2 Geos Interviewed 100+ Top Discoverers — Here’s What it Takes (Steve & Ahmad)
We’re delighted to share this passionate and energeticconversation with Steve Beresford and Ahmad Saleem.
With Steve and Ahmad, we dive into the problems they set out to tackle when they launched their timeless podcast, Exploration Radio nearly a decade ago. From there, we explore what they’ve learned about what it really takes to make a mineral discovery, whether this is another area where China is pulling ahead, and what the industry needs more of moving forward.
Additionally, we hear about the characters, books and experiences that have shaped them along the way.
Enjoy!
This interview was recorded on 24.7.2025.
……………
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Introduction
(01:02) Ahmad Saleem and Steve Beresford
(01:30) Podcasting Evolution
(03:03) The Art of Authentic Conversations
(04:19) Reflecting on Exploration Radio
(06:50) The Importance of Informal Conversations
(18:32) The Role of Power in Mining and Podcasting
(19:40) Characteristics of Successful Explorers
(32:02) Communication Breakdown
(32:16) Barriers to Success
(33:49) Exploration as a Biological Trait
(34:21) Information Overload and Distraction
(35:27) The Honeybee Analogy
(36:00) Abstract Thinking in Exploration
(36:29) Decline in Exploration
(38:53) Long-Term vs. Short-Term Thinking
(42:05) Challenges in Mineral Exploration
(51:36) The Role of Environment and Motivation
(54:43) East vs. West in Exploration
(01:04:54) Saudi Arabia's Ambitious Plans
(01:06:38) Economic Shifts and Resource Management
(01:07:16) China's Strategic Resource Investments
(01:08:04) Field Experiences and Infrastructure
(01:09:17) Work-Life Balance in Mining
(01:10:58) Motivation and Retention in Geoscience
(01:16:15) Adapting to Personal and Professional Changes
(01:19:48) The Importance of Field Training
(01:21:50) Ahmad's Individuality
(01:27:06) Memorable Podcast Moments
(01:33:27) Site Visits and Learning Experiences
……………
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……………
PARTNERS
Thank you to the mining services businesses that make thiscontent possible:
· Grounded - Infrastructure for remote mining and civil projects Australia wide | Paul Natoli: pn@groundedgroup.com.au
· Sandvik Ground Support – The only ground supportyou’ll ever need
· CrossBoundary Energy – Independent power producer for the global mining industry | tim.taylor@crossboundary.com +61 466 184 943
……………
FOLLOW & CONNECT
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• Twitter / X: @moneyofminepod
• LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
• Travis Ricciardo: @TRAVmoneyofmine
• Jonas Dorling: @JDmoneyofmine
• Email us Word on the Decline: gc@moneyofmine.com
……………
JOIN THE GROUP CHAT
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……………
DISCLAIMER
All information in this podcast is for education andentertainment purposes only and is of general nature only.
Please ensure you read our full disclaimer.
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So someone like Bennett knows
how to go through those moments.
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Someone like Creasy knows how to
hire the right people.
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I would think that the best
exploration right now, I think
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00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,680
it's very blue.
I think so too, and I actually
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think it's by a long, long way
we we were talking.
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Just then, mate, that
discovering something, finding
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something like a pure, genuine
discovery, exploring of of of
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significant deposit, you know,
like being part of a team that
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does that or having a
significant role.
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That is the most like glorified
thing you can do in this
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industry through a combination
of of serendipity and
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capability, minting literal
economic value into existence
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for the benefit of of everyone.
That is, that's the penultimate
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kind of glory, glory in our
industry.
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You're spot on, mate.
It it takes something special,
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right?
It takes driving forces, it
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takes human ingenuity, it takes
a whole lot, and we wanted to
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explore that, that and the
perfect people.
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Explore it.
Yeah.
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00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,480
The perfect people to explore
that with our guest today Mate
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Ahmad and Steve, who taught us
also a bunch about podcasting.
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That they are, yeah.
Ahmad's Lehmann and Steve
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Beresford, you know, first and
foremost students of exploration
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history, but they're
explorationists themselves and
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have have have made significant
contributions to, you know,
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their their various interests in
the industry.
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We're gonna we're just let's
just get to it because it's this
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was a wiki combo.
We can start talking about
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podcasting because they were the
Co hosts of exploration radio,
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which is a phenomenal old
podcast.
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If you ever get a spare 70 hours
to listen to all of your
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episodes, it's worth it.
And you can feel their fantastic
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passion for this beautiful
industry.
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So here we go, mate.
Let's share the conversation.
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So yeah.
And some people have to just
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socialise with you.
They need to get into the
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conversation.
They they're nervous when they
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start because they've treated it
like public presentation or
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something.
That's why in person, chill in
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person is so much better.
It's it's harder to build that
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rapport if you're just zooming
something in completely.
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So like this, we've already
spoken for 20 minutes before.
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Yeah, yeah.
If you haven't, if you're, if
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you're someone you've never met
on the other side of the world,
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it's harder to build that
because you're like, all right,
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you ready to start filming?
That's right.
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Yeah, exactly I do.
So the other one is in a modern
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corporate world, people want to
be very careful what they say
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and it takes a while to remove
that.
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Just that little comfort level
of, you know, I've pre pay, I've
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pre planned 10 things that I
must say, I must make sure they
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go in this order.
It's like giving a presentation
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and turning up and finding a
slide that you don't know what
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it is.
Everyone goes that's the worst
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thing you could ever do in
giving a talk is be so
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procedural that when something
goes wrong, you.
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Freak out.
Yeah, and you fall apart.
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You fall apart because your
procedure has just fallen apart
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on the stage right in front of
everybody.
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Whereas if you actually put
together the talk logically and
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you know your own material, and
if the slide turns up and it's
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not what it's supposed to be,
you just keep going.
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You are unfazed.
And people saw like, yeah,
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things like, yeah, like the pre
plan, like, you know, like when
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we when we did it, yeah.
Like you got to remember, like,
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you know, we started podcasting
10 years ago, right?
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Like that's when we first
started.
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So yeah, it's a completely
different landscape than what it
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is now.
Like, yeah.
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Like people understand podcasts,
you know, like we have to
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explain to people, like, I mean,
I hope you use this content in
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the thing, but you know, like we
have to go to people and explain
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to them what a podcast for
people, like part what?
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And you're like, well, you know,
it's a radio show.
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They're like, oh, you wanted me
to do a presentation.
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No, no, no, no, we just want you
to talk.
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And you're like, but why is that
interesting?
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And you're like, well, it could
be interesting.
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You're like, who's going to make
it interesting?
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Well, I'm hoping you will.
And they're like, but I don't,
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I'm not interesting.
We're like, well, we think you
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are like, it's like, yeah, so
this is like a lot of.
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And then even then we would do
all this prep and tell people
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like some of the early days,
like I think we must have done
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like 3 or 4 pre interview
conversations to kind of like,
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like, you know, gear them up to
be like, yeah, you got to come.
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And you know, like do not do a
presentation.
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You know, next call, remember,
do not do a presentation.
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Third call, remember, do not do
a presentation.
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And when they showed up, they
will come and be like, so do you
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want me to talk about my this
thing?
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And they will just talk for like
1520 minutes like a
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presentation.
And you're like, you know what,
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let's just let them get this
shit out of there like the
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thing.
And then we'll start recording.
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Like that's where the kind of
the material will come from.
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And so the other things like,
you know, like I like I watch
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Rogan episodes a lot and I kind
of realized that he used to have
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this like structure where in the
first hour he talked, he rarely
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talked.
Like if you actually count, he
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might talk like 1020%.
And in the middle hour he would
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talk slightly more.
And in the end, he would talk a
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lot and kind of own the person.
And so I kind of figured out
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like, you know, that's one of
the reasons why we went in long
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form was like, you know what,
let's just let the person talk
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for 30 minutes.
You know, if they're really well
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trained, they might talk for 40
minutes in that presentation
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mode.
But at some point, they're going
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to have to switch over to start
talking normally.
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And that's when the interview
will kind of start.
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Yeah.
Yeah.
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And then we would burn the first
whatever minutes where they were
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just in presentation mode.
And then we would just get rid
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of.
That and that's why it's so good
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to have politicians come and and
do that as well, because like
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how much like pre scripted stuff
can you possibly get through?
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If you're going to go up there
and do a three hour
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conversation, you have to be
kind of a normal human to be
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able to just have a
conversation.
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And that's fine.
I mean, like, yeah.
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Like, I mean, are we genuinely
curious in, like, when you have
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guests on, like, how many guests
ask you whether you have a
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script for the interview?
Like as a percentage I'd say
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it's close to 0.
Never been asked if you have a
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script for an interview.
Yeah, the, the, the one thing is
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sometimes people say, can you
give us a list of questions?
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Yeah, people.
And we will say we haven't even
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prepped for this yet.
There is no list of questions
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you know.
So that was interesting, right,
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Because when we started,
everyone asked for a script.
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So we had to write scripts and
say, hey, this is going to be
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the flow of the.
Word for word.
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Word for word, yeah.
Script.
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Yeah.
And then and then, you know,
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like what we realized, I don't
know, like after the first
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season was that, you know, we
could totally screw people over
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by just jumping around on the
script because then they would
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get more honest kind of, you
know, because they had they were
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obviously pre trained a certain
certain way to talk.
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And then you would go and then
like, yeah, they will say
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something, you go, well actually
let's just jump here and then
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jump back and then and in that
thing they will get confused and
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start talking to kind of
normally.
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Yeah.
So that's what I mean.
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I think it's like a lot's.
Changed in 10 years.
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Yeah, I think it's changed now
because the, the, the, the guest
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side I think understands what,
what they're, what they're
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bringing a lot more than us
having to coach them where I
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feel like we have to coach a lot
of people on, you know, like
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what a podcast was, what are we
trying to do?
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Like, you know, why a general
conversation is interesting.
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You know, most people were like,
surely that's not interesting
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because I built my career doing
100 presentations a year.
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Like people want presentations.
And we were kind of like,
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actually, we don't want
presentations.
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We want the exact opposite.
We want human beings.
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We actually want the.
I mean a classic the
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conversation we did with John,
John Van.
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These were high end individuals
in our industry and it's like
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these are friends.
Would you like to listen in to
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my coffee conversation with
these guys?
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I'm privileged.
I've done these things.
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Is that something that other
people would would love to
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participate in?
Most of the world doesn't get
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that opportunity and you're
like, and when you do these
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informal, this is what normal
day is like for me, having a
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conversation with John or, or,
or the like.
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And they're like, actually,
that's what people want.
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They don't want to hear the
formality.
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They want to hear the real life
interactions, which is, you
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know, the classic is the one I
did with John by myself, John
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Van.
And at the end of it, we're
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going through it.
And I said to John, you and I
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sound like tosses.
And then he goes and I went, you
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know, we are, there's two dudes
up in each other just as if we
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were having a coffee.
And it's like, this is a
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conversation.
It's what it's like having a
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conversation with John.
This is what I this is how I
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interact when I'm talking with
John.
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The beauty about the medium is,
is, is anyone listening?
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Feels like they're a part of
that conversation.
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And if it, yeah, authenticity is
kind of the key ingredient.
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You said you started 10.
Years ago, voyeuristic concept.
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I think that's really, that's
the part that I like podcasts.
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It's like, you know, I feel like
I'm a voyeur to other people
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having a conversation, you know,
like I don't know them, you
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know, like it's unlikely.
My social circle is going to
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overlap with theirs, but I get
to be a voyeur on on like
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listening to them and then and
especially nice if they then put
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as much of their self in there
because you kind of feel like
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you walked away with a little
part of that person in in that
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conversation.
And getting those differences of
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opinion is just fantastic.
You know it, it might be like
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you say outside your group of
friends, outside of the people
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you associate with and and how
they think people from
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completely different walks and
being able to just listen in, be
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a family on the wall.
And also like, you know, I mean,
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this is like, I mean, I hope you
can cut all of this thing in at
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some point.
But yeah, like one of the.
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It's already started.
This is it.
201
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Yeah, what are you talking
about?
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This this.
Is all we're going to do.
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I mean, one of the aspects of,
you know, like around, yeah, in
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the preamble, you kind of told
me like, why do we got to like
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the podcast?
So one of the points was, Steve,
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was this like, if I'm a 23 year
old in the industry, like what
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are the chances that I'm going
to be able to talk to someone
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like John Aronsky or John Van or
some of the other people that we
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had on the show?
Pretty low, right?
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So why don't we be that conduit
where we have that conversation
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and then they get to be a part
of it, right?
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And they can consume 10% of it
or they can consume 100% of it.
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00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,120
They may understand 10% or they
may understand 100%, but at
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least they're better off by at
least getting that 10% of the
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00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,520
conversation, right.
So that was one of the the
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guiding principles of doing a
podcast early.
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The other one was really around
that.
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I always felt that, you know,
like people, people write down
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what they do, but people speak
what they think or they or they
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talk about what they think.
And sometimes it was I was
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always more interested in like,
you know, like, like, what were
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you thinking when you did this
stuff?
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Like why did you do it this way?
You know, like I have your
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written, I have your
presentation.
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I saw, you know, you said we did
A, then we did B, then we did C
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and then whatever, right?
But I'm always interested in
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like, why did you start with A?
Like, you know, you could have
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started AD as well because you
could have jumped or you know,
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like why, why did you not do
that way?
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00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:12,520
Right.
And then people were a lot more
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honest about things like, you
know, like, well, actually I
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didn't know.
So I just started with a right.
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And you're like, oh, so.
Yeah.
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00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,360
So someone like John Van, you
could like, like, push him.
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You know, one of the, like, the
moments in the John Van
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interview was when he talked
about the donut of neglect,
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right?
And it was almost like he was
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kind of formulating that idea in
his head as we were kind of
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talking, right?
Which is essentially that on
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some assets, you know, people
focus on the mind and some
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assets people focus on really
far away from the mind.
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But there's this area in the
middle which often gets
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overlooked and, and is where,
you know, like there's quite a
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lot of value to be achieved.
You know, and then as he was
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talking, you know, you could
kind of figure out that he
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00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,280
didn't quite get the concept
completely himself, but he was
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willing to put it out there to
say, Hey, I'm working on this
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00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,120
idea.
He's not going to go and give a
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00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,200
presentation on the doughnut and
neglect because he has to have
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analytics to show, you know,
like this many opportunities
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were missed in Anglo at the
time.
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00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:02,640
And this is blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah.
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00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:04,960
Like, you know, this is how the
budget it was a proportion this
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00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:06,520
way.
He's never going to put that in
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00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,000
the presentation, but he was
happy to put that in a in a
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00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:10,440
podcast interview.
All right.
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00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:12,360
And that's kind of what I mean,
like, you know, people talk
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00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,000
about what they think rather
than what they did.
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00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,040
And that was that was kind of
what we were trying to get out
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00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:18,920
of out of those.
I'm going to I'm going to Fact
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00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:20,920
Check you.
You just listed 2 reasons why
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00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,080
you started expiration radio.
I happened to have a clip where
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00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,840
you articulate very.
I don't know how long it's been
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00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:33,720
since you've listened to this.
Hi Music, I'm Ahmad.
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00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,120
And hi, I'm Steve.
At Audio Exploration Radio, a
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00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,120
podcast focusing on the past,
present and the future of
267
00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,480
mineral exploration.
Now some of you out there might
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00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:45,920
be asking, what is mineral
exploration and why does it
269
00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,840
matter to me?
Well, there's no denying that we
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00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,800
now all live in a society that
increasingly relies on
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00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,520
technology on an everyday basis.
And as our reliance on
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00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,680
technology grows, so does our
reliance to the raw materials
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00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,400
like metals that make a lot of
that technology possible.
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00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:04,240
So the challenge is that we have
to be constantly searching for
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00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,080
new mineral deposits to replace
the ones that we're exhausting
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00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:08,880
and using up.
This is where mineral
277
00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,440
exploration comes in.
It's the science and practice of
278
00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,240
finding these new mineral
deposits.
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00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,840
As explorers, both Steve and I
have spent most of our careers
280
00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,960
searching for new mineral
deposits and to be honest, we
281
00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,200
haven't been very successful.
And that's not just us overall,
282
00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,320
the industry itself hasn't had a
great tracker for the last
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00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,880
couple of decades.
This lack of success has led to
284
00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,880
a number of people questioning
whether our current practices
285
00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,840
are adequate for the challenges
we are facing now and we'll
286
00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:38,320
likely face in the future.
The idea for this podcast arose
287
00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,840
out of a frustration that both
Ahmed and I had about a lack of
288
00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:43,960
media to have these
conversations.
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00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,400
So we aim to bring you a look
into the past.
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00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:50,320
We're going to deconstruct the
successful explorers of the
291
00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,760
past.
What makes a good explorer, What
292
00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,560
makes a good discoverer?
And we're going to hear in their
293
00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:58,480
words, their stories about
discoveries.
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00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,640
We're going to look at this
painful transition that we're in
295
00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,040
the middle of.
What are we doing and how are we
296
00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,360
looking towards the future?
Are we ready for the challenges
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00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,120
that we face?
Are we having the right
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00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,280
conversations, asking the right
questions?
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00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,160
We hope these stories will
inspire you because first and
300
00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,680
foremost, these are the stories
that we wanted to hear.
301
00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:24,800
We've searched for these stories
because this is what we want to
302
00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:27,680
hear about the future of mental
expression.
303
00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:30,560
Cool.
How does it feel listening back
304
00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:36,200
to that?
So prescriptive, you know, I'm,
305
00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:38,600
I'm gonna put this straight up.
No, no, I'm going to interrupt
306
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,640
you right here.
When we first started, I used to
307
00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,800
write these really long scripts
and was me who did this and I
308
00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,640
know this, but that one, you
wrote that yourself entirely.
309
00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,880
And then it was me who went the
path of going you know what, we
310
00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,280
need to be way less and you
disagreed with me.
311
00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,440
You were like, no, I like it
needs to be organized,
312
00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:58,800
everything like that.
I went, no, let's just talk
313
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:04,520
rubbish, but I I know that I was
the dude.
314
00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,600
I wrote my part of that.
I know I was the guy who started
315
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,080
us off on the whole, you know,
writing it out.
316
00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,960
Formality, flowery language,
everything, everything.
317
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,400
I mean, before that, I mean, I
think that like, I don't know
318
00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,280
how long that script took, but
like, yeah, it was like weeks in
319
00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,160
the making, right?
Like, you know, we antagonized
320
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,680
over every word, like all of
this type of stuff.
321
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,600
And then, yeah, like Steve says,
slowly we unbound a lot of that
322
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,320
because yeah, like, I mean,
like, yeah, like I think we also
323
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,920
have to talk about the the fact
that, you know, like I made this
324
00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:35,600
comment that we started 10 years
ago, right?
325
00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,480
And at that time, you know, like
the the leading podcasts were
326
00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,600
really, you know, like like
Serial or like, you know, things
327
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:43,600
that were like very well
researched and.
328
00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:44,800
Great.
Production.
329
00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:45,920
Production, though.
You too?
