SEG – Drill, Deal, or Drop: Exploration Decision-Making through Commodity and Project Cycles

Course Overview

This 2-day virtual course, Drill, Deal, or Drop: Exploration Decision-Making through Commodity and Project Cycles, will examine exploration decision-making with a focus on junior exploration companies and their evolution through commodity and project cycles. The life cycle of a junior company is driven by a constant flow of technical and corporate decisions made by management teams and boards – each step of which can make or break a company’s future. Companies are constantly reviewing their mineral properties/assets to determine if they should “drill, deal, or drop” to maximize the value of the assets to the company and its shareholders.

Emphasis will be placed on the main drivers of the decision-making process, the role of property and corporate valuations in driving business decisions, and exit strategies for both projects and companies. Process and strategy will be discussed in relation to four stages of project and corporate development:

• Exploration overview and role of junior companies – a historical TSX-V Perspective
• Creation of a public company – pathways to going public and factors considered in choosing the proper method; understanding regulatory requirements, market cycle and structure.
• Execution, growth and decision-making through the exploration process – consideration of strategic framework, project financing availability and structure, technical results, marketing, and project/corporate risk factors.
• Advance or sell – decision to advance projects with additional financing towards resources and economic studies or farm-out through option-joint venture deals or other transactions; how mineral properties and companies are valued in the marketplace and the importance of this valuation when considering exploration funding decisions as well as asset and corporate disposition strategies.
• Exit strategy – Option and JV Agreements – review key aspects, business terms and negotiating points of option and joint venture agreements.

The course is designed for geologists and other mineral industry professionals who wish to gain an understanding of the market and corporate aspects of exploration decision-making. Lecture materials will be augmented by current case studies reviewed and discussed using small group exercises. While the focus is on junior companies, the integrated nature of the mineral exploration business makes the course materials relevant to those working with larger companies and government agencies as well.