1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:05,120 One and welcome everybody to another smart money circle show. 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,760 I'm Adam, sorry. And with me today is Jonathan 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:12,120 Aude, who serves as President, CEO and Officer at the Dakota 4 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:14,360 Gold. Ticker symbol is DC. 5 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:16,600 Jonathan, thank you so much for coming on the show today. 6 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:18,840 It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you very much. 7 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:20,760 So Jonathan, I always like to begin. 8 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:22,920 Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got to 9 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,720 where you are today, please? Sure. 10 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,760 So my background is is Capital markets and finance. 11 00:00:29,660 --> 00:00:33,860 Double major in economics and finance and I spent over 20 12 00:00:33,860 --> 00:00:37,940 years in the mining industry, had 3 1/2 years at a brokerage 13 00:00:37,940 --> 00:00:43,060 firm in Vancouver that really had a historical presence in 14 00:00:43,060 --> 00:00:45,020 financing small cap metals and mining. 15 00:00:46,340 --> 00:00:51,420 In 2010, I founded a company called Gold Standard Ventures, 16 00:00:51,860 --> 00:00:54,580 which was recently just acquired by Orla Mining. 17 00:00:55,060 --> 00:00:58,140 It's got an oxide E leach project in Nevada. 18 00:00:58,990 --> 00:01:03,790 And then in 2000, late 2020, early 2021, Co founded Dakota 19 00:01:03,790 --> 00:01:09,270 Gold Corp with Bob Quartermain, mining legend and Jerry Abilene. 20 00:01:10,510 --> 00:01:15,750 And we are a NYSC listed company with a very specific focus on 21 00:01:15,750 --> 00:01:19,150 revitalizing the home state district in Leeds, South Dakota. 22 00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:21,700 Beautiful. Well that's a great story. 23 00:01:21,700 --> 00:01:23,020 Thank you so much for sharing it. 24 00:01:23,420 --> 00:01:26,660 I love the transition from capital markets or traditional 25 00:01:26,660 --> 00:01:30,620 finance to gold specifically. Just out of curiosity, what led 26 00:01:30,620 --> 00:01:32,980 you to gold and not somewhere else? 27 00:01:34,740 --> 00:01:37,820 Well, so I've I've always actually had an interest in in 28 00:01:37,820 --> 00:01:43,100 collecting coins and cards like hockey cards, baseball, 29 00:01:43,100 --> 00:01:46,540 football, basketball. So that's where I've always kind 30 00:01:46,540 --> 00:01:50,560 of parked some money. And it's it's more of a hobby 31 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,920 where I've always, when I was starting on my 3rd and have a 32 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:59,400 lot of money, you know, I would buy you know 1/2 ounce coin or 33 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,800 A1 oz coin. But I do believe in having you 34 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,960 know some kind of insurance. And you know I've always felt 35 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,160 very strongly that gold is a good store of value. 36 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,560 And you know when you look at what's happening in the world 37 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,200 right now with you know debt situations and and governments 38 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,480 not able to balance budgets when you have. 39 00:02:18,900 --> 00:02:22,460 When you're at or near full employment, really interesting. 40 00:02:22,460 --> 00:02:24,980 And I think every portfolio should have some exposure to 41 00:02:24,980 --> 00:02:26,980 gold. Yeah, I love that. 42 00:02:26,980 --> 00:02:28,940 I couldn't agree with you more. I just read somewhere. 43 00:02:29,740 --> 00:02:32,900 Hold on, let me show it to you. To your point, it said it's been 44 00:02:32,900 --> 00:02:36,380 60 hours since the US debt crossed 33 trillion and it's 45 00:02:36,380 --> 00:02:38,860 already up another 50 billion with a B. 46 00:02:39,020 --> 00:02:43,380 That means we've added $833 million in debt per hour since 47 00:02:43,380 --> 00:02:47,100 the US debt crossed 33 trillion. I mean, it's just mind boggling. 48 00:02:47,610 --> 00:02:49,410 So I'm a big fan of gold as well. 49 00:02:50,090 --> 00:02:53,050 Go ahead if you, If you. And and you know when you look 50 00:02:53,050 --> 00:02:57,170 at what's happened with interest rates, it's it's the fastest 51 00:02:57,170 --> 00:02:59,810 tightening cycle in in almost 50 years. 52 00:03:00,010 --> 00:03:04,610 And now the US just the service is debt has crossed through a 53 00:03:04,610 --> 00:03:07,050 trillion dollars a year just to service its debt. 54 00:03:07,930 --> 00:03:11,810 So if if if we do go into a soft landing or God forbid to go into 55 00:03:11,810 --> 00:03:15,290 a hard landing and rates are still at these levels. 