330
00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:47,640
Yeah.
Like there were radio people
331
00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:50,800
going into correct podcasts.
And so and you know, like that
332
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,280
was really the the soup tujour
at that time, right?
333
00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,160
Like like out of the top
whatever 20 podcasts, yeah,
334
00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,440
aside was Rogan like, you know,
maybe I'm not sure where he was
335
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,880
in that ranking probably would
have been high, but most of them
336
00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,280
were all of these kind of like
highly serialized kind of
337
00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:06,000
podcasts.
And so.
338
00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,440
So when we would like tell
people we're doing a podcast,
339
00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,640
you know, like you'd have to
kind of create an environment
340
00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:16,320
that that fitted the the the
zeitgeist at that time, right?
341
00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,360
And podcasts.
So, so yeah, so that's why we
342
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:19,560
started.
I think it's like very very
343
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,680
scripted and and.
Heavily edited, even though we
344
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,840
were early on and the technology
was nothing like what you've
345
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:29,840
got, you know, if you take some
of the this, the hours that went
346
00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,520
into editing them and you're
like, we can't keep up.
347
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,120
We are the fundamental limiter
is our editing time.
348
00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:39,560
I mean, the editing was high
because we were just so shit at
349
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,120
it at the start, right?
Like, I mean, like, yeah, like
350
00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,080
when I listen to that again,
like I can you know, how you
351
00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:47,240
hear a certain audio and you
know exactly where you were in
352
00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,360
that time, Like that is all
recorded.
353
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,400
I think that's like number.
I don't know, whatever it take
354
00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,840
of me sitting in my car in a
Coles parking lot with towels
355
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,480
around recording that, right?
And so that would have been
356
00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,640
like, I don't know, a couple of
hours of me just recording the
357
00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,320
same thing over and over and
over to try to get the sense of
358
00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,560
how the audio works.
And even like, you know, like
359
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:06,920
your clunky background kind of
audio, you can tell.
360
00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,720
Like I can tell he's definitely
sitting in his car somewhere or
361
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,840
some parking lot because of the
echo that comes in the
362
00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:14,200
background.
Like all of that stuff, right?
363
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:16,160
You know that.
I reckon he's in a little room.
364
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,920
Cars have phenomenal acoustics
so I reckon you're in like a
365
00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:19,880
tiny little.
Room.
366
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,640
Occasionally I would do it in my
office, but I got a glass screen
367
00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,400
and I was.
In a glass wall as well.
368
00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:31,680
And glass wall and so everybody
can see me.
369
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:35,000
Yeah.
And you know, as a senior person
370
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,200
in, in the, in the company, it's
a bad look, you know, just
371
00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,160
sitting there at lunchtime or
whatever, just.
372
00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,320
Either you've lost your marbles,
or you're just talking to
373
00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,200
yourself, or people think like
it's completely checked out, or
374
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,360
you're just recording scripts
that we were.
375
00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,360
Like as soon as we go to studio,
the whole world changed because
376
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,880
we we were serious about
acoustics and that was you.
377
00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,640
You were 100% driven on making
sure that we were serious about
378
00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,040
changing that and that was a big
step for us.
379
00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,359
And also like things like, I
mean, like, you know, like now
380
00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:06,079
you guys have this capacity,
right?
381
00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:09,280
Like a lot of the tech that you
probably have in this room
382
00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,079
probably didn't exist for
podcasting 10 years ago either,
383
00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,480
right?
So we, you know, so that the
384
00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,119
podcasting studios we had to go
to, you know, like we were
385
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:21,599
really in a like a music school
in a backroom in a music school
386
00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:25,040
that we paid to basically have
the desk and the mics and
387
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,800
everything put into place.
So we could actually use it as a
388
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,400
podcast studio, right, Because
we could find nothing outside of
389
00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,760
renting a professional radio
studio, which is like thousands
390
00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:36,160
of dollars, whatever it was a
day.
391
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,040
It's so it was very like
bootstrapped in, in that in that
392
00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,040
time, not just from the fact
that, you know, like we were a
393
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,280
podcast about mining and
exploration, but also the fact
394
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,840
that we were a podcast in Perth,
you know, like they just weren't
395
00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,360
a lot of places that we can kind
of kind of go.
396
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:53,920
Now you have things like like
the what is it, the hen house
397
00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:55,960
like you know, where they have
these excellent podcasting
398
00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,240
studios that are custom built.
More and more popping up, yeah.
399
00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,160
Yeah, like, you know, walk in,
you know, like turn it on and
400
00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,040
then bang, you're done.
You know, like that didn't
401
00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,400
exist.
Like, you know, we would like,
402
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,000
we would have to like, you know,
in the early days, I would have
403
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,480
to show up with our producer
Dan, at that time.
404
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,160
And we would have to take the
table, you know, like put it in
405
00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,120
this location, you know, move
all the chairs in, set up all
406
00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,880
the mics, make sure all the
cables ran into the, the control
407
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:20,640
room, all of that stuff.
And then it all had to get
408
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,200
packed away at the end because
I'm not sure what it was used
409
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:24,320
for.
I think it was a storage room or
410
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,440
something, I can't remember.
We'd have to take all the shit
411
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,720
out of the storage room, put it
in the hallway, set up the room
412
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,640
and then pack it up away again.
So that that's kind of how how
413
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:33,880
we started.
Right, in the exact same way
414
00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,640
that building out a podcast
studio much more easier to do
415
00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,640
today than it is 10 years ago.
Things have gotten better,
416
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,000
better technology.
The exact same is true for
417
00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,440
building mind today, mate.
Because one of the biggest
418
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,800
limitations power, power power
has come a long way in 10 years.
419
00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,080
Make the ability to get a hybrid
power station to service all of
420
00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:58,160
your power needs on site in
tricky, tricky locations where
421
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,800
power reliability might be a
concern, sources of power might
422
00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:03,480
be a concern.
Cross boundary energy mate.
423
00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:05,560
They have solved this problem
for the industry.
424
00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:07,560
It's spot on mate.
And it's not just the sources of
425
00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,080
power, whether you want hybrid,
you know you want your solar,
426
00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,600
your wind and all these sort of
types of power.
427
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,480
It's the financing.
They can look after the
428
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,600
financing for you, whether you
need to be more high on the the
429
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,040
OpEx and dial down the CapEx or
vice versa.
430
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:22,880
They'll look after you cross
boundary energy.
431
00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:27,960
Zero CapEx power that is.
That is a huge, a huge, huge way
432
00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:29,840
to get your mind up and running
as fast as possible.
433
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,600
I wish we had zero CapEx
podcasting mate, that would that
434
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,240
would have saved us a dollar.
Tim Taylor is the man for all
435
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,120
your needs in power, give cross
boundary energy call.
436
00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:42,920
Go cross boundary hundreds of
hundreds of conversations with
437
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,440
the, you know, the industry's
most prolific explorationists
438
00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,080
and as self confessed
unsuccessful explorationists at
439
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,880
that point in your career, did
you figure out why the industry
440
00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,680
has, you know, did you answer
the question that you kind of
441
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,640
you were you were compelled to
start a podcast about, you know.
442
00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,160
I I don't think so, but I think
it's a never ending journey.
443
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,600
If we go back to the actual
words that were written in the
444
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:05,960
part, you showed that I still
stand by those.
445
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,320
Two different people, Ahmed and
I Ahmed went the direction of
446
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,960
very much commercially more like
you during the podcast and
447
00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:20,280
fascinated it just because his
own self development was about
448
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,400
building things, the technology,
moving into that part of the
449
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,480
business.
Me, I've always been obsessed
450
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,640
with the concept of why we're so
poor at exploration as a royal
451
00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:34,000
we and it's so I'm really
heavily down the psych side, the
452
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:35,600
behavioural side and everything
like that.
453
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,680
But both of us wanted to learn
for ourselves.
454
00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,640
It was about, hey, look, this is
my journey in development.
455
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,560
Do you want to listen in to my
to my journey?
456
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,920
So did I learn a lot from that
period of time?
457
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,640
Yeah, actually more than working
for a company.
458
00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:59,440
So that's a big call.
If we invert what Trev just said
459
00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,360
there, you guys also interviewed
a lot of people that were super
460
00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:04,560
successful.
What are the characteristics
461
00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:06,560
that stuck out from those
people?
462
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,960
Like Mark Bennett is an example
that really sticks in my mind of
463
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:11,920
people that did it and they did
it multiple times.
464
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,800
I think it's.
It's interesting, you know, like
465
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,600
I'll frame your question, both
of your questions in the sense
466
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,400
that, you know, the ultimate
goal of exploration is I think
467
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,880
to get to a discovery, right, to
discover something new.
468
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,840
And the thing that I kind of
took away from was that I think
469
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,760
I had a very immature view or
discovery was prior to prior to
470
00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:33,960
going through the whole concept
of exploration radio.
471
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,840
What was that?
Is that discovery was really,
472
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:42,520
you know, like a like a moment
in time with an individual,
473
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,720
right?
And I think both of those aren't
474
00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:46,160
true.
I don't think discovery is a
475
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,240
moment in time.
I think it's more like a movie
476
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,680
that has many moving parts and
takes a while to to unravel.
477
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,520
And I don't think it's ever an
individual.
478
00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:00,920
I think it's the the role the
individual plays is how they
479
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,880
interact with certain moments in
time or certain, let's call them
480
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,480
decisions, right?
Because that's I think a much
481
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,000
more easier way to understand
how they interact with certain
482
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,040
decisions at that moment in
time.
483
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,360
But I don't think it's ever
like, yeah, that was my view,
484
00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:17,000
right?
Like it's like, you know, like,
485
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,320
and also like, you know, like
kind of like I think some of
486
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,920
the, the, the constructs around
like, you know, like the WMC
487
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:25,880
kind of way of discovering, you
know, it was always like, you
488
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,400
know, there was like, you know,
it's Doug Haynes is the guy that
489
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,080
discovered this.
And as you unravel it, you
490
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,720
realize actually, you know, like
he played a part like, you know,
491
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:37,040
but but it was a movie.
He was one starring character in
492
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:38,760
it.
There were other people that in
493
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,560
the first act of the movie were
actually massively important,
494
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,240
but they had faded by the time
the final act came around.
495
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,720
And and so I think that's what I
kind of got out of it was that,
496
00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:52,320
you know, like when you look at
successful people, they, you
497
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,640
know, like, yeah, they were
important, but but they were in
498
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,440
an environment that I think
allowed them to to be successful
499
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,960
because of the people they had
or the way they interacted with
500
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:02,480
moments and all of those type of
things.
501
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,600
And now when I look at
discoveries, that's the lens I
502
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:07,920
take.
I don't I don't take that lens
503
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:12,720
that, you know, it was, you
know, person X and they were,
504
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:14,160
you know, and they did it on a
Monday.
505
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,160
Like, you know, I don't think
that's how other stories work.
506
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,200
I think they are much more
evolved in that sense.
507
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:21,800
And that's the lesson I got out
of it.
508
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,400
When you talk to them, like, you
know, Bennett, you talk to him
509
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,320
like I'll give you an example,
like the discovery of Sirius
510
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,920
doesn't happen if Bennett was
not an Apex, right.
511
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:33,360
And Apex was a corporate
disaster.
512
00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,080
Like, you know, we talk about it
on the on the show.
513
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,320
So it's because Apex happened
then, you know, there was a link
514
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,200
with Creasy.
There was this relationship
515
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,560
built between Mark and Creasy at
the time where, you know, like
516
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,720
Mark had a favourable
relationship with Creasy.
517
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,360
There was someone else who
didn't have a favourable
518
00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:51,640
relationship with Creasy was the
other executive in the company
519
00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:53,560
at the time.
And Mark had a falling out with
520
00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:55,320
him, but he got along with
Creasy.
521
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,680
And so, yeah, So all of that
relationship like, you know,
522
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,880
that was the ACT, act one of the
serious discovery, right?
523
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,680
Serious was act three.
That doesn't happen unless that
524
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,080
that that doesn't occur.
Now if they can.
525
00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:09,840
Go back all the way to
Thunderbox and probably before
526
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:11,440
that.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
527
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,880
So, you know, so Mark's own
movie in that sense has to be
528
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,960
that, you know, like he acted a
certain way to find Thunderbox
529
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,440
and Waterloo and the other
discoveries he'd made, which
530
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,600
ostracized him to a large degree
in, in the organizations that he
531
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:27,680
was in.
But it allowed him to go out and
532
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:29,480
do his own thing in, in, in that
sense.
533
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:31,400
And so, you know, so that's what
I mean.
534
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,560
Like, you know, like that's the
thing that I got away.
535
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,280
And, and I was, I'd seen Mark
probably talk about serious, I
536
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,160
don't know, 5 or 6 times during
that time.
537
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,880
And I don't think I ever got
that part of the story out of
538
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,880
him until he came on the show
And he kind of like, like
539
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,560
unraveled it all.
And maybe he unraveled it in
540
00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:49,880
real time with us.
I, I think so.
541
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,800
I think I can remember back to
the second interview or the
542
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,640
second part of the first
interview we did with him where
543
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,280
I think we got him to a space
where he was saying things for
544
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:03,520
the first time.
So everybody in one of the
545
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:08,000
things that is a mistake about
discoveries is they're told
546
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,960
retrospectively and all the
warts are ironed out
547
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,360
retrospectively.
And it isn't just corporate
548
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:19,000
speak, it's just human nature.
So if expression discovery
549
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,600
happens under such high
uncertainty, nothing like the
550
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,960
rest of the mining chain that
when we look back on it, like
551
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,680
orders of magnitude higher
uncertainties, What we do, we
552
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,960
solve for uncertainty.
But what people don't realize is
553
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,600
it's just full of moments of
absolute indecision.
554
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,800
Decision paralysis is the norm
in this business.
555
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,440
And so it's easy to not act.
So someone like Bennett knows
556
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,320
how to go through those moments.
Someone like Creasy knows how to
557
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,040
hire the right people who go
through those moments.
558
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,800
Yeah.
And I learned, you know, and I
559
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,760
actually learned this from Ahmed
during the podcast because we've
560
00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:58,480
spent a lot of time together
over the years.
561
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,040
Ahmed has a tendency to act
before I do.
562
00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:05,040
We've had this conversation many
times.
563
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:06,560
And we can tell some stories
about this.
564
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,120
And he solves for these problems
and it's taught me.
565
00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:13,000
So now I spend a bit of time,
probably over overly talking the
566
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,480
talk.
Nowadays I walk the talk way
567
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,920
more than talking the talk.
Does this, does this speak to a
568
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,480
a fundamental differing of
philosophy that that came out of
569
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,120
the WMC camps, By the way, like
when we've we've had a
570
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,960
conversation about this, the,
the camp that was the, the the
571
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,800
doers and the camp that was the
the thinkers.
572
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,040
Do you think it's related?
I, I mean, we, we've had this
573
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,920
conversation before around like,
yeah, like, I think like, I
574
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,120
mean, I like, again, like, you
know, this is also, I think, you
575
00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:43,880
know, before you kind of jump
in, like you asked about like
576
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:48,520
what, what also changed is I
also, you know, like I also had
577
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,720
a pretty immature view about
like, you know, the culture I
578
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,680
say like in WMC, like the
exploration culture in WMC,
579
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:55,880
right?
Like I had a pretty immature
580
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,600
view about how like what made
that culture work?
581
00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:03,000
And also talking to someone like
Bennett, you know, like he, he
582
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,200
gave us a lot more about what
that culture looked like, you
583
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,560
know, like, because he wasn't,
you know, like even though I
584
00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,160
think he desperately probably
wanted to be, he wasn't part of
585
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,720
the like the technical kind of
group in that sense.
586
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,440
Yeah.
He was more the doer and so and
587
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,480
then that, I think, I think that
worked in his favor, but it also
588
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:22,960
irritated other people inside
the organization, which is why
589
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,680
he didn't kind of fit right.
So, yeah, so I think in a
590
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,120
nutshell, yeah, that difference
between the thinker and the
591
00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:32,320
doer, I got completely different
lessons out of what Bennett did
592
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,920
in the sense that Bennett just
did shit right and you go, okay,
593
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:40,000
well, you can sit around and
think as much as you can, but at
594
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:41,680
some point you just got to go do
things right.
595
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,400
So, you know, so and in that
process, yeah, you're going to
596
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,080
get things wrong.
But you know, like on the whole
597
00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:50,240
you like, yeah, it's a yeah.
Like I always ask this question
598
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:52,880
like in order to find islands,
you know, you got to get wet
599
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:54,400
first, right?
Like you got to go into the
600
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,640
ocean at some point.
And that's kind of the idea that
601
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,920
I kind of got out of it.
So we we actually talked about
602
00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:03,600
this in with John Van about the
concept of building things as
603
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,360
you go.
But it's very easy to say those
604
00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:11,960
words and way more difficult to
actually do it to commit to
605
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,920
something that you don't fully
know how is going to turn out.
606
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:16,320
And that's the kind of world
that we live in.
607
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,520
And one of the beauties of let's
go with Julian Malnick.
608
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:21,440
We'll go with Bennett from the
star.
609
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:26,120
Is that confident to start the
process when you don't know
610
00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:29,080
where you're going?
Now, this is what makes it
611
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,760
really hard in the corporate
world or even with the investor
612
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:37,000
world is if I phrase it like
that, that sounds nonsense, but
613
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,480
it is in fact the problem.
The problem is some of the most
614
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:46,520
meaning thing, things that
happen require you to turn 5050
615
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:51,040
decisions into 5149.
They require a level of optimism
616
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,840
and uncertainty that is nothing
like the rest of the mining
617
00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:57,040
value chain.
And one of the things that I
618
00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:02,000
think I learned through the
podcast is we have lost the
619
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,120
ability to treat mineral
expression as a completely
620
00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,720
discreet and separate challenge
to the rest of the mining value
621
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,520
chain because we've lumped it
all in, because we are, they are
622
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,360
the client, because it is one
process, because we are funded
623
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,280
by them.
And we have allowed ourselves to
624
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,360
not be brave enough to stand up
and say, hey, wait a minute, we
625
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,960
are nothing like this in terms
of personality styles and
626
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,840
drivers.
What's the special source that
627
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:36,560
makes us drive is X?
And we should be in a world
628
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,560
where we can live inside the
both organizations with vastly
629
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:43,000
different diversity, cognitive
diversity.
630
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:45,520
Now, it's all well and good to
say that.
631
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,240
Try doing that inside a
corporation.
632
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,400
It's actually quite challenging.
But that is the challenge and
633
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:53,600
part of the reason we're getting
our ass kicked by, let's call it
634
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,120
autocratic countries.
It's because the more and more
635
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,520
people you involve in the
decision making process, the
636
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:04,800
harder everyone's going to get.
And we have to solve for that
637
00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:06,800
question.
We have to solve for that
638
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:11,680
because if you want a democratic
way of doing all this, why are
639
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,280
you asking why Friedland and
Bennett and and Creasy and you
640
00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,840
name it are more successful?
They're making those really,
641
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,400
really hard decisions and you're
not.
