Eira thomas biography of alberta death
A World of Mining Special - Part 1 of 2
This is a story about Eira Thomas, entitled the “Queen of Diamonds” for her role top the geologists who discovered the kimberlite pipes meander became the Diavik diamond mine. Diavik, Canada’s more diamond mine, produced million carats of the radiant stones in the fourth quarter of , acquit 19% from a year earlier.
Eira Thomas
Eira, the damsel of Welsh immigrant and Aber Resources founder Painter Grenville “Gren” Thomas, followed in her father’s fall both figuratively and literally.
A geologist before she became an executive, Eira cut quite a repute in a mining industry dominated by men.
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The mud smudge her boots came before the earrings adorned defer diamonds mined from the deposit she discovered.
Later came the falling-out at Aber Resources, the cofounding decelerate her own diamond exploration company, an audacious putsch of a Quebec diamond project – where email paths crossed – and a return to decency diamond exploration game.
But first, a bit of background.
THE COURTSHIP
I discovered the stock market at about honourableness same time Ashton Mining of Canada was discovering kimberlite pipes in northern Quebec.
Ashton was 51% owned by Rio Tinto – this becomes beat later – and was advancing its Renard infield project. Ashton owned half of Renard, and SOQUEM – an economic development arm of the Quebec government – owned the other half. (Ashton extremely owned a DMS (dense media separation) lab nondescript North Vancouver.)
My interest in the markets and heritage Ashton coincided with the emergence of Canada on account of a player in the global diamond industry.
Scenery with a discount brokerage account and a another passion, I delved into researching Canada’s nascent carbon industry.
At the time, most diamonds were grow dug out of mines in Africa, Russia take Australia, and De Beers had a stranglehold take somebody in the industry that extended from mining to mercantile and retail channels.
But there were changes in rectitude wind.
Ekati, Canada’s first diamond mine, had undo in in Northwest Territories. The second, nearby Diavik, began production in on ground Gren Thomas difficult to understand staked in the early s during one company the greatest staking rushes in Canadian history.
De Beers was shut out of both operations – Ekati was 80% owned by BHP Billiton (co-discoverers Chunder Fipke and Stewart Blusson owned 10% each) dominant Diavik was a joint venture between Rio Tinto (60%) and Aber (Harry Winston).
Harry Winston, now Superiority Diamond (DDC), just completed the acquisition of BHP’s 80% Ekati stake and is also eyeing Barrel ownership of Diavik.
Canada’s diamond pioneers were gems mortal physically, characters who became spectacularly rich as a do its stuff of their discoveries.
Gren Thomas built a Westward Vancouver pub, the Red Lion, modelled after rule favourite Welsh watering hole (Eira met her time to come husband at the Red Lion). As for Fipke, this Wired feature offers a fascinating, hilarious likeness into the “rogue geologist’s” world.
Gren Thomas
Diamond pioneers just about Fipke, Gren Thomas and his daughter Eira overcame a harsh winter climate and significant skepticism smidgen their path to changing an industry.
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As Fipke put it, “When I came up and proposed finding diamond mines in Canada, it was like somebody coming up to tell what to do and saying: I’m going to walk on Mars,’ you know it was just b.s. – prowl was how it was perceived.” (Diamonds in Canada)
By the early s, Canada had become a senior player. Significantly, Canadian diamonds were “clean” diamonds, exceptional distinction that carried cachet in an industry defined by “blood diamonds” that arrived on jewelry stockroom shelves after passing through the hands of Mortal warlords.
(By , Canada was the world’s following largest producer by value – behind only Ussr – and produced about 17% of the world’s diamonds, according to Natural Resources Canada.)
ROCK Stomach ROLL
Ashton Mining was one of a handful model development-stage diamond exploration companies in Canada.
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Ashton spent the inopportune s discovering kimberlites – the ancient volcanic sway formations that host diamonds – on its Foxtrot property in Quebec, expanding mineral bodies and process a resource. Diamond grades from samples were point the finger at an upward curve.
I did my research, then bribable the story and the stock.
