After all the noise at the Denver Creek Gold Forum earlier this around the poor returns of gold mining companies, I had to reach out to Mickey Fulp the Mercenary Geologist to discuss his 2015 article called "The Real Cost of Mining Gold". I wanted to wait a while before we had this conversation to emphasize that this is not a new phenomenon. Mining is a tough business – same as it ever was!
The time finally came when I mustered the courage to contact Mickey and ask for an interview. He indulged me for a half-hour and it is my pleasure to share the following recording of our interview here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=11MK6If28cepXMTwAqp-obho0nkoqnt9I
The "Real Cost" article introduces the concept of an Adequacy Ratio, which is a nice tool that attempts to provide a common basis for comparing gold mining companies over time. Find Mickey's original musing on the real cost of gold mining here.
Alongside the release of the "Real Cost" article, there were a series of videos posted to youtube. You can find the first one here. The videos include Rod Husband and Elena Tanzola from Cipher Research. They kept it short and sweet in those videos, but I could tell that these three had a lot more to say about the mining industry.
Check out an interview that Mickey did with Peter Epstein around the same time here.
In contrast to the real cost of mining, Mickey also released a musing called "The Real Value of Gold in the Ground" that focuses on the exploration side of the business. I certainly found a few things to enjoy in that one, which you can find here.
Thanks very much for the interview, Mickey! Until next time.