642
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,600
You, you also wrote not too long
ago, I think you posted on, on
643
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,120
LinkedIn about this, about a
sort of decline in exploration
644
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:30,760
across the, the Western world.
And that's not limited to
645
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,040
mineral resource exploration.
Why?
646
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:38,000
Why do you think that is?
So I think one of the things
647
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,960
that I've learnt across this
process and, and the podcast
648
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,680
helps because you got to talk to
a lot of other people and bounce
649
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,960
ideas about this, is that most
of our issues on a daily basis
650
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,440
are what I would broadly call
behavioural.
651
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,200
And I'll actually challenge
anybody who's listening to this,
652
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,320
who's an exploration.
As scientists, we tend to solve
653
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,360
problems with science.
We tend to look at it through a
654
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,200
scientific lens.
As investors, we tend to solve
655
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,920
things through our finance.
But actually, what are the
656
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,400
problems you are dealing with on
a day-to-day basis?
657
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:15,280
I would say nearly 100% of mine,
and I'll challenge anyone else,
658
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:19,520
these problems are behavioural.
That is, why are people doing
659
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,720
things like this?
So let's go for a concrete
660
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,400
example.
Why do people believe that
661
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,960
advanced projects are low risk?
Because they have more
662
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:30,800
information.
I know John's mentioned this,
663
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:36,640
but it's absolutely ridiculous.
It's just not the case in 99.99%
664
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,240
of the situations.
This is really, really poor way
665
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:42,960
to run a business, I don't
think.
666
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,160
I think it's that people aren't
thinking this through.
667
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:46,800
They're just doing what everyone
else says.
668
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,360
That might be offensive to some,
but it doesn't make any sense to
669
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,800
me.
The words you're saying are this
670
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,000
is low risk.
It's like, no, no, this is
671
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,000
highest risk thing I can think
of to do in the industry.
672
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,400
We are clearly talking past each
other here.
673
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:05,120
We are clearly not talking the
same language.
674
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:09,000
Maybe it's semantic.
Whatever it is, we are not
675
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,720
communicating because I don't
understand what you're talking
676
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:13,640
about.
I really don't understand.
677
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,120
Yeah.
And I think this is, yeah, it's
678
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:17,400
a good point.
Like, yeah, this is another
679
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:19,240
thing that we often talked
about.
680
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:21,640
And this is like one of the
things that we wanted to get out
681
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:27,920
of certain interviews often was
this, you know, like this
682
00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,040
fuzziness about why people
couldn't go and kind of do
683
00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:33,400
something right, that they, you
know, like, what was the
684
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,480
barrier?
Why it kind of kind of got to
685
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:37,720
that, Yeah.
When you look at, you know, like
686
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,240
certain successful people, like,
you know, we've had, like, Chuck
687
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,440
Fitki, I think was the same.
You know, like you Bennett would
688
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:45,480
obviously be the same.
You know, like all of these
689
00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:46,960
individuals.
You kind of like, Malnick was a
690
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,440
classic one, right?
Like Julian Malnick.
691
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:51,440
Yeah.
Like he developed a company
692
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,880
because he'd read the story of
the Glomar Explorer, you know,
693
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,320
like this ship that went out and
explored the, you know, the
694
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,200
bottom of the ocean.
And so he like that, that's all
695
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:05,280
it took for him to go and start
a company about deep sea mining
696
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,720
because he read a book where he
was, I think it's 14 or
697
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:09,440
something.
I don't know, it was a teenager,
698
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,160
right?
And you go, man, like his
699
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,920
threshold was pretty low, right.
And so and then and obviously,
700
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,720
you know, like we have sat in,
you know, you, you know, I have
701
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,400
sat in the same organisations.
And we would go and sometimes
702
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,640
look at, you know, like, how
come we didn't do that?
703
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,960
And it's, and it's because, yes,
somewhere along the line,
704
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,280
someone has set a threshold that
was so artificially high that we
705
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,840
were never going to do it
because it was easier to say no
706
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:34,640
to not doing it than to actually
go do it.
707
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:36,960
Yeah.
Malnik started a deep sea mining
708
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,280
company because he had a a
childhood kind of dream about
709
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,720
the global explorer.
It's fascinating.
710
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,440
So that sounds romantic.
And that's, to answer your
711
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:52,160
question properly, exploration
is actually a universal
712
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,000
biological trait.
We don't really think about it
713
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,960
like this because we work in
mineral expression.
714
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:02,240
And all I've been trying to do
is get people to realize that
715
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:04,480
this is a universal trait for
all biology.
716
00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:06,640
And I can give you hundreds of
examples.
717
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,239
And as a result, there are many
things that we know and learn.
718
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:15,120
And so it's very clear that the
world is backing away from this.
719
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,000
We could go into why because
it's free.
720
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:21,080
One of it's fairly logical.
So let's throw one example up.
721
00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:24,120
If I give you access to
absolutely everything you've
722
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:26,800
ever wanted, every piece of
information you think you
723
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:31,280
wanted, then you are going to
react to that information.
724
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,199
You can maybe try and curate
that information, but you're
725
00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:36,960
going to be swamped.
Let me phrase it another way.
726
00:34:37,199 --> 00:34:41,560
You are distracted.
You are distracted by volume of
727
00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,520
data, not necessarily volume of
knowledge.
728
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:47,239
Let me tell you that most of the
things you need in mineral
729
00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,159
expression are not written down.
They're 100% tacit.
730
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,880
So when we see people going AI
route, we see people with a
731
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:59,640
possession with GPT, you're
like, you are philosophically
732
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:03,840
and biologically not aligned
with what needs to be done.
733
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:07,080
You have gone down a path and I
understand why.
734
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,480
It's like my phone.
My phone just gives me the
735
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,200
content that I it knows I want
to to see.
736
00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:15,000
That's happening to all of us
and it's getting worse and
737
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:16,920
worse.
Now everybody at this table
738
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:20,160
knows this is the case.
The real challenge is not what
739
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,040
I've just said.
It's actually how you deal with
740
00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:24,160
it.
But the reality is we're
741
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,800
avoiding.
So why would we avoid something?
742
00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:30,600
So let's make it a honeybee.
Let's make something a little
743
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:32,640
bit more concrete.
You're a honeybee and you want
744
00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:35,120
to go off and find some some.
Honeybee part is the more
745
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:40,520
concrete part for people.
I never said it wasn't, so
746
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:42,640
actually just a detail on that a
lot of people got.
747
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,240
That one of the Modern Family
like famous code.
748
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:48,000
It's like, it's like standing in
the Meadow with a ladder and
749
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:49,560
it's like, and how big was the
mouse?
750
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:50,840
It's like, well, it was as big
as a car.
751
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,160
And he's like, how can a mouse
be as big as a car?
752
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,160
He's like you're standing in the
middle in a Meadow on a ladder
753
00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:57,480
with a mouse.
You're like, that's when you
754
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:59,960
want to play logic police like
this is another time.
755
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:04,600
So people, I am an abstract kind
of guy and and McHale, who's a
756
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:07,080
friend of ours who is actually
an abstract kind of guy who was
757
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:09,160
always going, Steve, you're way
too abstract.
758
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,560
I mean, that's not good coming
from McHale.
759
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,280
That's what.
So why would you go abstract?
760
00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:18,840
It's to either illustrate a
point using language that's
761
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:23,840
bigger than my expertise or my
niche is to try and make it a
762
00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:26,400
common language.
And the other one is because the
763
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,920
problem, it might be higher
level.
764
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,880
So we sit there, this
conversation about why is
765
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:35,160
expression declining.
The easy way to answer is to get
766
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:37,440
talk about financing.
And these things are real.
767
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:41,280
But you know what, there's
several levels below the actual
768
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,840
problem.
I'll give you an illustration.
769
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:47,280
If the problem was strictly
financing, why is expression
770
00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:50,280
declining all the way through
the value chain from majors to
771
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,480
juniors?
It's many things that are
772
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:55,080
broken.
It's many elements that are not
773
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,040
going right.
It's actually a lot higher level
774
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:00,800
problems.
And the financing is a
775
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,680
derivative problem.
And if you want to solve these
776
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:06,240
problems, sometimes you've got
to get them up there.
777
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:09,000
And so when people say, oh,
you're being too abstract, it's
778
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:13,480
like, that's why I'm not going
to apologize because I know that
779
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:19,160
I need to somehow get people to
listen to these more abstract
780
00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:20,880
concepts, concepts like the
honeybee.
781
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,480
So the honeybee, if the honeybee
doesn't go off and find new
782
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:29,160
resources, he's going to die.
OK, There is nothing that can be
783
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:30,760
done.
It's a biological need to
784
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,440
explore.
Now, that seems rather a serious
785
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,440
way to take this conversation,
to imply that mineral explorers
786
00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:38,440
are going to die.
But it's clearly true.
787
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:42,040
Exploration is a need, and it
has to be balanced against
788
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,520
exploitation, which in this case
we could call the actual mining.
789
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,200
They're different.
So there's only a scout bee that
790
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,400
heads off.
The scout bee heads off and does
791
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,560
all the uncertainty of finding
the next series of results,
792
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:58,160
comes back, does a little waggle
dance, tells everyone else, and
793
00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:01,120
then come the resource drones.
That's actually how the whole
794
00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:04,040
process works.
That's the same as glial cells
795
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,640
in your brain.
Every biological life form, I
796
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:11,880
mean it, every one of them.
If you stop exploring, you don't
797
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:15,160
find new things.
If I keep telling you you've got
798
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:17,880
a source of honey and I keep
supplying it on your phone all
799
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:23,480
the time, you will never leave
for the new resource site.
800
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:28,280
You will never save the hive.
And that is what's going on.
801
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,240
We don't need to.
And it's always been a
802
00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:35,000
biological need.
Exploration is a biological
803
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:36,720
need.
And I think.
804
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,480
You know, and so now you get a
window into the conversations we
805
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,200
used to have before we did.
Yeah.
806
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:44,120
Like Steve would go on these
abstract things and like, I
807
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,920
would walk out going, what the
hell we were talking about at
808
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:48,120
the end, you know, like, how's
that?
809
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:50,920
Like, how can I condense that
into a podcast episode out of
810
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:52,200
that?
You know, like, can we go into
811
00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:54,920
your honeybee out of that?
But yeah, like, I mean, one of
812
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:57,440
the things that we like, you
know, like it's it's always
813
00:38:57,440 --> 00:38:59,560
interesting when when people
always ask me like, you know,
814
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:02,320
like, why is exploration so bad
now?
815
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,520
Right.
And I think, yeah, So like what
816
00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,000
we wanted to do, and I don't
know how successfully we did it,
817
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,600
right, but we wanted to go
through the gears, right, to say
818
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:15,080
that, you know, the obvious
thing is that there's like a
819
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,200
capability and a finance
problem, right?
820
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:20,080
Like, yeah, like we don't, we
probably don't have the right
821
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:23,840
amount of capability inside
companies to to properly explore
822
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:26,760
and we don't have the finances
to kind of do it right.
823
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:28,080
Like that.
That's I think the immediate
824
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:29,720
thing.
Then you can go, I think all the
825
00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:32,520
way to the other end of the
abstract and go, well, you know,
826
00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:37,480
like, are we like culturally or
like socially in a, in a, in an
827
00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:39,200
abstract way?
Are we culturally and socially
828
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:42,080
in a point where we just not
value exploration the same way
829
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:45,040
as we value exploitation, right,
Because that that could be the
830
00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:47,120
other things.
And so when we like, you know,
831
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:51,320
we would like dissect these kind
of like these topics on our
832
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,520
podcast, we were like, well, how
can we go?
833
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:56,720
How can we condense something
really big into something small?
834
00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,800
And how can we have something
small and show how it impacts on
835
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:01,880
something greater?
All right.
836
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:04,440
And, and I think like
exploration kind of sits in the
837
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,120
sense I'm not sure.
Like, like my personal belief is
838
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,160
I don't think it's there's one
or the other.
839
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,960
I think that the finance
problem, I think yeah, is a
840
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,600
small thing, but I think it
leads to a bigger thing where
841
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:17,880
you know, like you're.
If you're someone that wants to
842
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,880
go explore, you're probably not
incentivized to kind of start an
843
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:23,520
exploration company because
you're more incentivized to
844
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:27,520
start a exploitation company.
So you yourself change your
845
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,520
skill set to go down that path,
right?
846
00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:32,280
Like, yeah, like there's no
like, and you see this in like,
847
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:33,960
it's not just exploration.
Like, you know, like I play
848
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,400
around in the startup space and
you're finding it in startups as
849
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,080
well, right?
That they like they, you know,
850
00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,440
like there's now a completely
different shift in like, I'll
851
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:43,600
give you an example.
Like, you know, there was a
852
00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,960
pretty well known rule that in
order to get to like a Unicorn,
853
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:50,200
a billion dollar company, it
would take you X number of years
854
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:53,440
and that X was a large number,
like 7 to 10 years, right, to
855
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:55,720
get to it.
And then there's now there's
856
00:40:55,720 --> 00:40:59,200
belief that spread out because
of the like the success of some
857
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:03,200
large software companies early
on that you can get to a Unicorn
858
00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:07,200
in two to three years, that you
can get a billion dollar
859
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:09,880
company, right?
So now when you go to investors,
860
00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:12,240
obviously investors will want to
invest into a billion dollar
861
00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:15,880
company, right?
So they have now actively chosen
862
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:18,400
to believe the part that it can
be done in two to three years,
863
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:21,320
when in fact, it's actually
going to take 7 to 10 years to
864
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,400
get get to that level, right.
And for example, Amazon, you
865
00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:27,160
know, like lost money for 1718
years before it got to a point
866
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:29,040
where actually turned turned a
profit.
867
00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:31,760
It's so all of these kind of
things.
868
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:33,440
So when I look at exploration,
you know, like one of the
869
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:38,360
narratives I think that we have
misled people on is that I, I
870
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:42,440
think we have sold it as a short
term endeavour and it never was,
871
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:44,280
It was always a long term
endeavour.
872
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:47,200
It always takes a while.
Whether that's technically,
873
00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:49,760
whether that's commercially
like, however you want to look
874
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:52,120
at it, it was always a long term
endeavour.
875
00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:54,800
And we have sold it as a short
term endeavour.
876
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:59,000
And so now we have created this
malaise where everyone thinks
877
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:01,920
that, oh, it's only going to
take like 3 years to go find a
878
00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:04,320
Greenfield discovery.
Well, that's never going to be
879
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:06,640
the case, right?
Yeah, to say what you've said in
880
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:09,480
different words, which is
something I think you've spoken
881
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:11,800
about Steve and Ahmad we've
touched on previously.
882
00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:16,680
Steve, you spoke about Nurulsk
being discovered over a space of
883
00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:19,960
decades.
It's bit by bit by bit, Ahmed.
884
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:23,920
We've spoken about Escondida.
The Escondida we know 40 plus
885
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:27,240
years later is not what they
first discovered when they put
886
00:42:27,240 --> 00:42:28,560
those.
It's gone through like 18
887
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:30,760
expansions or whatever it is.
You get to the size that it is
888
00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:32,040
now.
So you need to see something
889
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:36,560
like a vicuna or whatever what
Filo did and similar type
890
00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:40,360
projects and have the sort of
vision in a sense and the
891
00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:42,880
patience to your point that
acknowledge that this takes
892
00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:45,120
time.
Yeah, I just, I just think it's,
893
00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:48,840
you know, like when I, like I
obviously sat inside companies,
894
00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:50,880
I sat on the investor side of
the idea.
895
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:54,000
Like I think this is the, the,
the, the message that I find
896
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:58,960
that we have misled people on
really grossly is that, you
897
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:01,080
know, like even technical people
kind of do it.
898
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:03,560
You know, like you look at like
the Russians, like, you know,
899
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:06,720
like the Russians did.
I like as part of this, like
900
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:09,480
Nurul's talk that I'll do, I'll
talk about how many expeditions
901
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:12,240
they did, right?
They like between the time that
902
00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:15,960
they first found coal in the
time of peninsula to the point
903
00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:19,720
where they found talanac, which
is the big deposit now, you
904
00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:22,400
know, they were somewhere on the
order of 112 different
905
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:27,040
expeditions, right, over years.
And so, so 100.
906
00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:29,680
So let's transfer that into an
expiration program, right?
907
00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:33,920
They had 112 expiration programs
to get to to that discovery over
908
00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:37,600
a period of 42 years.
I think it was right.
909
00:43:37,600 --> 00:43:42,640
So, so why do we have this
perception that you can go find
910
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:46,320
Talmac or something like that in
the new area in three years?
911
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:49,880
I mean, what lunatic has come up
with this concept, right?
912
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:55,160
And so and now like, and and I
get it that year, like if I'm in
913
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:58,440
the company and I was in the
junior expiration company, we
914
00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,520
sell the dream that, you know,
like, oh man, next program, it's
915
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,560
going to tell us exactly what we
need to know, right?
916
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:07,320
It's not it's not gonna like
maybe it might, right?
917
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:09,160
There's a small percentage.
It might, but.
918
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:12,240
It's the instant gratification
from all that swiping.
919
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:14,120
Yeah, I think so.
I mean, like, I don't know,
920
00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:16,040
like, yeah, maybe that's a good
way to put it, right?
921
00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:18,760
Like we're doing the instant
gratification of swipe left,
922
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:21,560
swipe right on exploration
programs now.
923
00:44:22,240 --> 00:44:25,120
Let's turn this around because
this is where I've been going in
924
00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:30,360
the last few years outside of
the podcast is times.
925
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:35,040
I actually think it's the issue.
And as you've pointed out, I
926
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:38,440
think technical people don't
even fully appreciate how long
927
00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:41,360
it takes to do these things.
So I don't think you can do
928
00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:46,880
meaningful exploration as a
result when there are retail
929
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:50,080
investors involved.
OK, be cool.
930
00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:54,400
As soon as you've got people
with that sort of mentality,
931
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:56,400
things have to be way more
concrete.
932
00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:59,840
And that's causing people to go
this advanced project rate
933
00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:02,720
because they think that means
concrete or closer to being a
934
00:45:02,720 --> 00:45:04,040
mine.
Of course it doesn't.
935
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:08,560
Most of them are further away.
That's the that's the misleading
936
00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:10,880
part that I don't know how that
I don't understand.
937
00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:14,360
So people think Greenfield's
exploration will take too long.
938
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:18,440
So let's turn this around and
go, why isn't a community?
939
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:24,080
Don't we accept that the world
is what it is, it's changed and
940
00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:27,600
the we all have phones and we
all have social media and we are
941
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:32,480
all on the ADHD spectrum.
So why don't we all accept this
942
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:36,280
and now turn back towards us and
say, how do we change mineral
943
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:41,040
expression to do this faster?
How do we find, let's go for a
944
00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:43,920
really radical one?
How do we find neuroscan 3 years
945
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:47,560
And the standard answer to that
should be can't be done.
946
00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:50,440
Welcome to the challenge.
Welcome.
