returns than gold and gold mining companies.
How Gold Royalties Outperform Gold and Mining Stocks
Gold and gold mining companies have long provided a diverse option for investors looking for gold-backed returns, however royalty companies have quietly been outperforming both.
While inflation’s recent surge has dampened profits for gold mining companies, royalty companies have remained immune thanks to their unique structure, offering stronger returns in both the short and long term.
After Part One of this series sponsored by Gold Royalty explained exactly how gold royalties avoid rising expenses caused by inflation, Part Two showcases the resulting stronger returns royalty companies can offer.
Comparing Returns
Since the pandemic lows in mid-March of 2020, gold royalty companies have greatly outperformed both gold and gold mining companies, shining especially bright in the past year’s highly inflationary environment.
While gold is up by 9% since the lows, gold mining companies are down by almost 3% over the same time period. On the other hand, gold royalty companies have offered an impressive 33% return for investors.
In the graphic above, you can see how gold royalty and gold mining company returns were closely matched during 2020, but when inflation rose in 2021, royalty companies held strong while mining company returns fell downwards.
| Returns since the pandemic lows (Mid-March 2020) | Returns of the past four months (July 8-November 8, 2022) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Gold Royalty Companies | 33.8% | 1.7% |
| Gold | 9.1% | -1.7% |
| Gold Mining Companies | -3.0% | -8.6% |
Even over the last four months as gold’s price fell by 1.7%, royalty companies managed to squeeze out a positive 1.7% return while gold mining companies dropped by 8.6%.
Gold Royalty Dividends Compared to Gold Mining Companies
Along with more resilient returns, gold royalty companies also offer significantly more stability than gold mining companies when it comes to dividend payouts.
Gold mining companies have highly volatile dividend payouts that are significantly adjusted depending on gold’s price. While this has provided high dividend payouts when gold’s price increases, it also results in huge dividend cuts when gold’s price falls as seen in the chart below.
Rather than following gold’s price, royalty companies seek to provide growing stability with their dividend payouts, adjusting them so that shareholders are consistently rewarded.
Over the last 10 years, dividend-paying royalty companies have steadily increased their payouts, offering stability even when gold prices fall.
Why Gold Royalty Companies Outperform During Inflation
Gold has provided investors with the stability of a hard monetary asset for centuries, with mining companies offering a riskier high volatility bet on gold-backed cash flows. However, when gold prices fall or inflation increases operational costs, gold mining companies fall significantly more than the precious metal.
Gold royalty companies manage to avoid inflation’s bite or falling gold prices’ crunch on profit margins as they have no exposure to rising operational expenses like wages and energy fuels while also having a much smaller headcount and lower G&A expenses as a result.
Along with avoiding rising expenses, gold royalty companies still retain exposure to mine expansions and exploration, offering just as much upside as mining companies when projects grow.
Gold Royalty offers inflation-resistant gold exposure with a portfolio of royalties on top-tier mines across the Americas. Click here to find out more about Gold Royalty.
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