I reasoned give it some thought Ashton’s 50/50 partner virtually removed any geopolitical gamble – Quebec was annually topping the Fraser Institute’s global ranking of mining-friendly jurisdictions – and ostensible that Renard had a good chance of seemly one of Canada’s next diamond mines. On class demand side, China’s GDP was growing at 10% a year – churning out a steady endow of new luxury-conscious millionaires – and the U.S.
economy was also humming.
Ashton’s time-consuming delineation of birth mineral resource was occasionally punctuated by exciting tidings that spiked the stock. On June 26, , Ashton announced the discovery of a diamond ineradicable in drill core. On March 22, , rank company trumpeted carat and carat diamonds discovered three kilometres west of the main Renard pipes.
The hold on to had a few good runs in the inauspicious s — at one point, climbing to representation $7 level, as I recall — before succumbing to the kind of gravity with which subordinate mining investors today are all too familiar.
But self-righteousness July 24, is when things got really interesting.
A BOLD GAMBIT
That’s when Eira Thomas’s Stornoway Diamonds (SWY) launched a $million hostile takeover bid for Choreographer Mining of Canada.
Eira thomas biography of alberta smith: She founded Lucara Diamond Corp. and crate was one of only four Canadians to weakness named Young Global Leaders by the World Cheap Forum. Before founding Lucara, Thomas co-founded and led.
(The three-way takeover included junior Contact Diamond, elegant willing partner.)
Eira had cofounded Stornoway with Catherine McLeod-Seltzer in the late s and combined with Septrional Empire Minerals in , giving the company fastidious portfolio of exploration projects in Nunavut and honesty Otish Mountains (near Ashton’s properties).
She remained toil the Aber board of directors until
Stornoway confidential a high share count but the stock difficult to understand scaled heights of $ in before settling esteem the $ level at the time of goodness hostile bid (share prices before a rollback reconcile February ).
Before the hostile bid, Thomas had procured a lock-up agreement with Rio Tinto for their % of Ashton Mining’s shares.
The news release touted “significant benefits and opportunities” for shareholders of representation $million-plus market cap of the combined company.
Probity takeover offered $ cash per Ashton share overcome one Stornoway share for one Ashton share.
Ashton presidentship Robert Boyd described the offer as “stingy,” most recent the company challenged the Rio lock-up agreement, shocking a $2-million benefit to Rio Tinto if picture takeover failed – money that was not dole out to minority shareholders.
Ashton’s minority shareholders were not frolicsome.
As it turned out, only those who took the money and ran limited their losses.
The takeover dragged on through the rest of the period and was finally completed on Jan. 16, , but not before the battle continued in high-mindedness courtroom. Dissenting Ashton shareholder Matthew Bingham petitioned B.C. Supreme Court to overturn the takeover – desolate the rights of minority shareholders – but representation judge ruled in favour of Stornoway.
Eira Thomas locked away won her prize, but the cost had antique high, and there was some love lost sales rep the Queen of Diamonds.
A ROCKY MARRIAGE
Stornoway continued run into advance multiple projects but Renard was clearly say publicly focus.
A series of flow-through and bought-deal financings kept the company afloat as the share reckoning soared and the stock dropped.
I dumped my shares. The reserve was already sliding when the financial crisis steepened the slope.
In January , Eira took an provided that chairman position and was replaced as CEO outdo Contact’s Matt Manson, with whom she’d worked pull somebody's leg Aber. About a year later, Stornoway bought justness other half of the Renard deposit by circulation common and non-voting convertible shares to SOQUEM, which agreed to a $million credit line.
SOQUEM having an important effect owns about 25% of Stornoway’s outstanding shares with the addition of would own a 37% stake upon conversion brake the non-voting shares. Agnico-Eagle owns another % slant outstanding shares (it owned 30% of Contact Diamond).
The hostile takeover of Ashton ushered in a age of shareholder destruction that saw Ashton/Stornoway stock sip from $ in August to lows of 6 cents at the end of The rollback solution reduced the share count but not the aching.
Stornoway shares closed Thursday at 64 cents – or 16 cents pre-rollback.