947
00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:54,360
Why should we we talk about we
aren't recruiting the best and
948
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:56,880
the brightest.
Well, one of them is an image
949
00:45:56,880 --> 00:46:00,520
problem, but I actually still
think that isn't even the high
950
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:02,640
enough level.
If you want the best and
951
00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:05,360
brightest, show me the
challenge.
952
00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:08,400
Show us the challenge for why
this it is.
953
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:12,280
Put something in front of them.
If the critical minerals,
954
00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:16,560
critical metals theme is correct
and we aren't going to find
955
00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:19,760
enough copper, and we can have
that argument, but say we need
956
00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:23,400
to find these really big new
deposits that'll lead us into
957
00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:29,440
the next century, then we are
not going to make it by working
958
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:33,520
business as usual.
We need a transition into a
959
00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:36,080
fundamentally different style of
mineral expression.
960
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:40,120
And Ahmad's looking at me like,
do you really think you could do
961
00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:44,040
this in three years?
No, but I do think that's the
962
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:47,040
direction we should be going.
I mean, yeah, that's this is an
963
00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:52,280
important question, right?
Like if, if, if the question is
964
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:55,160
that we need to find the risk in
three years, then the way we
965
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:56,720
operate is not how we should be
operating.
966
00:46:56,720 --> 00:47:00,840
Correct.
You gotta change the way.
967
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:03,200
It's like me saying I want a six
pack, but I'm never gonna go to
968
00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:05,680
the gym.
Like at some point I'm gonna
969
00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:08,960
have to change the way that I
operate to in order to get the
970
00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:12,760
fitness level that I need.
And that I think is like, I
971
00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:15,040
think we talk about the fact
that people say like, yeah, like
972
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:18,080
we're going to find the risk in
in three years and we're going
973
00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:19,800
to do it by drilling 1 hole a
year.
974
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:22,480
Exactly.
You know, like, that's insane.
975
00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:24,440
Like, that's not going to like,
you know, like, so on one hand
976
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:26,840
you're telling me the story, but
your behaviour is actually
977
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:28,600
eliciting a completely different
outcome.
978
00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:31,920
Is that word again behaviour?
So I think this is the problem.
979
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,240
There's just a disconnect from
what we're capable of doing and
980
00:47:35,240 --> 00:47:38,520
what we end up doing.
So actually, if you listen to
981
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:41,120
someone like John, you listen to
there's just so many words of
982
00:47:41,120 --> 00:47:44,120
wisdom and what he talked about
and you're like, is that
983
00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:48,240
translating on the ground?
And the question, that's a
984
00:47:48,240 --> 00:47:51,400
rhetorical question.
The question is, why is it not?
985
00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:56,080
Why is it not translating?
And the answer is, we've evolved
986
00:47:56,080 --> 00:48:00,280
from prospecting.
It's a real evolution, but we're
987
00:48:00,280 --> 00:48:02,400
transitioning into like another
world.
988
00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:08,120
And that world is a massive lift
in expectations, technologies
989
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:11,960
and capability.
And that's quite scary and.
990
00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:14,600
Even on an organizational level,
I think that they just never
991
00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:16,920
this understand, like, you know,
like I think it's easy to say
992
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:19,640
that, you know, this message is
out there and you can choose
993
00:48:19,640 --> 00:48:23,440
which one you want to like,
which one you want to digest and
994
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:24,720
which ones you don't want to
digest.
995
00:48:25,120 --> 00:48:27,160
But yeah, even in an
organization, I find like
996
00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:29,600
there's this like the right hand
or talking to the to the left
997
00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:32,200
hand kind of thing where like,
yeah, like I remember, you know,
998
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:34,520
we were both in an organization.
You can go check out which
999
00:48:34,520 --> 00:48:36,040
organization was in our LinkedIn
profile.
1000
00:48:36,240 --> 00:48:38,760
But yeah, like where we would be
like, we want to find a world
1001
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:41,160
class porphyry deposit.
Yeah.
1002
00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:44,960
And our own internal like, yeah,
analysis show that it would cost
1003
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:48,400
somewhere between like 100 to
$200 million to find one.
1004
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:50,200
Yeah.
And then our greenfields
1005
00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:53,120
exploration budget to find a
world class porphyry deposit was
1006
00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:57,000
$4 million.
Like, I mean, clearly the guy
1007
00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:59,840
that sits on the other end of
the the dog bone that I sit on
1008
00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:02,440
on the desk is telling me that
it's going to cost us $200
1009
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:05,120
million to get there and you're
giving me 4.
1010
00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:08,400
I mean that, that that's just, I
mean, that's a strategy built on
1011
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:10,600
just luck.
Like, yeah, it's.
1012
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:13,640
Built on hope.
So yeah, back to your point,
1013
00:49:13,640 --> 00:49:16,120
which is really, you know, we
want to find these special
1014
00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:18,880
deposits.
So you mentioned FILO or we
1015
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:21,240
could go back to the Neurilsk
and stuff, not all.
1016
00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:27,160
So let's rephrase this.
It's an axiom.
1017
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:30,240
So in other words, it's a
fundable belief that I have
1018
00:49:30,240 --> 00:49:31,920
that's different to a lot of
other people.
1019
00:49:32,160 --> 00:49:36,080
Those deposits are not bigger
versions of smaller deposits.
1020
00:49:36,440 --> 00:49:38,960
And as a result, they require
different mindsets and it can
1021
00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:40,560
fundamentally different
approaches.
1022
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:44,920
So you can't just turn up to any
random deposit and turn it into
1023
00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:48,400
the Nexnarelsk or turn it into
the next ESCON data.
1024
00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:52,880
It requires A dedicated act.
A lot of people think that's
1025
00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:56,040
just too hard to do, but I'll
tell you what's really hard to
1026
00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:57,760
do.
It's really hard to find
1027
00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:59,440
something like that without
doing it.
1028
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:02,640
That's the biggest problem that
we've got.
1029
00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:06,360
So if you don't, and this is
another one of my abstract
1030
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:10,760
moments, if Columbus doesn't
leave Lisbon, he's got no chance
1031
00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:12,800
of finding America or whatever
he finds.
1032
00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:16,080
It just isn't possible.
That's what we learned from the
1033
00:50:16,080 --> 00:50:18,120
podcast as well, from Bennett
and these people.
1034
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:22,240
A lot of people are saying
they're doing something and
1035
00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:26,360
they're never leaving the port
because maybe they don't know
1036
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:30,600
how to or maybe they disagree
with that axiom that I started
1037
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:32,600
with, which is that these are
different.
1038
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:36,560
Maybe they go no, no, maybe mine
could be different.
1039
00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:41,520
Sure, serendipity is a genuine
real thing in discovery.
1040
00:50:42,120 --> 00:50:49,000
But if you keep turning up to
the same abused flower beds and
1041
00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:55,360
hoping for an A real discovery
to drive the hive you driving,
1042
00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:58,160
you're making this really,
really hard on yourself from a
1043
00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:01,800
business perspective.
You are actually strategically
1044
00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:05,840
dropping down the probability of
success and the ROI.
1045
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:10,600
You are, and you don't know it,
but you are making this so much
1046
00:51:10,600 --> 00:51:13,080
harder for a return than you
need to.
1047
00:51:13,320 --> 00:51:14,920
Yeah, to get to the same goal,
yeah.
1048
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:17,920
I mean, I think this is where
like, you know, like, I think
1049
00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:19,800
your question, like, you know,
like what's kind of the like the
1050
00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:22,400
ailments in in exploration.
So I think I think that's kind
1051
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:26,600
of the the part is that maybe we
just don't walk the walk
1052
00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:29,240
anymore, right?
Like we're not really, you know,
1053
00:51:29,240 --> 00:51:32,640
like we're because maybe we've
been loud into the short term
1054
00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:35,640
malaise of like trying to do
things in in a short term
1055
00:51:35,640 --> 00:51:38,520
period.
I mean, one of the other things
1056
00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:42,440
that I, I now when I look back
at all the content that we
1057
00:51:42,440 --> 00:51:45,360
created, you know, like one of
the things I would do a lot,
1058
00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:49,480
something I would do differently
is really work on like what are
1059
00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:52,840
what some of the environmental
kind of aspects that that
1060
00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:58,160
created certain exploration
success as opposed to not right?
1061
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:01,800
I mean, I think like, you know,
like, you know, you posted this
1062
00:52:01,800 --> 00:52:03,800
thing about the like the
explorer's gene.
1063
00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:06,040
And I think, you know, like, I
think there, there is that
1064
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:10,120
component in there that maybe
we're we're not you, you can
1065
00:52:10,120 --> 00:52:11,600
look at that view in two ways,
right?
1066
00:52:11,600 --> 00:52:15,480
Like, I always think about it
this way in that I think we are
1067
00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:20,280
far more governed by our
environment that we work in than
1068
00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:24,240
any intrinsic kind of motivation
at at times, right?
1069
00:52:24,240 --> 00:52:26,960
Like, I think there there are
very few people.
1070
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:29,040
And maybe that's what separates
the really successful people
1071
00:52:29,040 --> 00:52:32,160
like Elon Musk and these guys
where their intrinsic motivation
1072
00:52:32,160 --> 00:52:34,080
always overrides the environment
they're in.
1073
00:52:34,480 --> 00:52:35,280
Always.
Yeah.
1074
00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:36,880
Like if they want to do
something, they're just going to
1075
00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:40,240
do it.
And there's also a trait that a
1076
00:52:40,240 --> 00:52:43,000
lot of psychopaths have, right?
Because, you know, like, because
1077
00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:45,600
they will not be bound by the
environment that they're in.
1078
00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:49,520
So hence the the fine line
between, you know, you know, a
1079
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:52,400
psychopath or not like anyways,
that's why I think that exists.
1080
00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:56,000
So when it's garnered, I think
to a positive outcome, you get
1081
00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:58,920
the wonderful things that Elon's
done and you create, you know,
1082
00:52:58,920 --> 00:53:00,960
like wonderful things.
And that's, I think what that
1083
00:53:00,960 --> 00:53:03,040
explorer's gene kind of book was
talking about.
1084
00:53:03,040 --> 00:53:07,000
I think that family had that,
you know, like intrinsic kind of
1085
00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:09,280
thing where they will override
whatever environment they're in
1086
00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:11,200
to get there.
Whereas I think a lot of the
1087
00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:14,160
other times it's the environment
that kind of dictates how people
1088
00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:16,960
behave and, and, and, and curbs
their behavior a lot.
1089
00:53:17,240 --> 00:53:19,680
And I see this a lot in the
startup world that, you know,
1090
00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:23,600
like a lot of entrepreneurs want
to be, you know, they want to be
1091
00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:27,400
the Elon Musk where they have
that intrinsic, you know,
1092
00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:30,800
override to the environment.
But a lot of them are actually
1093
00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:33,000
dictated by the environment they
kind of sit in.
1094
00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:37,360
And and I always like look back
now in exploration, like, you
1095
00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:39,120
know, like the stuff content
that we created and how would I
1096
00:53:39,120 --> 00:53:40,720
look at exploration?
And one of the things that I
1097
00:53:40,720 --> 00:53:44,080
often find out feel is that I
think the environment that we've
1098
00:53:44,080 --> 00:53:47,200
created in a lot of groups,
exploration groups, is this fear
1099
00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:50,600
of failure kind of kind of
environment in that.
1100
00:53:51,040 --> 00:53:54,080
And I and express this and I
will define it clearly in the
1101
00:53:54,080 --> 00:54:00,960
fact that fear, like failure, is
equal to incompetence, and I
1102
00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:02,160
don't think that's the case.
Not.
1103
00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:03,560
Not when you're dealing with
uncertainty.
1104
00:54:04,040 --> 00:54:06,120
Correct.
And I think that's what I think
1105
00:54:06,120 --> 00:54:08,920
that's the from an environmental
point of view.
1106
00:54:08,920 --> 00:54:11,640
Like if I go to like
organizations now and they ask
1107
00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:16,040
me how come we're not like how
come we're struggling as a as a,
1108
00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:17,920
as an organization to find
things.
1109
00:54:18,320 --> 00:54:20,920
I always think about the
environment you've created.
1110
00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:23,880
And often I find the environment
they've created is that failure
1111
00:54:23,880 --> 00:54:28,920
equals incompetence.
And so hence nobody wants to to
1112
00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:32,120
risk that.
In so many different sectors, we
1113
00:54:32,120 --> 00:54:36,480
are very scared that the Chinese
or the East, if you like, would
1114
00:54:36,720 --> 00:54:40,640
do these things before us and
metals of mining is no different
1115
00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:43,720
when it comes to the downstream
parts of it.
1116
00:54:43,720 --> 00:54:45,960
And I asked this question
knowing you've both worked at
1117
00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:50,000
Chinese business, but do you
fear that that part of the world
1118
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:52,760
will has that sort of motivation
or will make these big
1119
00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:56,440
discoveries and that becomes a
geopolitical issue?
1120
00:54:56,720 --> 00:54:57,800
Yeah.
I mean, I guess the one thing
1121
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:00,600
that, you know, like, like we
found in our time in MMGI mean
1122
00:55:00,640 --> 00:55:02,320
I'll be interested in your
perspective because you
1123
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:04,360
obviously started much, much
higher than me in the
1124
00:55:04,360 --> 00:55:07,040
organizational structure.
But what I found was that, you
1125
00:55:07,040 --> 00:55:13,240
know, we, we had a lens that we,
we could do things longer term.
1126
00:55:14,160 --> 00:55:17,720
Yeah, like so we weren't yeah,
like we weren't very like, you
1127
00:55:17,720 --> 00:55:19,720
know, we would come up with a
strategy and I I clearly
1128
00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:23,120
remember like, you know, in MMG
we had a strategy and like the
1129
00:55:23,320 --> 00:55:26,520
like min medals was that, you
know, you'll have seven years to
1130
00:55:26,520 --> 00:55:29,520
execute on this and after seven
years, we'll come back and talk
1131
00:55:29,520 --> 00:55:30,480
to you.
Right.
1132
00:55:30,480 --> 00:55:33,640
So it wasn't that you know, like
on a Monday, you have a
1133
00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:35,640
seven-year strategy, you know,
Thursday.
1134
00:55:35,640 --> 00:55:37,000
Hey, how's the seven-year
strategy going?
1135
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:40,080
Right?
Like I'm, whereas I find when I,
1136
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:42,080
as I, when I work as a
consultant for a lot of
1137
00:55:42,080 --> 00:55:44,640
companies, it's like, you know,
like we spend all this time
1138
00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:46,960
coming up with a strategy and
then it feels like they're like,
1139
00:55:46,960 --> 00:55:49,720
well, let's review that strategy
a month later and you're like,
1140
00:55:50,720 --> 00:55:52,840
you know, like, like the ink
hasn't even dried on the
1141
00:55:52,840 --> 00:55:54,200
strategy yet.
Like, you know, like, I don't
1142
00:55:54,200 --> 00:55:56,360
think we need to review it.
I think we need to let some,
1143
00:55:56,640 --> 00:56:00,440
some water run under the bridge.
And so, so I think that's one of
1144
00:56:00,440 --> 00:56:03,000
the things I found when I kind
of dealt with people there was
1145
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:06,440
like, you know, we have a
seven-year strategy and I, I, I
1146
00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:08,760
don't think it was, I mean, I
think they're tempered with it
1147
00:56:08,800 --> 00:56:11,960
closer to the seven-year period.
But I think for the large part,
1148
00:56:11,960 --> 00:56:15,640
you know, they kind of let us do
whatever we wanted to do for for
1149
00:56:15,640 --> 00:56:18,720
a while.
So I've worked for a few foreign
1150
00:56:18,720 --> 00:56:21,360
companies and and this is a
common conversation.
1151
00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:26,160
Let's, let's just be abrupt to
start with in terms of building
1152
00:56:26,160 --> 00:56:28,880
big things.
The West is getting its ass
1153
00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:35,080
kicked and we have to solve this
problem without moving towards
1154
00:56:35,080 --> 00:56:38,640
ideology because it's actually
not really ideology.
1155
00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:41,400
So it's not just that they've
got longer term plans, it's
1156
00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:44,600
actually they've got an element
of autocracy, which just means
1157
00:56:44,600 --> 00:56:46,880
they've just got a refined
decision making process.
1158
00:56:47,240 --> 00:56:49,800
And one of the reasons why this
relevant to mineral expression
1159
00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:53,240
is the earlier you go in the
value chain, the higher the
1160
00:56:53,240 --> 00:56:56,480
uncertainty, the harder the
decision making process is.
1161
00:56:57,400 --> 00:56:59,480
Now a lot of people who are at
the other end are going to be
1162
00:56:59,480 --> 00:57:02,520
offended by this, but I'm afraid
it's orders of magnitude harder
1163
00:57:02,880 --> 00:57:04,880
to make earlier exploration
decisions.
1164
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:09,120
Remember, we start from nothing.
There is nothing more uncertain
1165
00:57:09,120 --> 00:57:12,880
than nothing I've had.
It's not uncommon for me to get
1166
00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:17,000
good geos who come and work with
me who are not capable of
1167
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:19,920
dealing with this.
And and so sorry to interrupt,
1168
00:57:19,920 --> 00:57:21,800
but one thing I think it's
really important to know is
1169
00:57:21,800 --> 00:57:25,200
that, you know, like you start
with nothing and then the, the
1170
00:57:25,320 --> 00:57:30,640
incoming information can look
the same, but the payoff it
1171
00:57:30,640 --> 00:57:33,040
could have could be phenomenal,
right?
1172
00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:36,480
Like and and and and I think
that's always a challenge,
1173
00:57:36,480 --> 00:57:37,840
right?
Like, you know, like you look at
1174
00:57:37,840 --> 00:57:40,280
an early stage project and you
guys always ask me this stuff,
1175
00:57:40,360 --> 00:57:42,520
You know, previously when I've
been on here, you talk about
1176
00:57:42,520 --> 00:57:44,360
like, you know, like what
project is is going to be the
1177
00:57:44,360 --> 00:57:47,760
next big project, right?
And and sometimes like, you
1178
00:57:47,760 --> 00:57:50,160
know, they look the same, right?
Like there, there's something
1179
00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:52,440
like, you know, like, and then I
think that's hard.
1180
00:57:52,440 --> 00:57:55,720
Like I think that's hard to
communicate out to go, well, why
1181
00:57:55,720 --> 00:57:58,640
would you believe in this and
not this, right?
1182
00:57:58,640 --> 00:58:02,040
And and that and then really it
comes down to really belief,
1183
00:58:02,040 --> 00:58:04,640
right?
Like you have some tacit
1184
00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:07,440
knowledge or some like intrinsic
kind of thing that says, you
1185
00:58:07,440 --> 00:58:10,040
know what, I'm going to back
this one over this one, right?
1186
00:58:10,280 --> 00:58:13,360
And that's, I don't think that's
the easiest thing to write in a
1187
00:58:13,360 --> 00:58:15,840
memo to someone and say I
believe in this.
1188
00:58:15,840 --> 00:58:17,720
Right.
No, when we're trying to
1189
00:58:17,720 --> 00:58:22,160
translate this from the abstract
through to say, investment
1190
00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:23,840
community.
Well, it's like, you know, like,
1191
00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:26,960
like WMC probably did this where
like Roy Woodall would have the
1192
00:58:26,960 --> 00:58:28,880
like the, I guess the
relationship with the people
1193
00:58:28,880 --> 00:58:30,480
that were in certain things
where they would go.
1194
00:58:30,680 --> 00:58:31,960
Yeah, like, I'm going to go and
talk to Steve.
1195
00:58:31,960 --> 00:58:33,960
And if Steve says it, I'm going
to back him.
1196
00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:38,320
What that is, that's trust, and
the problem with bigger, more
1197
00:58:38,320 --> 00:58:41,680
democratic organisations is
scale just doesn't trust,
1198
00:58:41,680 --> 00:58:43,640
doesn't scale.
And that's actually we're
1199
00:58:43,640 --> 00:58:46,680
solving for.
So the Chinese, as you
1200
00:58:46,680 --> 00:58:50,000
mentioned, have solved that
element by taking it away.
1201
00:58:51,200 --> 00:58:54,520
And yeah, and so we're we're
offended, we're offended or the
1202
00:58:54,520 --> 00:58:56,360
Russians, we're offended by that
comment.
1203
00:58:56,520 --> 00:58:58,360
But actually it is a way of
getting stuff done.
1204
00:58:58,520 --> 00:59:00,680
Actually, Elon Musk has taken
that his way as well.
1205
00:59:00,840 --> 00:59:03,680
The reason why he's successful
is because he solved that
1206
00:59:03,680 --> 00:59:06,120
problem.
Let's let's let's come closer to
1207
00:59:06,120 --> 00:59:08,640
home.
Why is Mark Creasy or Robert
1208
00:59:08,640 --> 00:59:13,280
Friedland successful?
I honestly want everybody to
1209
00:59:13,280 --> 00:59:17,840
have a go at that because Robert
Friedland has found multiple
1210
00:59:17,840 --> 00:59:20,480
world class true tier one ore
bodies.
1211
00:59:20,640 --> 00:59:24,400
You cannot ignore that there's
some secret source going on
1212
00:59:24,400 --> 00:59:26,280
there.
And so if you're inside a big
1213
00:59:26,280 --> 00:59:30,240
corporation that's doing
nothing, look over the the fence
1214
00:59:30,240 --> 00:59:32,080
and ask yourself what's going on
there.
1215
00:59:32,440 --> 00:59:36,360
Well, well, one element is that
Robert, and he's probably
1216
00:59:36,360 --> 00:59:38,920
sounding abrupt, has the ability
to make these decisions.
1217
00:59:39,440 --> 00:59:42,840
It is entirely about the ability
to make a decisions under very
1218
00:59:42,840 --> 00:59:45,080
high uncertainty.
So what do we need to do there?
1219
00:59:45,440 --> 00:59:49,960
Well, the first one is own that
own the fact that not everybody
1220
00:59:50,560 --> 00:59:55,040
is capable and that it isn't
actually even a critique of your
1221
00:59:55,040 --> 00:59:57,760
capability.
So actually let's use a real
1222
00:59:57,760 --> 01:00:01,320
material example inside geology.
The difference between an early
1223
01:00:01,320 --> 01:00:05,840
stage expression geologist and a
mind geologist is more than
1224
01:00:05,840 --> 01:00:08,160
where they work.
It's actually.
1225
01:00:08,920 --> 01:00:12,960
Their comfort with uncertainty.
Let's let's put make the word
1226
01:00:12,960 --> 01:00:14,480
uncertainty a little bit more
abstract.
1227
01:00:14,640 --> 01:00:18,640
Uncertainty, phrased in common
parlance, is anxiety.
1228
01:00:19,440 --> 01:00:22,360
The 2 are synonymous.
If you're under high
1229
01:00:22,360 --> 01:00:24,800
uncertainty, you are under high
anxiety.
1230
01:00:25,040 --> 01:00:29,320
So you can now see why it's not
normal to deal with this kind of
1231
01:00:29,320 --> 01:00:32,000
level uncertainty.
It's not normal that everybody
1232
01:00:32,000 --> 01:00:32,920
wouldn't.
It's sorry.
1233
01:00:32,920 --> 01:00:35,200
It is normal that everyone will
want to avoid it.
1234
01:00:35,480 --> 01:00:38,520
So why is everyone avoiding it?
Because it's human nature.
1235
01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:41,760
So what kind of special
circumstances are required to
1236
01:00:41,760 --> 01:00:44,520
solve it?
Well, autocracy is actually one
1237
01:00:44,520 --> 01:00:47,280
way.
Let's try and think outside the
1238
01:00:47,280 --> 01:00:49,480
box.
Let's assume that the world
1239
01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:52,520
doesn't want us to go down an
ideological based solving
1240
01:00:52,520 --> 01:00:54,680
mechanism.
Let's say it just wants to
1241
01:00:54,680 --> 01:00:58,440
improve something.
So why is it taking too long to
1242
01:00:58,440 --> 01:01:00,960
build like Sydney's airport?
So why is it?
1243
01:01:01,160 --> 01:01:03,240
Why are these big things taking
so long?
1244
01:01:03,360 --> 01:01:04,800
Why are they running over
budget?
1245
01:01:05,080 --> 01:01:09,360
It's the same problem we're
running into high uncertainty
1246
01:01:09,600 --> 01:01:12,440
and we're getting more people
involved to make the decision,
1247
01:01:12,840 --> 01:01:16,640
more and more people who are
uncomfortable with the
1248
01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:19,480
uncertainty of making decisions.
So what's this?
1249
01:01:19,480 --> 01:01:24,360
What's special about Chuck 50?
Maybe he goes straight through
1250
01:01:24,360 --> 01:01:26,360
the uncertainty without even
considering it.
1251
01:01:27,120 --> 01:01:30,600
That might even be insulting,
but that is one way to deal with
1252
01:01:30,600 --> 01:01:32,560
it.
That's no different to the
1253
01:01:32,560 --> 01:01:37,640
Chinese going I'll solve it. 10
year plan, autocracy, problem
1254
01:01:37,640 --> 01:01:40,840
solved.
Solve the problem that you've
1255
01:01:40,840 --> 01:01:46,080
got, but don't complain about
that you can't solve the
1256
01:01:46,080 --> 01:01:49,080
problem, because that is
actually the problem that when
1257
01:01:49,080 --> 01:01:53,120
choosing not to solve what seems
like an intractable problem,
1258
01:01:53,360 --> 01:01:55,920
I've got 5 layers of management
to go through.
1259
01:01:57,080 --> 01:02:01,120
Well, that is my challenge. 5
layers of management.
1260
01:02:01,120 --> 01:02:04,240
You know what happens if I've
got a good idea for the next
1261
01:02:04,240 --> 01:02:06,760
Neurilsk with a massive
discovery?
1262
01:02:07,200 --> 01:02:10,240
If it has to go through 55
layers of management without
1263
01:02:10,240 --> 01:02:13,760
regressing to the mean, that's a
hell of a talking.
1264
01:02:13,960 --> 01:02:16,800
Somebody has talked their ass
off to get through 5 layers of
1265
01:02:16,800 --> 01:02:18,960
management.
The only way you get through 5
1266
01:02:18,960 --> 01:02:22,320
layers of management is if the
idea is obvious.
1267
01:02:22,640 --> 01:02:26,840
Or they just end up doing, doing
it without any kind of the
1268
01:02:26,880 --> 01:02:29,200
consequence, right.
And that's the, I mean, I think
1269
01:02:29,200 --> 01:02:31,360
that's the autocratic way,
right, Where they just go.
1270
01:02:31,400 --> 01:02:37,320
They take that that decision out
of other people's hands and take
1271
01:02:37,320 --> 01:02:39,080
it upon themselves to do it.
Yeah.
1272
01:02:39,080 --> 01:02:41,840
And I think that, I mean, like
when I met, when I met an
1273
01:02:41,840 --> 01:02:45,080
interview, Chuck, like, yeah,
every time you asked him a
1274
01:02:45,080 --> 01:02:46,800
question, like, why did you do
this?
1275
01:02:46,800 --> 01:02:50,200
He's like, yeah, I thought it
was something I needed to solve.
1276
01:02:50,600 --> 01:02:54,040
I said he just did it right.
And he's like, I'm like, you
1277
01:02:54,040 --> 01:02:56,160
know, like, yeah, like, not many
people know, but I don't know
1278
01:02:56,160 --> 01:02:57,760
how many people know.
I should have phrased it that
1279
01:02:57,760 --> 01:03:00,040
way.
And that Chuck runs a really
1280
01:03:00,280 --> 01:03:05,280
quite like leading edge kind of
mineral analysis lab that he is
1281
01:03:05,280 --> 01:03:07,520
largely built I think largely by
himself.
1282
01:03:07,520 --> 01:03:10,960
In his garage.
Yeah, like as an entity.
1283
01:03:10,960 --> 01:03:13,960
And he like asking me like, why
did you build a like a mineral
1284
01:03:13,960 --> 01:03:16,880
processing lab, analytical lab?
He's like, well, it was the one
1285
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:18,920
thing I knew how to do and I
could make money on.
1286
01:03:19,600 --> 01:03:21,000
And then so he just started,
right?
1287
01:03:21,000 --> 01:03:22,120
Like he just started in his
garage.
1288
01:03:22,120 --> 01:03:24,480
He processed other people's
samples and then he obviously
1289
01:03:24,480 --> 01:03:27,120
along the way he figured out
that there were issues in in
1290
01:03:27,120 --> 01:03:29,400
this way.
And so he just kept building
1291
01:03:29,400 --> 01:03:31,600
these things along the way.
I mean, I went and toured his
1292
01:03:31,600 --> 01:03:35,080
lab like, you know, like he has
probably world renowned PhDs.
1293
01:03:35,080 --> 01:03:38,840
He probably holds, holds more
patterns I think than the most
1294
01:03:39,160 --> 01:03:42,720
like ALS or anything like that
because he he invests in it.
1295
01:03:42,720 --> 01:03:45,400
They have their own software,
they have their own algorithms
1296
01:03:45,400 --> 01:03:46,880
that they run all of this type
of stuff.
1297
01:03:47,440 --> 01:03:49,960
He does it because he wants to
do it.
1298
01:03:49,960 --> 01:03:53,320
He takes a decision out of, out
of like other people's hands
1299
01:03:53,320 --> 01:03:55,360
about why like, you know, should
he do it?
1300
01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:58,480
Should he not do it?
You know, and, and so I think to
1301
01:03:58,480 --> 01:04:01,840
go back to your question about
the East and West, I think like
1302
01:04:02,320 --> 01:04:05,720
what the East does is the, the,
the general level manager, you
1303
01:04:05,720 --> 01:04:08,840
know, the five layers of middle
management that most people in
1304
01:04:08,840 --> 01:04:12,600
the West have to go through.
They just tell these guys, you
1305
01:04:12,600 --> 01:04:15,120
don't have to think, there you
go, this is what we're going to
1306
01:04:15,120 --> 01:04:16,960
do.
Just make sure that you do them
1307
01:04:17,240 --> 01:04:19,720
all the way to the end, right?
And then that's what they do.
1308
01:04:19,920 --> 01:04:22,880
Now there is a consequence to to
that, like it's probably not the
1309
01:04:22,880 --> 01:04:26,880
most efficient way of operating,
right?
1310
01:04:26,880 --> 01:04:30,760
But but I think that efficiency,
you know, maybe if you translate
1311
01:04:30,760 --> 01:04:33,640
into a a certain level of
failure rate, I think they
1312
01:04:33,640 --> 01:04:35,360
accept that they're just going
to have a certain level of
1313
01:04:35,360 --> 01:04:38,040
failure rate as they go and
they're happy to wear that
1314
01:04:38,040 --> 01:04:40,720
during the process.
Whereas I think we are paranoid
1315
01:04:40,720 --> 01:04:45,080
about that level of a failure
because we have to justify like
1316
01:04:45,080 --> 01:04:46,760
how we wasted the money, We're
going to waste the money
1317
01:04:46,760 --> 01:04:48,640
anyways.
Why don't we waste it and learn
1318
01:04:48,640 --> 01:04:52,000
something along the way rather
than having endless meetings and
1319
01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:54,160
five levels of management and
wasting the money anyways?
1320
01:04:54,240 --> 01:04:58,640
Let's, let's talk about the new
emerging country in the space,
1321
01:04:58,640 --> 01:05:02,320
which is Saudi Arabia.
So Saudi to me is in the same
1322
01:05:02,320 --> 01:05:07,360
situation as China has been.
They're starting from near 0 in
1323
01:05:07,360 --> 01:05:11,520
terms of mineral expression, but
they're heavily committed and
1324
01:05:11,520 --> 01:05:14,880
they bring in the best and
brightest and they're going to
1325
01:05:14,880 --> 01:05:17,400
do it differently.
And they've committed so heavily
1326
01:05:17,400 --> 01:05:21,600
to this process.
And so let's, you know, I'll ask
1327
01:05:21,600 --> 01:05:24,360
you the question, who's going to
be the world's leading mineral
1328
01:05:24,360 --> 01:05:28,720
explorer in inside five years?
And now it's a loaded rhetorical
1329
01:05:28,720 --> 01:05:31,280
question.
That is what's required.
1330
01:05:32,200 --> 01:05:34,680
And they have huge amounts of
bureaucracy.
1331
01:05:35,520 --> 01:05:38,800
So this is going to be
fascinating to see how they
1332
01:05:38,800 --> 01:05:41,840
develop this because they don't
have the same autocratic
1333
01:05:41,840 --> 01:05:44,120
development.
They're capable of it, but they
1334
01:05:44,120 --> 01:05:46,280
don't at the moment.
But but you know, they have
1335
01:05:46,320 --> 01:05:48,240
like, I mean, I used to live in
Melbourne.
1336
01:05:48,240 --> 01:05:50,680
You know, one of the joke I was
told in Melbourne is there's the
1337
01:05:50,680 --> 01:05:53,360
Westgate, like, you know,
bridge, you know, like it's
1338
01:05:53,360 --> 01:05:57,280
taken 20 years for that bridge
to add 2 lanes to it.
1339
01:05:57,320 --> 01:05:59,680
You know, in that time, in that
same time the whole city of
1340
01:05:59,680 --> 01:06:03,280
Dubai was built, you know, like
so an 8 million person city has
1341
01:06:03,280 --> 01:06:06,520
been built in the same time that
we like in Melbourne and
1342
01:06:06,520 --> 01:06:08,240
Victoria.
That's an Australian success.
1343
01:06:08,240 --> 01:06:10,240
It actually got done.
Yeah, that's right.
1344
01:06:11,040 --> 01:06:12,920
That is true.
That is the the positive spin
1345
01:06:12,920 --> 01:06:16,480
that actually, but as someone
that used to travel across the
1346
01:06:16,480 --> 01:06:20,320
bridge, did my life meaningfully
change after the the upgrade?
1347
01:06:20,320 --> 01:06:23,440
I don't think so, right.
So and so I think like, you
1348
01:06:23,440 --> 01:06:26,000
know, like the like the the
Middle East or some of the
1349
01:06:26,000 --> 01:06:30,440
countries, you know, they have
taken somewhat of a like Chinese
1350
01:06:30,440 --> 01:06:31,800
approach or Eastern approach and
gone.
1351
01:06:31,800 --> 01:06:33,360
You know, we're going to do
this, right?
1352
01:06:33,360 --> 01:06:34,320
Like we're going to build an
island.
1353
01:06:34,320 --> 01:06:36,560
It's going to look like a palm.
We're going to do it right.
1354
01:06:36,560 --> 01:06:37,880
People are going to be like,
it's insane.
1355
01:06:37,880 --> 01:06:40,000
You haven't sold any land.
Yeah, but that will happen,
1356
01:06:40,400 --> 01:06:41,240
right?
Because we'll build.
1357
01:06:41,240 --> 01:06:43,480
It it's extra fascinating as
well because you think about
1358
01:06:43,600 --> 01:06:46,640
your resources and your scarcity
that you might have, and they
1359
01:06:46,640 --> 01:06:50,120
have an abundance of capital
right now, but on the scarcity
1360
01:06:50,120 --> 01:06:52,680
side of things, they sort of
know that their economy is going
1361
01:06:52,680 --> 01:06:54,960
to change over time.
So they are desperate to
1362
01:06:54,960 --> 01:06:58,000
diversify that, but that is like
a longer dated thing.
1363
01:06:58,000 --> 01:07:01,920
So to pull pull the idea back to
having long term goals and
1364
01:07:01,920 --> 01:07:04,560
sticking to it.
Their needs, so they they need.
1365
01:07:04,560 --> 01:07:06,760
So back to that biological
abstract concept.
1366
01:07:06,760 --> 01:07:09,600
You know there is a need and
it's very clear.
1367
01:07:09,600 --> 01:07:13,560
But the the impressive thing is
that they understand that the
1368
01:07:13,560 --> 01:07:18,160
timeline isn't push of a button.
Yeah, it's not going to be like
1369
01:07:18,160 --> 01:07:20,040
that's the mistake I think that
China made.
1370
01:07:20,440 --> 01:07:23,200
And they have solved that as
they always do.
1371
01:07:23,480 --> 01:07:26,400
But instead of discovering
resources and paying, they made
1372
01:07:26,400 --> 01:07:29,200
a lot of it bad mistakes early.
They've solved the problem
1373
01:07:29,200 --> 01:07:31,760
downstream.
And they've completely caught us
1374
01:07:31,760 --> 01:07:35,840
all up with their pants down
because it's turned out to be in
1375
01:07:35,840 --> 01:07:38,520
certain resources, certain
metals.
1376
01:07:39,240 --> 01:07:41,400
The right call.
Absolutely.
1377
01:07:41,600 --> 01:07:44,480
You know, I've been to places in
China, I've worked for a few
1378
01:07:44,480 --> 01:07:46,480
times in China.
I've been to places where
1379
01:07:46,480 --> 01:07:49,440
there's capital infrastructure
and no mine.
1380
01:07:49,840 --> 01:07:52,080
So they built the capital
infrastructure when there's not
1381
01:07:52,080 --> 01:07:56,400
even resources present.
And here we are scrapping and
1382
01:07:56,400 --> 01:07:59,560
saving and trying to find
capital.
1383
01:08:00,200 --> 01:08:03,920
Capital first before resources.
It's extreme.
1384
01:08:04,640 --> 01:08:07,800
And it can be like to the
extreme where I remember working
1385
01:08:07,800 --> 01:08:11,400
on a project where we had
intersected like sulfides, yeah.
1386
01:08:11,400 --> 01:08:15,520
And I went out on my swing on
like 3 week swing out.
1387
01:08:15,800 --> 01:08:20,399
By the time I came back, there
was mining equipment that had
1388
01:08:20,399 --> 01:08:22,840
been brought on site.
And I'm like, what's that?