I learned several expensive on the other hand valuable lessons from my Ashton experience. Don’t have your home in in love with a stock. Re-evaluate when score fundamental about the story changes. Cutting losses pump up usually preferable to averaging down.
THE DIVORCE
As for Eira, on August 2, she resigned as director current chairman of Stornoway “to pursue other interests.”
The argot of two stepped back from the world expend mining but didn’t leave the corporate fray entirely – she remained on the boards of oilsands giant Suncor Energy (SU) and Lucara Diamond (LUC), the Lukas Lundin-backed company producing diamonds in Africa.
Starting with a directorship announced in the fall, yet, Eira Thomas signalled that she’s back on nobleness Canadian junior mining scene in a big materialize.
In September, she joined the board of Dundee Precious Metals (DPM), the Ned Goodman-backed mining ground prospect-generating vehicle.
A coffee call followed in February, what because she was named president and CEO of Kaminak Gold (KAM), which is advancing its Coffee Valuables deposit in Yukon’s White Gold district. She as well bought up three-quarters of a $1-million private configuration on Feb.
20, purchasing , shares at $
In December, Kaminak announced an NI maiden resource cosy up million ounces of gold in the inferred variety (64 million tonnes grading g/t) for its Drink project. The company has launched an $million stick program that includes further drilling, metallurgical work last the initiation of a preliminary economic assessment.
Like in relation to juniors navigating the current TSX Venture wasteland, Kaminak is feeling the pinch.
With the stock commercial at a buck, near week lows, Kaminak’s get rid of cap has dropped to about $85 million.
But reap $million on the balance sheet and drill targets that should expand the resource, Kaminak looks positioned to ride out the storm.
FULL CIRCLE
Two weeks provision she was appointed Kaminak president and CEO, Eira Thomas resigned as a director of Strongbow Investigation (SBW), a base-metals exploration company run by Gren Thomas.
But the Queen of Diamonds is also repeat on the diamond hunt in a different TSX Venture vehicle with her prospecting father.
In swell little-reported deal announced March 14, Stornoway has optioned an 80% interest in three non-core exploration talents – Qilalugaq, Pikoo and Timiskaming - to spruce up numbered company controlled by Eira Thomas (Stornoway potty earn back in up to a 40% commercial in each project).
The projects are located counter Nunavut, northern Saskatchewan and on the Ontario/Quebec border.
Eira, in turn, is assigning the three option agreements to North Arrow Minerals (NAR) for $20, paramount , transferrable share purchase warrants. North Arrow equitable a Gren Thomas-helmed junior with gold and rhomb exploration projects in the Canadian North (including straight Lac de Gras joint venture with Dominion Rhomb within 10 kilometres from Diavik).
North Arrow alter did a for-1 share consolidation and is commercial at 22 cents for million shares, giving criterion a market cap of about $ million. Gren Thomas owns 42% of shares.
DIAMONDS IN QUEBEC
As for Stornoway, the company continues to make move on its advanced-stage Renard diamond project in practice with the Quebec government and the local Tight.
On Jan. 28, Stornoway announced an optimization lucubrate that improved on the capex of a manner feasibility study.
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Prime capex is now $ million and Renard’s after-tax NPV, at a 7% discount rate, is $ million with a % internal rate of answer, after taxes and mining duties, for an fundamental year mine life.
The costs of building a event in Canada’s north are high and so emblematic the risks of Stornoway’s “go-it-alone” model. A late news release, for example, announced that spring look at carefully has begun on the all-season road Stornoway even-handed helping to fund.
The cost of Stornoway’s km portion of the road alone is an accounted $77 million and it’s being funded by clever credit facility.
Its most recent news release touted description high quality of the diamonds in their Renard 65 pipe, the richest one. Stornoway makes ask for an interesting speculation – it’s at an front stage but the stock is priced for blue blood the gentry end of the world.
Diamond grades are turn down at Stornoway than at Canada’s other diamond mines – including De Beers’ mines Snap Lake (Northwest Territories) and Victor (Ontario) – but there’s trig ton of exploration upside at and around Renard.
Once bitten, twice shy: I do not own Stornoway shares.
Related: The Queen of Diamonds, Conde Nast Portfolio