1389
01:08:22,840 --> 01:08:25,160
And they're like, oh, that's a
processing plant that that has
1390
01:08:25,160 --> 01:08:26,880
been shipped down from wherever
it was shipped down.
1391
01:08:26,880 --> 01:08:28,120
I'm like, what are you talking
about?
1392
01:08:28,120 --> 01:08:29,640
Processing plant?
They're like, oh, you hit
1393
01:08:29,640 --> 01:08:31,680
sulfides.
I'm like, yeah, we've hit
1394
01:08:31,680 --> 01:08:33,960
sulfides in like early stage
drilling.
1395
01:08:33,960 --> 01:08:35,319
Like, like, what are you talking
about?
1396
01:08:35,319 --> 01:08:36,479
And they're like, yeah, well,
we've got it.
1397
01:08:36,920 --> 01:08:39,240
Like, you know, you found
something, it's going to get
1398
01:08:39,240 --> 01:08:43,279
processed, right.
Like they so they like, you
1399
01:08:43,279 --> 01:08:45,960
know, like now that's maybe not
the most efficient way to
1400
01:08:45,960 --> 01:08:49,040
operate, right?
But but someone is taking the
1401
01:08:49,040 --> 01:08:50,560
bet, right?
Someone's taking the bet that
1402
01:08:50,560 --> 01:08:54,880
hey, you have something like
essentially it's a bi model like
1403
01:08:54,880 --> 01:08:56,720
decision, right?
Like it's either yes or no,
1404
01:08:56,840 --> 01:08:58,520
either we're going to mine this
or we're not going to mine it,
1405
01:08:58,520 --> 01:09:00,880
but we have the equipment.
If the equipment's here, we'll
1406
01:09:00,880 --> 01:09:03,000
mine it, right?
And then they've already kind of
1407
01:09:03,000 --> 01:09:04,960
made that that decision go
forward.
1408
01:09:05,319 --> 01:09:08,800
Whereas, you know, like how many
engineering studies do we do,
1409
01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:11,240
like try to decide, should it be
mine, should it not be mine,
1410
01:09:11,240 --> 01:09:12,439
Should it be mine, should it not
be mine?
1411
01:09:12,880 --> 01:09:15,319
And I'm not sure that improves
the odds and whether things get
1412
01:09:15,319 --> 01:09:18,200
mined profitably or not.
There's one other aspect I can't
1413
01:09:18,200 --> 01:09:20,960
help but think of.
And Trev and I were lucky to
1414
01:09:21,000 --> 01:09:24,359
lucky enough to travel to Africa
earlier in the year and, and
1415
01:09:24,359 --> 01:09:27,319
chatting with some people at
various operations, certainly
1416
01:09:27,319 --> 01:09:31,520
not Western operations.
And you know, the, the swings
1417
01:09:31,520 --> 01:09:37,240
with 5 1/2 months on and and
three weeks off, it like that is
1418
01:09:37,240 --> 01:09:40,040
not necessarily something we
want to aspire to here in the
1419
01:09:40,040 --> 01:09:41,720
West, but it's something that
needs to be noticed.
1420
01:09:41,720 --> 01:09:45,279
So it's just the point you just
your point is so important,
1421
01:09:45,279 --> 01:09:48,920
which is people are solving
problems in the way they can.
1422
01:09:49,319 --> 01:09:52,840
And our immediate reaction of
course is we don't like that.
1423
01:09:52,840 --> 01:09:55,880
Well, the message is actually
try and find another way to
1424
01:09:55,880 --> 01:09:59,440
solve the problem, not just
solve it using the same tools
1425
01:09:59,440 --> 01:10:01,600
that you've got.
Maybe we can't solve this
1426
01:10:01,600 --> 01:10:03,640
problem.
If I go back to my time in First
1427
01:10:03,640 --> 01:10:09,920
Quantum, we had everybody on
four and two rosters and they
1428
01:10:09,920 --> 01:10:12,240
would mature to two week on and
one and everyone goes.
1429
01:10:12,520 --> 01:10:15,240
That's outrageous.
Try hiring Australian.
1430
01:10:15,240 --> 01:10:18,320
One of my favorite people,
people I won't mention her name
1431
01:10:18,320 --> 01:10:21,280
just to stop embarrassing her,
was an Australian who came to
1432
01:10:21,280 --> 01:10:24,640
work for us.
But we put people all over the
1433
01:10:24,640 --> 01:10:26,600
world.
They got real greenfields
1434
01:10:26,600 --> 01:10:28,760
opportunity.
They got a chance to live the
1435
01:10:28,760 --> 01:10:33,400
life, and pound for pound, they
are better geoscientists, better
1436
01:10:33,400 --> 01:10:37,920
explorers, but they did some
hard yards, but they lived the
1437
01:10:37,920 --> 01:10:41,320
life we promised them
opportunities in the middle of
1438
01:10:41,320 --> 01:10:45,520
Africa, chances to work in
Spain, remarkable things.
1439
01:10:45,960 --> 01:10:49,720
But all you had to do was come
and live by the roster that we
1440
01:10:49,720 --> 01:10:52,960
needed for the locations that we
wanted to work on.
1441
01:10:53,240 --> 01:10:56,560
And anybody who didn't want to
come like, well, you don't
1442
01:10:56,560 --> 01:10:59,760
really want to do this.
And of course that is
1443
01:11:00,200 --> 01:11:04,320
unacceptable, but we never lost
anybody because in the end, and
1444
01:11:04,320 --> 01:11:08,160
This is why I talk about
motivation, in the end, mineral
1445
01:11:08,160 --> 01:11:10,480
explorers are very simple
creatures.
1446
01:11:10,640 --> 01:11:14,600
You know, we are driven by the
chase.
1447
01:11:15,400 --> 01:11:18,080
And if we're not, we're not
mineral explorers.
1448
01:11:18,280 --> 01:11:21,200
We're a different form of
geologists and that's OK as
1449
01:11:21,200 --> 01:11:24,760
well.
There is no judgement, but those
1450
01:11:24,760 --> 01:11:30,120
who want to do this will by
months is pretty extreme but
1451
01:11:30,360 --> 01:11:34,040
just adapted to what you think
is appropriate.
1452
01:11:34,240 --> 01:11:38,120
What you can't do is explore
properly on a roster that's
1453
01:11:38,120 --> 01:11:41,840
close to one week on one week
off like that isn't going to
1454
01:11:41,840 --> 01:11:43,760
work.
I work for a company who remain
1455
01:11:43,760 --> 01:11:46,760
unnamed a few years ago and they
said we want to move to
1456
01:11:46,760 --> 01:11:50,400
Greenfield's exploration and
everybody said we won't still
1457
01:11:50,400 --> 01:11:52,080
live on the mine or still live
in Perth.
1458
01:11:52,080 --> 01:11:55,000
And I that's cool.
And they went, what's your words
1459
01:11:55,000 --> 01:11:57,640
of wisdom?
I went can't be done and they
1460
01:11:57,640 --> 01:12:01,000
went what I went, no, no, think
about it.
1461
01:12:01,600 --> 01:12:05,160
It just can't be done, you know?
And I gave them various other
1462
01:12:05,160 --> 01:12:06,520
pieces of advice on how to do
this.
1463
01:12:06,520 --> 01:12:09,920
But if people don't want to do
this, it's a self selecting
1464
01:12:09,920 --> 01:12:13,200
criteria.
Mineral expression is not on a
1465
01:12:13,200 --> 01:12:16,280
mind.
Mostly mineral exploration is
1466
01:12:16,280 --> 01:12:18,840
this lifestyle.
If you don't want it, that's
1467
01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:21,520
fine, but there are people who
want this.
1468
01:12:22,720 --> 01:12:23,960
Yeah.
I mean, one of the comments I'd
1469
01:12:23,960 --> 01:12:27,600
make like around your like,
yeah, like 5 months on, you
1470
01:12:27,600 --> 01:12:30,160
know, as someone that like grew
up in Pakistan, like, you know,
1471
01:12:30,160 --> 01:12:34,720
like I have a different view on,
on, on that as well in that, you
1472
01:12:34,720 --> 01:12:38,360
know, like when I grew up, you
know, like there was the concept
1473
01:12:38,360 --> 01:12:41,880
where someone in your family
would go away for a large time.
1474
01:12:41,880 --> 01:12:44,000
Like, you know, a lot of people
in my family would go to the
1475
01:12:44,000 --> 01:12:46,240
Middle East to work.
And then they were, and they
1476
01:12:46,240 --> 01:12:49,800
were largely sacrifice a large
percentage of their time with
1477
01:12:49,800 --> 01:12:54,680
their family.
But the the fact that they did
1478
01:12:54,680 --> 01:12:57,360
it, the sacrifice they made
would actually make not just the
1479
01:12:57,360 --> 01:13:00,120
immediate family, but the wider
family much better off.
1480
01:13:00,400 --> 01:13:03,600
Yeah.
So, so culturally, you know,
1481
01:13:03,600 --> 01:13:07,320
like, like obviously now growing
up in the Western world, I see
1482
01:13:07,320 --> 01:13:09,560
both sides, right.
Like I see, like, you know, like
1483
01:13:09,560 --> 01:13:13,760
I probably wouldn't do a 55
month roster, but I also accept
1484
01:13:13,760 --> 01:13:16,600
why certain people would.
Yeah, like I understand the
1485
01:13:16,600 --> 01:13:20,560
sacrifice they make on the whole
actually improves lives for many
1486
01:13:20,560 --> 01:13:22,280
people.
Circumstances are completely
1487
01:13:22,280 --> 01:13:23,120
different.
Yeah.
1488
01:13:23,120 --> 01:13:25,320
And so, yeah.
So I always think that, yeah,
1489
01:13:25,320 --> 01:13:30,680
like if I take, if I take the
lens that I live in in Perth and
1490
01:13:30,680 --> 01:13:33,840
apply it there, yeah, it seems
unreasonable to expect someone
1491
01:13:33,840 --> 01:13:37,640
to work five months of the year.
But if I take the lens that that
1492
01:13:37,640 --> 01:13:40,800
person sacrificing, you know, a
certain part of their their
1493
01:13:40,800 --> 01:13:44,840
family life or working five
months improves their their
1494
01:13:44,840 --> 01:13:47,280
family life drastically enough
where their kids have a better
1495
01:13:47,280 --> 01:13:50,040
opportunity and they're, you
know, like their other family
1496
01:13:50,040 --> 01:13:51,320
members have a better
opportunity.
1497
01:13:51,960 --> 01:13:54,440
I don't, I don't necessarily
look at it as a negative.
1498
01:13:54,440 --> 01:13:58,160
I think, I think it's actually
like, I think it's commendable
1499
01:13:58,160 --> 01:14:00,760
for them to kind of do that
aspect to kind of improve other
1500
01:14:00,760 --> 01:14:05,080
people's lives in at the expense
of not improving their own in
1501
01:14:05,080 --> 01:14:06,320
that sense, right.
So.
1502
01:14:06,640 --> 01:14:08,760
Turn that round.
Instead of saying let's not go
1503
01:14:08,760 --> 01:14:11,000
for the five months because I
think that's extreme, let's go
1504
01:14:11,000 --> 01:14:13,800
for something like 2 weeks,
which would still be took longer
1505
01:14:13,800 --> 01:14:15,640
than most of the industry.
What's it?
1506
01:14:15,640 --> 01:14:19,800
What would it take?
Instead of being defeated by the
1507
01:14:19,800 --> 01:14:24,600
norm, what would it take to move
people onto 2 weak rosters?
1508
01:14:24,800 --> 01:14:27,960
2 weak and one rosters as a
global explorers and everyone
1509
01:14:27,960 --> 01:14:32,520
goes more money really.
I don't think so, just it's
1510
01:14:32,560 --> 01:14:33,520
environmental.
Thing.
1511
01:14:33,640 --> 01:14:38,040
Yeah, so I actually think it's
the it's the the reward and the
1512
01:14:38,040 --> 01:14:41,520
thrill of the chase.
If I'm and that I know people
1513
01:14:41,520 --> 01:14:43,880
disagree with me, I get yelled
at for this viewpoint.
1514
01:14:43,880 --> 01:14:46,080
People are like, you're being
naive, you're being romantic,
1515
01:14:46,080 --> 01:14:48,920
whatever you're trying to do.
I'm like, no, no, you know what?
1516
01:14:49,200 --> 01:14:53,000
I've mentored a lot of geos and
I talked to a lot of geos.
1517
01:14:54,160 --> 01:14:57,520
I'm right.
I know I'm right about this.
1518
01:14:57,680 --> 01:15:01,320
People want more.
We're not providing it.
1519
01:15:01,760 --> 01:15:07,840
If you provide no thrill, no no
real expression and want to move
1520
01:15:07,840 --> 01:15:10,480
people on to longer, Ross says
you can fail.
1521
01:15:10,480 --> 01:15:13,880
Of course you've got to provide.
This is your word.
1522
01:15:13,880 --> 01:15:16,760
And this is one of the things I
learned from Ahmad Currency.
1523
01:15:17,480 --> 01:15:20,920
You've got to provide something
to someone to motivate them to
1524
01:15:20,920 --> 01:15:24,480
want to do something.
So come here and let's try and
1525
01:15:24,480 --> 01:15:27,880
find the next narels.
Now there are a bunch of people
1526
01:15:27,880 --> 01:15:30,120
going, well, no, I'm going to go
to the Pilgrim, make more money.
1527
01:15:30,120 --> 01:15:33,200
Fine, no judgement again, dude.
But you know what?
1528
01:15:33,480 --> 01:15:36,200
I'm actually it's it's there is
no judgement.
1529
01:15:36,240 --> 01:15:38,240
They might sound like there is,
but there is no judgement.
1530
01:15:38,560 --> 01:15:43,040
It really is a case of going
like people who want to do this,
1531
01:15:43,040 --> 01:15:45,680
you know, let's go, let's do
this.
1532
01:15:45,880 --> 01:15:48,080
But hey, you know, there's a few
limitations.
1533
01:15:48,880 --> 01:15:52,680
You know, I love my lattes and
and my and my long Max, but you
1534
01:15:52,680 --> 01:15:55,440
know, we're going to have to be
making some some shittier coffee
1535
01:15:55,440 --> 01:15:57,040
for a little while and we're
going to have to do this.
1536
01:15:57,320 --> 01:15:58,840
Now.
If you don't like that, well,
1537
01:15:58,880 --> 01:16:02,760
you know, let me show you some
of my world, what where the some
1538
01:16:02,760 --> 01:16:05,400
of the places I work and stuff
and I and then there'll be
1539
01:16:05,400 --> 01:16:07,320
people who are going.
Man, I really want to do that.
1540
01:16:07,520 --> 01:16:10,760
I know and I know that there are
people who don't want to do that
1541
01:16:10,760 --> 01:16:13,160
as well.
Good, you stay here.
1542
01:16:13,440 --> 01:16:16,640
We're going and.
I think that, I mean, you know,
1543
01:16:16,640 --> 01:16:20,200
like the more, the more nuanced
conversation in here would be is
1544
01:16:20,200 --> 01:16:26,920
how do you keep the people that
have that, that intrinsic drive
1545
01:16:26,920 --> 01:16:32,200
to, to explore when they go
through, you know, changing
1546
01:16:32,200 --> 01:16:37,240
personal or cultural.
Like, you know, like when
1547
01:16:37,240 --> 01:16:39,080
they're going through a part
where they want to have kids or
1548
01:16:39,080 --> 01:16:41,640
they want to have, you know,
like, how do we create the
1549
01:16:41,640 --> 01:16:42,880
world?
Like how do we create the
1550
01:16:42,880 --> 01:16:47,360
environment that still kind of
keeps those people engaged and,
1551
01:16:47,360 --> 01:16:51,320
and not give them a job where,
you know, like they, they maybe
1552
01:16:51,600 --> 01:16:54,440
get to a point where they're so
jaded that they actually go and
1553
01:16:54,440 --> 01:16:56,040
do something completely
different, right?
1554
01:16:56,040 --> 01:16:59,080
Like, yeah, like, like I'll
explain it like in my terms,
1555
01:16:59,080 --> 01:17:01,240
right.
Like I like at a point in, in my
1556
01:17:01,400 --> 01:17:04,360
career, I was working a job
where I travelled 330 days on
1557
01:17:04,360 --> 01:17:07,520
the road average between
somewhere between 300 to 330
1558
01:17:07,520 --> 01:17:09,480
days of the year.
So 10 to 11 months I was on the
1559
01:17:09,480 --> 01:17:12,320
road right now.
Now that is a hugely
1560
01:17:12,320 --> 01:17:15,840
unsustainable lifestyle to keep
if you want to do other things
1561
01:17:15,840 --> 01:17:20,160
in, in your, in your career,
right, or in your life, not
1562
01:17:20,160 --> 01:17:22,400
career like, like personally, if
I want to do other things, if I
1563
01:17:22,400 --> 01:17:24,840
want to have a family, kids,
anything like that, that is
1564
01:17:25,760 --> 01:17:30,720
hugely unsustainable.
And so, and so at one point, you
1565
01:17:30,720 --> 01:17:33,560
know, like I, like, I left the
industry, I, I stopped doing
1566
01:17:33,560 --> 01:17:36,800
those roles and I kind of feel
that desire by doing other
1567
01:17:36,800 --> 01:17:39,200
things like, you know, starting
companies or, or going and
1568
01:17:39,200 --> 01:17:41,920
learning something new or
exploring something new
1569
01:17:41,920 --> 01:17:44,400
cognitively rather than than
physically in that sense.
1570
01:17:45,000 --> 01:17:47,960
But but what I find is that I
think they, you know, like there
1571
01:17:47,960 --> 01:17:51,960
comes a point where I think
companies are maybe not thinking
1572
01:17:51,960 --> 01:17:54,120
hard enough to create an
environment where they can kind
1573
01:17:54,120 --> 01:17:57,960
of keep people doing that that
part of their life because they
1574
01:17:57,960 --> 01:17:59,560
will come back.
Like, you know, they will go
1575
01:17:59,560 --> 01:18:01,360
back.
Like if I had the opportunity
1576
01:18:01,560 --> 01:18:04,480
when, when my kids are a certain
age, like I would love to go
1577
01:18:04,680 --> 01:18:05,520
travelling again.
I.
1578
01:18:05,520 --> 01:18:06,840
Can tell you as young kids,
can't you?
1579
01:18:07,240 --> 01:18:10,640
I like you go, go, go, go do
that because, because this is
1580
01:18:10,640 --> 01:18:13,440
the part that I value now there
will be a part where I value
1581
01:18:13,440 --> 01:18:14,840
something else at, at some
point.
1582
01:18:15,480 --> 01:18:18,560
But I, I think this is where,
you know, like going back to, I
1583
01:18:18,560 --> 01:18:21,240
think one of the ailments that
we have and, and This is why I
1584
01:18:21,240 --> 01:18:24,640
think companies like WMC and you
know, some of the previous kind
1585
01:18:24,640 --> 01:18:27,640
of companies did very well is
that they created an environment
1586
01:18:27,640 --> 01:18:29,320
where they could keep people
like this.
1587
01:18:29,720 --> 01:18:32,840
I remember when I first joined
WMCI worked with eight people
1588
01:18:33,160 --> 01:18:36,880
and the, the shortest time span
any of them had spent inside the
1589
01:18:36,880 --> 01:18:40,640
company was 22 years, which I
found fascinating, right?
1590
01:18:40,640 --> 01:18:43,240
That everyone that I work with
had been there at least 2
1591
01:18:43,240 --> 01:18:45,320
decades.
Like that's that's pretty
1592
01:18:45,320 --> 01:18:47,400
unusual.
I mean, like, I don't think you
1593
01:18:47,400 --> 01:18:50,840
would ever find that now.
Like that a whole group had been
1594
01:18:50,840 --> 01:18:53,480
there for two decades.
They all started as graduates.
1595
01:18:53,800 --> 01:18:54,680
Yeah.
They all went through the
1596
01:18:54,680 --> 01:18:56,640
process.
They all went and did further
1597
01:18:56,640 --> 01:18:59,480
study funded by the company,
came back, you know, went
1598
01:18:59,480 --> 01:19:02,400
through that whole process,
right down to the lady that did
1599
01:19:02,400 --> 01:19:05,360
the accounting, you know, like
she started as a graduate and
1600
01:19:05,360 --> 01:19:07,440
worked all the way through in
the accounting department.
1601
01:19:07,880 --> 01:19:09,560
Right.
So how did they create that
1602
01:19:09,560 --> 01:19:12,040
environment which has allowed
people to stay for that long?
1603
01:19:12,680 --> 01:19:14,600
They must have done something
once.
1604
01:19:14,600 --> 01:19:17,720
People don't spend 2 decades in
the same place unless it's good.
1605
01:19:19,000 --> 01:19:22,680
Guys, I think there's sort of
limitless amounts that people
1606
01:19:22,680 --> 01:19:24,240
can learn from from this
conversation.
1607
01:19:24,240 --> 01:19:27,360
I've found it fantastic.
I think we should wrap it up
1608
01:19:27,400 --> 01:19:32,080
with a, a question you guys have
asked a lot and I want to sort
1609
01:19:32,080 --> 01:19:35,440
of serve it back to you guys.
What is starting with one H?
1610
01:19:35,720 --> 01:19:40,000
Something that should stay
firmly in the industry.
1611
01:19:42,560 --> 01:19:43,960
Oh dear, you were going to say
that?
1612
01:19:44,080 --> 01:19:50,600
You got to give me time to think
something that needs to stay the
1613
01:19:50,600 --> 01:19:53,840
training of field geology.
So one of the things that we're
1614
01:19:53,840 --> 01:19:59,920
under real pressure is that
universities geoscience is in
1615
01:19:59,920 --> 01:20:03,000
decline as a university subject
globally.
1616
01:20:03,760 --> 01:20:06,640
It's about the economics of
universities and the economics
1617
01:20:06,640 --> 01:20:08,120
of running sciences and
universities.
1618
01:20:08,120 --> 01:20:09,640
It's got nothing to do with our
industry.
1619
01:20:10,360 --> 01:20:11,880
That's one part of a Venn
diagram.
1620
01:20:12,040 --> 01:20:15,360
There's another Venn diagram
that the industry is rising and
1621
01:20:15,360 --> 01:20:19,600
needs more geoscience.
It sounds like an equation that
1622
01:20:19,600 --> 01:20:22,400
can't be solved.
The way it's going to be solved
1623
01:20:22,440 --> 01:20:26,080
is to do what?
To do things differently.
1624
01:20:26,840 --> 01:20:31,760
But the real risk is that people
won't get the training that they
1625
01:20:31,760 --> 01:20:35,320
require because it'll be too
expensive to do so.
1626
01:20:35,480 --> 01:20:39,160
So field work has become one of
our largest costs, the cost of
1627
01:20:39,160 --> 01:20:42,880
putting people into the field.
But at the moment, even with the
1628
01:20:42,880 --> 01:20:46,160
promise of AI and every other
technology, you can think this
1629
01:20:46,160 --> 01:20:49,560
is still a field based science.
This is still a science about
1630
01:20:49,560 --> 01:20:53,120
observations and a science about
going into the field.
1631
01:20:53,840 --> 01:20:58,120
We've got to keep that, even
though at the moment the
1632
01:20:58,120 --> 01:21:00,400
equation looks like we're going
to trend the wrong way.
1633
01:21:03,040 --> 01:21:09,280
I'm going to go on a similar
point to Steve's, but I'll try
1634
01:21:09,280 --> 01:21:11,000
to make it.
And I don't mean to say this
1635
01:21:11,000 --> 01:21:14,160
controversially.
I actually think that like the
1636
01:21:14,160 --> 01:21:16,640
idea that we should keep in
exploration is just not all
1637
01:21:16,640 --> 01:21:18,920
about the rocks.
I actually think it's about
1638
01:21:18,920 --> 01:21:20,120
people.
I think it's about the
1639
01:21:20,120 --> 01:21:22,800
environment you create, the
culture, it's the relationships
1640
01:21:22,800 --> 01:21:25,400
you foster.
It's all of those intangible
1641
01:21:25,400 --> 01:21:28,160
things outside of the rocks.
I get that.
1642
01:21:28,160 --> 01:21:30,080
I take your point.
I think you still have to treat
1643
01:21:30,080 --> 01:21:32,840
people like train people so they
know what the rocks are.
1644
01:21:33,320 --> 01:21:38,200
But I, I think there is so much
more you could do that we just
1645
01:21:38,200 --> 01:21:42,120
don't do it all because I think
we value, we just don't put any
1646
01:21:42,120 --> 01:21:44,080
value onto onto any of those
things at all.
1647
01:21:45,080 --> 01:21:46,880
And what's something that's got
to leave the industry, guys?
1648
01:21:48,560 --> 01:21:50,400
I'll, I'll go first since I
threw you under the bus last
1649
01:21:50,400 --> 01:21:53,000
time.
I would say that the the one
1650
01:21:53,000 --> 01:21:57,440
thing that I would say that we
have to get rid of is this this
1651
01:21:57,440 --> 01:22:01,240
idea that this one-size-fits-all
paradigm works.
1652
01:22:01,520 --> 01:22:02,600
I think I got to get rid of
that.
1653
01:22:02,600 --> 01:22:06,080
I don't think it it works.
I don't, I don't think it works
1654
01:22:06,920 --> 01:22:08,880
from a people point of view.
I don't think it works from a
1655
01:22:08,880 --> 01:22:11,600
geographic point of view.
It it definitely doesn't work
1656
01:22:11,600 --> 01:22:13,360
from a jurisdictional point of
view in the various
1657
01:22:13,360 --> 01:22:15,720
jurisdictions we work in.
And it definitely doesn't work
1658
01:22:15,720 --> 01:22:17,600
on a on a company to company
point of view.
1659
01:22:18,120 --> 01:22:21,520
Everyone wants to create this
like one magical thing, like
1660
01:22:21,520 --> 01:22:24,240
this one magical paradigm.
And I often say, and we talk
1661
01:22:24,240 --> 01:22:27,240
about this, right, like this WMC
culture that people want to
1662
01:22:27,240 --> 01:22:30,800
create, you know, like WMC
culture was great, but it might
1663
01:22:30,800 --> 01:22:34,520
have been one view is that there
is an artifact of history now,
1664
01:22:34,560 --> 01:22:36,040
right?
Like it, it may not be able to
1665
01:22:36,040 --> 01:22:38,920
be replicated in that same way.
So it's that one-size-fits-all
1666
01:22:38,920 --> 01:22:42,760
paradigm I don't think works.
And I think we're as as mining
1667
01:22:42,760 --> 01:22:45,600
companies, I think we're we're
definitely going down the path
1668
01:22:45,600 --> 01:22:49,080
we want to take one approach
because it's that systematic,
1669
01:22:49,120 --> 01:22:51,000
like, you know, a system
thinking in that it's one
1670
01:22:51,000 --> 01:22:53,400
system.
I can teach you, you, you and
1671
01:22:53,400 --> 01:22:56,240
everyone understands the system
and it'll work magically, but
1672
01:22:56,240 --> 01:22:58,080
you have, but you're an
individual.
1673
01:22:58,080 --> 01:22:59,840
You're an individual and you're
an individual.
1674
01:23:00,080 --> 01:23:03,640
Like your ability to look at
that, like the conversation we
1675
01:23:03,640 --> 01:23:06,000
talked about rosters, again, I
have a completely fundamentally
1676
01:23:06,000 --> 01:23:08,840
different view on rosters that
you have, right, based on how
1677
01:23:08,840 --> 01:23:12,120
you look at it.
So does the same approach work
1678
01:23:12,120 --> 01:23:14,080
for you as it works for me?
I don't think so.
1679
01:23:14,400 --> 01:23:16,520
I think we need to have that
leniency in there.
1680
01:23:16,800 --> 01:23:20,280
And the way to have that is to
not make IT system or to make
1681
01:23:20,280 --> 01:23:23,320
some part system, but make some
parts of it a little bit more
1682
01:23:23,320 --> 01:23:26,200
human and allow people to kind
of add to it.
1683
01:23:26,480 --> 01:23:29,320
So the idea that I, in a long
winded way, the idea that I
1684
01:23:29,320 --> 01:23:32,920
think should die is this, this
one-size-fits-all paradigm just
1685
01:23:32,920 --> 01:23:36,040
don't think works.
And I've actually changed my
1686
01:23:36,040 --> 01:23:38,720
mind just from listening to you.
And I'm actually just going to
1687
01:23:38,720 --> 01:23:42,640
amplify the same comment because
I think it's the problem.
1688
01:23:43,320 --> 01:23:46,360
I don't think we've ever been
more conformist.
1689
01:23:47,160 --> 01:23:50,440
We're living in a time of
massive development of
1690
01:23:50,440 --> 01:23:55,280
diversity, and yet we are making
people the same.
1691
01:23:56,480 --> 01:24:00,080
And that isn't going to work.
One of the starting premises,
1692
01:24:00,640 --> 01:24:04,480
all the way back to the abstract
again, is that these are
1693
01:24:04,480 --> 01:24:07,600
different characteristics.
If you don't want to acknowledge
1694
01:24:07,600 --> 01:24:10,720
the different, then you are
literally following people into
1695
01:24:10,720 --> 01:24:13,400
decline.
We cannot afford to build
1696
01:24:13,400 --> 01:24:18,000
businesses of so teams are not
made of the same people, they're
1697
01:24:18,000 --> 01:24:21,120
made of compliments.
One of the reasons why Ahmad and
1698
01:24:21,120 --> 01:24:23,480
I started working together.
We're just very different.
1699
01:24:23,800 --> 01:24:27,880
There are different things that
we do and want to do that help
1700
01:24:28,040 --> 01:24:32,640
get the complete job done.
That is not a fatal flaw.
1701
01:24:32,640 --> 01:24:34,960
That's actually a secret to
building a team.
1702
01:24:34,960 --> 01:24:38,000
A-Team is about finding
compliments, not replicating
1703
01:24:38,000 --> 01:24:41,800
yourself.
I think we are incredibly
1704
01:24:41,800 --> 01:24:43,520
conformist.
Yeah.
1705
01:24:43,520 --> 01:24:45,440
I mean, like, you know, we
started this whole premise in
1706
01:24:45,440 --> 01:24:47,800
like, like why did exploration
radio work?
1707
01:24:47,800 --> 01:24:49,800
And I think that's really the
reason, right.
1708
01:24:49,800 --> 01:24:52,520
Like I would have a certain view
of looking at things.
1709
01:24:52,520 --> 01:24:54,920
Steve would have a certain view
of looking at things, you know,
1710
01:24:54,920 --> 01:24:59,720
like, was it a a situation where
it was like completely free of
1711
01:24:59,720 --> 01:25:01,800
tension or conflict?
No, like, you know, they're
1712
01:25:02,120 --> 01:25:04,640
different.
I jokingly always say this like,
1713
01:25:04,640 --> 01:25:06,760
you know, Steve in my
relationship was very much like
1714
01:25:06,760 --> 01:25:09,400
if anyone that ever follow
Seinfeld, it was J Seinfeld and
1715
01:25:09,400 --> 01:25:13,440
Larry David who, like, you know,
were continuously trying to quit
1716
01:25:13,440 --> 01:25:16,040
the job of writing the show.
There were times where we go.
1717
01:25:16,040 --> 01:25:18,600
I just don't really know how we
can like how we're going to
1718
01:25:18,600 --> 01:25:21,280
create this, right.
And, and I think you got to have
1719
01:25:21,280 --> 01:25:24,000
that healthy level of tension.
I think, you know, I can.
1720
01:25:24,000 --> 01:25:26,800
So, so if you're an
organization, so so here's
1721
01:25:26,800 --> 01:25:29,080
something that, you know, to
extend that point, you can take
1722
01:25:29,080 --> 01:25:31,080
as an organization.
If you're an organization and
1723
01:25:31,080 --> 01:25:35,160
you don't have the ability to
handle like a certain level of
1724
01:25:35,160 --> 01:25:40,280
tension between your your
employees, I'm not sure, you
1725
01:25:40,280 --> 01:25:41,920
know, like you got a question
whether you're actually going to
1726
01:25:41,920 --> 01:25:44,680
get to something meaningful,
because I think it's like you
1727
01:25:44,680 --> 01:25:47,920
need to have that kind of kind
of tension between people to get
1728
01:25:47,920 --> 01:25:50,120
somewhere.
So especially in a world like
1729
01:25:50,120 --> 01:25:53,000
exploration where so much is
unknown, like, you know, you
1730
01:25:53,000 --> 01:25:55,280
have to have that.
I don't know how you're going to
1731
01:25:55,320 --> 01:25:58,720
be able to do it without that.
I'd frame it just because we
1732
01:25:58,720 --> 01:26:03,360
keep going back on each other.
I would frame it that there's
1733
01:26:03,360 --> 01:26:05,000
not enough leadership and
there's too, too much
1734
01:26:05,000 --> 01:26:07,080
management.
People are trying to manage into
1735
01:26:07,080 --> 01:26:12,200
conformity as opposed to lead
and allow people to just develop
1736
01:26:12,200 --> 01:26:14,600
their own idiosyncrasies and
their own personality come
1737
01:26:14,600 --> 01:26:17,000
through.
You know, sometimes the secret
1738
01:26:17,000 --> 01:26:19,040
sauce.
I'll let's make a compliment
1739
01:26:19,040 --> 01:26:24,400
towards my former Co host.
What's special about Ahmed is
1740
01:26:24,400 --> 01:26:28,400
his individuality.
What's a pain in the ass about
1741
01:26:28,400 --> 01:26:30,440
Ahmed?
Is it individuality as well?
1742
01:26:30,520 --> 01:26:33,560
He does things he wants to do.
He really does.
1743
01:26:33,560 --> 01:26:37,200
That is a special characteristic
and you've got to learn how to
1744
01:26:37,200 --> 01:26:41,600
deal with that or we're both
going to have the exactly the
1745
01:26:41,600 --> 01:26:46,080
same ideas.
I've I've selfishly loved the
1746
01:26:46,080 --> 01:26:50,000
responses, but I have to pin you
down for a few rapid fire.
1747
01:26:50,000 --> 01:26:52,040
You just got to say the first
thing that kind of comes into
1748
01:26:52,040 --> 01:26:54,000
your mind.
OK, not allowed to justify.
1749
01:26:54,000 --> 01:26:55,920
It's just a special part that
you guys wanted to.
1750
01:26:55,920 --> 01:26:58,160
Do this is me managing your
individuality man Perfect.
1751
01:27:00,160 --> 01:27:01,880
Good.
So if I fail this then.
1752
01:27:02,040 --> 01:27:03,560
You're I'm deleting the
individual.
1753
01:27:03,560 --> 01:27:07,320
The podcast's not going up.
Yeah, exactly.
1754
01:27:08,640 --> 01:27:11,200
The most memorable.
I'm at the most memorable
1755
01:27:11,240 --> 01:27:13,800
podcast conversation you ever
had over the 10 year journey.
1756
01:27:15,160 --> 01:27:17,960
It was a lady named Samantha, I
forget her last name.
1757
01:27:17,960 --> 01:27:20,680
It was about serendipity.
So it was this researcher that
1758
01:27:20,680 --> 01:27:24,920
researches serendipity.
It's probably probably one of
1759
01:27:24,920 --> 01:27:28,640
the few times where I've had
like a Skype call or whatever it
1760
01:27:28,640 --> 01:27:31,080
was at that time that went 8 or
9 hours.
1761
01:27:31,080 --> 01:27:34,080
Like I just talked to her the
whole day and, and she was based
1762
01:27:34,080 --> 01:27:36,560
in the Netherlands.
And I remember getting off that
1763
01:27:36,560 --> 01:27:40,720
call at, at like, whatever, two
o'clock 3:00 my time and going,
1764
01:27:41,120 --> 01:27:44,400
wow, I just talked to this lady
for a whole day on the phone.
1765
01:27:44,840 --> 01:27:48,120
And yeah, so like, you know,
like that's the one that like,
1766
01:27:48,440 --> 01:27:50,880
yeah, it always sticks with me
about the stuff that I learned
1767
01:27:50,880 --> 01:27:53,200
because it was just like
everything that you said was
1768
01:27:53,200 --> 01:27:57,840
just completely new to me.
Steve, the one guest you wanted
1769
01:27:57,840 --> 01:28:00,400
to have a conversation with on
the podcast but could never get
1770
01:28:00,400 --> 01:28:05,360
over the line.
So many man, that's opening up
1771
01:28:05,360 --> 01:28:07,440
wounds.
So we really wanted to talk to
1772
01:28:07,440 --> 01:28:12,760
David Lowell and he died.
And the reason that's relevant
1773
01:28:12,800 --> 01:28:16,360
is that we did get to talk to
David Kingston, which is one of
1774
01:28:16,360 --> 01:28:18,360
the more memorable episodes
you'll ever listen to.
1775
01:28:18,360 --> 01:28:22,000
It's a petroleum episode, and he
died after the episode.
1776
01:28:22,840 --> 01:28:26,080
But these are true legends.
These are the sort of people
1777
01:28:26,360 --> 01:28:29,560
that you tell people to go and
watch your own podcast because
1778
01:28:29,560 --> 01:28:33,600
the person is on another plane.
That's so we talk about, you
1779
01:28:33,600 --> 01:28:36,400
know, Mark Bennett.
No offense to Mark Bennett, but
1780
01:28:36,600 --> 01:28:38,760
he's one of the most successful
people that you'll ever meet.
1781
01:28:39,040 --> 01:28:44,640
But David Lowell is the man.
You read my next my mind from my
1782
01:28:44,640 --> 01:28:49,640
next question I had the most the
most important explorationist in
1783
01:28:50,400 --> 01:28:53,120
modern day era.
The most important
1784
01:28:53,120 --> 01:28:55,960
explorationist minerals.
Explorationist.
1785
01:28:56,320 --> 01:28:58,520
See, this is where I like, you
know, like Steve and I kind of
1786
01:28:58,640 --> 01:28:59,920
kind of differ in that sense,
right?
1787
01:28:59,920 --> 01:29:03,280
Like I, I think, you know, like
David Lowell is definitely from,
1788
01:29:03,280 --> 01:29:06,760
from a, from a scientific point
of view as a geologist, I think
1789
01:29:06,760 --> 01:29:09,800
it's definitely the the person I
would think that the best
1790
01:29:09,800 --> 01:29:11,680
explorations right now.
I think it's Friedland.
1791
01:29:11,800 --> 01:29:15,280
I think so too.
Because I like, yeah, his track
1792
01:29:15,280 --> 01:29:18,520
record is, is unbelievable.
It's and I actually think it's
1793
01:29:18,520 --> 01:29:20,320
by a long, long way, like it's
not.
1794
01:29:20,360 --> 01:29:22,840
He's done that with.
Different teams, yeah, different
1795
01:29:22,840 --> 01:29:27,440
areas, You know, like clearly he
has like, like, I don't know,
1796
01:29:27,440 --> 01:29:31,200
his technical chops on what he,
I'm sure he has some right.
1797
01:29:31,200 --> 01:29:34,320
But but yeah, I think like I
think what he's done is I think
1798
01:29:34,320 --> 01:29:38,640
he's incredible.
It's it's I'm staring at the big
1799
01:29:38,640 --> 01:29:40,320
score as you're answering that
question.
1800
01:29:40,320 --> 01:29:42,480
And like we could have a whole
nother conversation just about
1801
01:29:42,480 --> 01:29:48,840
Fred then alone, I'm sure.
But I, I, I, I, I want Steve the
1802
01:29:48,840 --> 01:29:52,840
most important exploration book
or the book that you read that
1803
01:29:53,160 --> 01:29:56,800
maybe maybe have the biggest
exploration outlook impact on
1804
01:29:56,800 --> 01:29:59,440
you.
So it's behind us as well.
1805
01:29:59,440 --> 01:30:04,480
It's the Copper Mountain.
I, I challenge anyone to read
1806
01:30:04,480 --> 01:30:09,440
that book and imagine being
Jacques Dozy and taking that
1807
01:30:09,440 --> 01:30:15,520
long to get to a discovery
without knowing it's there in
1808
01:30:15,520 --> 01:30:17,880
the 1st place.
It's 28 days.
1809
01:30:18,800 --> 01:30:22,880
That's incredible.
But even even more incredible is
1810
01:30:22,880 --> 01:30:28,600
that Freeport redo that journey
knowing it's there with that
1811
01:30:28,600 --> 01:30:32,440
length of time in front of them.
I don't think that's even
1812
01:30:32,440 --> 01:30:35,360
possible in the modern age.
I don't think it's even
1813
01:30:35,360 --> 01:30:38,600
conceivable in the modern age.
And I don't know who impresses
1814
01:30:38,600 --> 01:30:44,160
me more, Rosie or Freeport.
Both of them are on another
1815
01:30:44,160 --> 01:30:48,520
plane.
I'm at the billion dollar mining
1816
01:30:48,520 --> 01:30:51,760
company or or higher that is
most capable of making a
1817
01:30:51,760 --> 01:30:56,760
significant discovery.
But you know, so the the true
1818
01:30:56,760 --> 01:30:58,800
Unicorn in the mining space in
that sense.
1819
01:30:59,600 --> 01:31:02,240
Yeah, the mid tier and higher
that is capable.
1820
01:31:03,800 --> 01:31:07,880
I mean, I'll go a little bit
different in that, you know,
1821
01:31:07,880 --> 01:31:12,200
like what I'm interested in is
like, I may not name one, but
1822
01:31:12,200 --> 01:31:15,120
what I'm interested in is
companies like like Cobalt or,
1823
01:31:15,200 --> 01:31:18,000
or things like that, that are
trying to do something
1824
01:31:18,000 --> 01:31:22,240
different, right?
And I think I'm always
1825
01:31:22,240 --> 01:31:26,000
interested in that because I, I
look at it from the lens that
1826
01:31:26,000 --> 01:31:29,800
I'm, I'm, I'm sure 99% of them
are not going to be successful,
1827
01:31:29,880 --> 01:31:33,320
right?
But what I'm interested in is,
1828
01:31:33,320 --> 01:31:36,560
is there's someone that can come
out and set up a new paradigm,
1829
01:31:37,200 --> 01:31:38,680
right?
And then, and then how does that
1830
01:31:38,680 --> 01:31:41,560
happen?
Like how, how do we go from the
1831
01:31:41,560 --> 01:31:45,440
point of looking at exploration
like a certain way to completely
1832
01:31:45,440 --> 01:31:47,240
changing it and looking at it a
certain way?
1833
01:31:47,720 --> 01:31:50,320
And so I think this company's
like, you know, like, I know
1834
01:31:50,320 --> 01:31:53,320
Cobalt has its distract like
detractors and it has all of
1835
01:31:53,320 --> 01:31:55,880
these kind of issues of whether
they're true exploration company
1836
01:31:55,880 --> 01:31:57,760
or not.
But I think what they're doing
1837
01:31:57,760 --> 01:32:00,600
that's interesting is that
they're just able to access a
1838
01:32:01,120 --> 01:32:04,400
like a, a source of capital that
I don't think other people have
1839
01:32:04,400 --> 01:32:07,160
ever had.
And so, so if they can combine
1840
01:32:07,160 --> 01:32:09,280
the source of capital, which is
really the thing that's like
1841
01:32:09,280 --> 01:32:10,680
hurting a lot of other
companies.
1842
01:32:11,040 --> 01:32:15,000
And they can combine it with the
fact that they that they, if
1843
01:32:15,000 --> 01:32:17,880
they take a longer term view,
which I think they're somewhat
1844
01:32:17,880 --> 01:32:19,920
struggling with, which is why
they've gone down the path that
1845
01:32:19,920 --> 01:32:22,280
they have, then I think that
would be an interesting kind of
1846
01:32:22,280 --> 01:32:28,000
company to then to then see.
Steve that they're the most
1847
01:32:28,000 --> 01:32:31,360
gripping discovery story of all
time.
1848
01:32:32,640 --> 01:32:36,480
Look, I'm talking to somebody
who's almost obsessed with the
1849
01:32:36,480 --> 01:32:41,480
discovery of Norelskan Talnak.
It's been a life's work almost
1850
01:32:41,480 --> 01:32:43,520
to put it together because it's
not something that's in the
1851
01:32:43,520 --> 01:32:47,360
public domain.
It's the deposit style I focus
1852
01:32:47,360 --> 01:32:53,800
on, but it's just, it's almost
from another era it it feels
1853
01:32:53,800 --> 01:32:56,200
like.
It feels like a Columbus, kind
1854
01:32:56,200 --> 01:32:57,160
of like.
Story right?
1855
01:32:57,200 --> 01:32:59,720
It does.
It feels like it's too
1856
01:32:59,720 --> 01:33:01,920
inspirational.
And I think that's the same with
1857
01:33:01,920 --> 01:33:04,040
the discovery of Grasberg and
Itzburg.
1858
01:33:04,640 --> 01:33:08,720
People will immediately go, no,
we're not doing it because it's
1859
01:33:08,720 --> 01:33:12,680
too aspirational from our
current starting point when
1860
01:33:12,680 --> 01:33:16,400
we're getting on a plane and
flying off in our in our orange
1861
01:33:16,640 --> 01:33:21,000
suits, we just can't imagine how
we can go from there to there.
1862
01:33:23,000 --> 01:33:25,560
Are either of those two the best
site visits you've done as well,
1863
01:33:25,680 --> 01:33:27,160
or have you got a different
answer to that question?
1864
01:33:27,240 --> 01:33:30,960
So this is actually one of my
how long we got here.
1865
01:33:32,280 --> 01:33:34,040
This is one of my favorite
topics.
1866
01:33:34,520 --> 01:33:38,280
There are you can't read your
way to the success.
1867
01:33:38,280 --> 01:33:41,560
There's so much to read and it's
easy to imagine, but you've got
1868
01:33:41,560 --> 01:33:43,240
to get off your ass and do
stuff.
1869
01:33:43,640 --> 01:33:46,840
And so I'm it's been to Narelsk.
I've had the fortune to both
1870
01:33:46,840 --> 01:33:49,000
work in Western Siberia and be
at Narelsk.
1871
01:33:49,640 --> 01:33:53,560
There's, if you see a super
giant, like something so octave
1872
01:33:53,560 --> 01:33:55,880
risky is 53 times the size of
Nova.
1873
01:33:56,480 --> 01:34:01,280
OK, you're not looking at a
comparable base.
1874
01:34:01,280 --> 01:34:03,200
No offence to Nova.
I love the deposit.
1875
01:34:03,520 --> 01:34:06,720
You're looking at a very special
moment in your own personal
1876
01:34:06,720 --> 01:34:08,880
life, in your own personal
development.
1877
01:34:09,400 --> 01:34:11,880
So clearly that's what I call a
teacher.
1878
01:34:12,240 --> 01:34:15,160
So I believe that there are all
bodies that are teachers and it
1879
01:34:15,160 --> 01:34:19,120
isn't necessarily all about
grade, although that's got to be
1880
01:34:19,120 --> 01:34:22,600
something like it could be
something just it could be
1881
01:34:22,600 --> 01:34:25,680
diversity.
So a couple of days ago someone
1882
01:34:25,680 --> 01:34:30,080
posted something on the Internet
in Russian on Narelsk and it was
1883
01:34:30,080 --> 01:34:33,680
a phenomenal piece of work.
I went to the bother of
1884
01:34:34,000 --> 01:34:35,680
translating that in the last few
days.
1885
01:34:35,960 --> 01:34:39,840
So what I did is went through a
OCR followed by automatic,
1886
01:34:39,840 --> 01:34:42,880
followed by manually went
through every single line to
1887
01:34:42,880 --> 01:34:47,440
translate this just to give it
to people so they so they could
1888
01:34:47,440 --> 01:34:49,800
see the diversity of things that
was in there.
1889
01:34:50,400 --> 01:34:52,160
And I got an e-mail back from
someone this morning.
1890
01:34:52,160 --> 01:34:55,240
They went, Oh my God, that's
different.
1891
01:34:55,240 --> 01:35:00,880
I mean, I know, imagine if you
could have seen these like I've
1892
01:35:00,880 --> 01:35:05,040
seen these with my own eyes.
I honestly, I wish you could
1893
01:35:05,040 --> 01:35:07,800
have seen through my eyes
because you wouldn't have the
1894
01:35:07,800 --> 01:35:13,120
same opinions about these sort
of things.
1895
01:35:13,120 --> 01:35:17,600
You've got to go and do this
because it's teaching you and we
1896
01:35:17,600 --> 01:35:22,120
do the best we can with
teaching, but go, you just got
1897
01:35:22,120 --> 01:35:23,640
to go.
It will change your life.
1898
01:35:24,040 --> 01:35:27,640
I mean, that's so seriously that
you should pay for it yourself
1899
01:35:27,960 --> 01:35:30,400
if that's your only option
because it will change your
1900
01:35:30,400 --> 01:35:31,760
life.
Who is the guy you interviewed
1901
01:35:31,760 --> 01:35:34,880
once on expiration radio and he
was renowned for doing these
1902
01:35:34,880 --> 01:35:37,600
site trips and coordinate the
order.
1903
01:35:37,680 --> 01:35:41,720
Does he still do them or?
He's retired now, but but yeah,
1904
01:35:41,720 --> 01:35:43,640
I mean, I think that's like,
yeah, like that's why I wanted
1905
01:35:43,640 --> 01:35:47,080
to kind of get Mike, right?
Because I think my, I mean to
1906
01:35:47,080 --> 01:35:51,360
like Steve's point, you know,
like, yeah, I had studied
1907
01:35:51,360 --> 01:35:53,960
nurals.
I studied mafic systems for a
1908
01:35:53,960 --> 01:35:56,080
long time.
And then when I went there, I
1909
01:35:56,080 --> 01:35:59,400
think I came back with an
understanding that overlapped
1910
01:35:59,440 --> 01:36:02,640
maybe 10% of what I knew before
going there, right?
1911
01:36:02,640 --> 01:36:07,320
Because when I went there, I was
part of an international
1912
01:36:07,320 --> 01:36:10,440
consortium.
But I consciously made a
1913
01:36:10,440 --> 01:36:12,440
decision to actually not hang
out with those guys.
1914
01:36:12,440 --> 01:36:15,680
And I spend most of my time with
the exploration and the mind
1915
01:36:15,680 --> 01:36:18,680
geologist and people that worked
at neuros because I wanted to
1916
01:36:18,680 --> 01:36:21,040
figure out what they how did
they look at this whole body.
1917
01:36:21,400 --> 01:36:24,040
And the way they looked at it
was completely, fundamentally
1918
01:36:24,040 --> 01:36:25,920
different to how we looked at it
in the West.
1919
01:36:25,920 --> 01:36:29,120
So the classic is the chief
geologist of Octobrisky is which
1920
01:36:29,120 --> 01:36:33,160
is the world's biggest mind.
I'm not sure if he knows what
1921
01:36:33,160 --> 01:36:36,760
he's doing, but my God does he
know more than anyone else.
1922
01:36:36,960 --> 01:36:40,880
That dude could talk your head
off for weeks and you will
1923
01:36:40,880 --> 01:36:42,560
learn.
But you're also he's got some
1924
01:36:42,560 --> 01:36:45,280
crazy ideas.
But the bottom line is the man
1925
01:36:45,280 --> 01:36:46,880
works on the world's biggest
deposit.
1926
01:36:46,960 --> 01:36:50,440
That's like going to Olympic
Dam, but it's 1 1/2 times the
1927
01:36:50,440 --> 01:36:54,200
size of Olympic Dam.
That level of complexity, you
1928
01:36:54,200 --> 01:36:57,760
could spend your whole life
there and not touch the surface.
1929
01:36:57,960 --> 01:37:03,800
That's not the same kind of
experience that some deposits
1930
01:37:03,800 --> 01:37:05,800
give you.
Now you can do it with small
1931
01:37:05,800 --> 01:37:08,080
deposits.
So the real answer to that is so
1932
01:37:08,400 --> 01:37:11,320
to answer that question fully,
the people who will be listening
1933
01:37:11,320 --> 01:37:13,000
to this and go, but I can't go
to Norelsk.
1934
01:37:13,240 --> 01:37:17,280
Not only is Russia not an option
for me, but actually foreigners
1935
01:37:17,280 --> 01:37:19,280
can't visit Norelsk in the 1st
place.
1936
01:37:19,280 --> 01:37:21,360
They never could.
They never have been able to.
1937
01:37:21,360 --> 01:37:23,000
You have to get.
There is a thing over the
1938
01:37:23,000 --> 01:37:25,840
documentary film crew and then.
Yeah, or in my case, you work in
1939
01:37:25,840 --> 01:37:27,920
an alliance with Norelsk in
Russia.
1940
01:37:28,880 --> 01:37:31,760
So you can't just choose that.
So it seems unfair to name
1941
01:37:31,760 --> 01:37:33,920
something that the majority of
the world is listening to this
1942
01:37:33,920 --> 01:37:36,720
podcast to like I can't do this.
So you got to come up with
1943
01:37:36,720 --> 01:37:40,720
something that's easy, that
there's a deposits like Manali
1944
01:37:40,720 --> 01:37:43,840
which sit in Zambia, which have
so much complexity in such a
1945
01:37:43,840 --> 01:37:45,920
source space.
I call them teachers.
1946
01:37:46,840 --> 01:37:48,280
It's actually a non economic
deposit.
1947
01:37:48,800 --> 01:37:51,880
It doesn't sound like a very
good teacher, but it is a
1948
01:37:51,880 --> 01:37:56,680
microcosm of Nurelsk and that's
the best that we can do.
1949
01:37:57,840 --> 01:37:59,840
There are there are options in
Australia, you just got to
1950
01:37:59,840 --> 01:38:02,600
constantly go.
Not everything is the same, so
1951
01:38:03,120 --> 01:38:05,920
let me explain it fully.
The third largest deposit of
1952
01:38:05,920 --> 01:38:08,760
this type is Jinchuan.
It's an awful teacher.
1953
01:38:09,720 --> 01:38:16,360
Shotcreted immediately after
production, seismically active.
1954
01:38:17,080 --> 01:38:19,200
Oh my God, it's, it's just not a
teacher.
1955
01:38:19,640 --> 01:38:22,760
There's just nothing about the
way it's mine that's going to
1956
01:38:22,760 --> 01:38:25,320
teach anybody that fundamentally
changes how you work.
1957
01:38:25,760 --> 01:38:28,440
So there is a difference.
And I know it's a nuance that
1958
01:38:28,440 --> 01:38:32,080
I've learnt through experience,
but I do pass it on because the
1959
01:38:32,080 --> 01:38:35,720
one thing about experience that
you want to pass on is how could
1960
01:38:35,720 --> 01:38:39,920
I shortcut your learning?
Well, don't do this is the
1961
01:38:39,920 --> 01:38:43,240
simple answer.
Do this, don't do this and maybe
1962
01:38:43,240 --> 01:38:46,160
you will not listen.
Trust me, I've got teenagers.
1963
01:38:46,960 --> 01:38:50,120
People don't listen, but just
really stress that point.
1964
01:38:50,440 --> 01:38:53,600
If you get an opportunity to do
the big things, pay it yourself.
1965
01:38:54,080 --> 01:38:57,760
And if you can't, look for the
little microcosms that teach
1966
01:38:57,760 --> 01:38:59,240
you.
But it isn't everything.
1967
01:39:01,320 --> 01:39:03,880
The passion you guys have is is
palpable.
1968
01:39:03,880 --> 01:39:06,360
I love it and I am sure our
audience will just sort of
1969
01:39:06,360 --> 01:39:08,400
gobble this one up.
So really appreciate it guys.
1970
01:39:08,400 --> 01:39:09,480
Thank you.
Thank you.
1971
01:39:09,480 --> 01:39:10,680
No worries.
Thanks for having us.
1972
01:39:12,040 --> 01:39:13,280
Mate, how good was that
conversation?
1973
01:39:13,280 --> 01:39:15,760
I hope all the money miners out
there loved that one as much as
1974
01:39:15,800 --> 01:39:20,040
I did and it is all thanks to
our fantastic partners Rounded
1975
01:39:20,040 --> 01:39:22,160
Cross, Boundary Energy and Sandy
Ground Support.
1976
01:39:22,840 --> 01:39:24,240
Good to read money minors.
Good to read.
1977
01:39:26,240 --> 01:39:29,080
Now remember, I'm an idiot.
JD is an idiot.
1978
01:39:29,440 --> 01:39:31,520
If you thought any of this was
anything other than
1979
01:39:31,520 --> 01:39:34,200
entertainment, you're an idiot.
And you need to read out a
1980
01:39:34,200 --> 01:39:34,680
disclaimer.