56 00:03:15,980 --> 00:03:18,740 You know, you could be spending upwards of $1.5 trillion 57 00:03:18,780 --> 00:03:20,460 annually just to service your debt. 58 00:03:20,460 --> 00:03:25,100 So at some point, at some point that's going to need to rectify 59 00:03:25,100 --> 00:03:28,820 itself and you're seeing this major shift away from gold being 60 00:03:28,820 --> 00:03:31,340 owned in the West to to the east. 61 00:03:31,340 --> 00:03:34,060 You're seeing record central bank buying and and China and 62 00:03:34,060 --> 00:03:37,060 India. And you know, you're seeing 63 00:03:37,060 --> 00:03:39,940 these countries say, you know what, we're not going to buy US 64 00:03:39,940 --> 00:03:42,220 treasures anymore. And there's been this, this 65 00:03:42,220 --> 00:03:46,300 shift away from. Settling transactions in the US 66 00:03:46,300 --> 00:03:48,940 dollar, you know, even though the US dollar is, you know, will 67 00:03:48,940 --> 00:03:51,460 still be the world's preserve currency for several decades. 68 00:03:51,460 --> 00:03:56,700 But you'll see a gradual erosion of transactions settling U.S. 69 00:03:56,700 --> 00:03:57,980 dollars. Yeah. 70 00:03:57,980 --> 00:04:00,580 And then it replaces with gold and other things that that's 71 00:04:00,580 --> 00:04:02,500 what you're saying, correct. Yeah. 72 00:04:02,540 --> 00:04:05,020 OK, beautiful. So what Let's talk about Dakota 73 00:04:05,020 --> 00:04:07,340 again. Let's talk about some specific 74 00:04:07,340 --> 00:04:09,860 competitive advantages. I know that you're still tell 75 00:04:09,860 --> 00:04:12,420 people if you can early stages in developmental phase, the 76 00:04:12,420 --> 00:04:16,050 exploration phase, please speak to tell us about Dakota please. 77 00:04:16,970 --> 00:04:20,010 Sure. So, so you know, the Homestake 78 00:04:20,010 --> 00:04:24,210 mine in Leeds, South Dakota is still to this day the largest 79 00:04:24,210 --> 00:04:26,970 single gold mine in the history of the US. 80 00:04:27,370 --> 00:04:31,210 So 40 million ounces of gold came out of this mine. 81 00:04:32,290 --> 00:04:35,330 And so when we put this company together, we merged with a 82 00:04:35,490 --> 00:04:39,050 company called Dakota Territory Resource Corp that was a public 83 00:04:39,050 --> 00:04:41,250 company. We had a small land package 84 00:04:41,250 --> 00:04:44,090 about four and a half, five miles north of the old mine. 85 00:04:44,730 --> 00:04:47,890 But what it had was the last mine manager, the Vice President 86 00:04:47,890 --> 00:04:50,250 of exploration. So you had this local knowledge 87 00:04:50,250 --> 00:04:53,770 and expertise that that just didn't really have access to 88 00:04:53,770 --> 00:04:57,130 capital. So we saw an opportunity to to 89 00:04:57,170 --> 00:05:00,610 to merge with this public company, but then also to grow 90 00:05:00,610 --> 00:05:04,690 the land package significantly from about 5000 acres to almost 91 00:05:04,690 --> 00:05:09,130 50,000 acres and very importantly. 92 00:05:09,810 --> 00:05:14,250 We have 14,000 acres of our 50,000 acre land package that's 93 00:05:14,250 --> 00:05:17,530 on private ground. So from a permitting standpoint, 94 00:05:17,970 --> 00:05:21,690 permitting on private ground is by far the most advantageous 95 00:05:21,690 --> 00:05:26,130 from a timing perspective because you're seeing now on US 96 00:05:26,130 --> 00:05:29,090 Forest Service or BLM where you have to involve the federal 97 00:05:29,090 --> 00:05:31,410 government. We're getting a permit can take 98 00:05:31,930 --> 00:05:36,810 five, 6-7 years. So having again having a private 99 00:05:36,810 --> 00:05:39,310 land. We're having a project that has 100 00:05:39,310 --> 00:05:43,430 a grant farther permit that requires a simple amendment puts 101 00:05:43,430 --> 00:05:47,670 you in a much stronger position than others who are on US Forest 102 00:05:47,670 --> 00:05:50,070 Service or PLM. I love that. 103 00:05:50,070 --> 00:05:54,030 And then from a valuation standpoint, our research hence 104 00:05:54,030 --> 00:05:56,110 is connecting was you guys are extremely undervalued. 105 00:05:56,110 --> 00:05:57,830 You've got a tremendous amount of room for growth. 106 00:05:58,190 --> 00:06:00,990 Let's say Fast forward if you can, five years or 10 years, 107 00:06:01,230 --> 00:06:03,670 things hit even at current gold prices. 108 00:06:03,670 --> 00:06:06,150 Forget the fact that gold is extremely undervalued as well 109 00:06:06,150 --> 00:06:08,830 and likely to go higher. Can you talk to us about 110 00:06:09,070 --> 00:06:12,190 potential or what could happen or what could unfold? 111 00:06:13,110 --> 00:06:15,110 Sure. So we we completed the merger on 112 00:06:15,150 --> 00:06:19,270 April 5th of 2022. We changed the name from Dakota 113 00:06:19,270 --> 00:06:22,710 Territory Resource Corp to Dakota Gold Corp up listed to a 114 00:06:22,710 --> 00:06:26,350 nicey American because we felt this opportunity was befitting a 115 00:06:26,430 --> 00:06:30,710 full blown US listing and when we started drilling last year. 116 00:06:31,370 --> 00:06:34,930 Our, our number one objective was, you know proof of concept. 117 00:06:34,930 --> 00:06:38,250 We wanted to prove to the market that there was mineralized 118 00:06:38,250 --> 00:06:40,250 Homestake formation along this corridor. 119 00:06:41,010 --> 00:06:43,410 Our Maitland project, which was the first transaction we did 120 00:06:43,410 --> 00:06:48,930 from Berwick is contiguous with the old mine and we did that. 121 00:06:49,370 --> 00:06:51,530 And then we've made two discoveries, 2 very key 122 00:06:51,530 --> 00:06:54,490 discoveries out of Maitland project, which again is 123 00:06:54,490 --> 00:06:56,330 contiguous with the old Homestake mine. 124 00:06:56,890 --> 00:07:00,050 So we we've discovered this this zone that we called the JV zone. 125 00:07:01,250 --> 00:07:04,370 Which is in their lives home state formation to the same host 126 00:07:04,850 --> 00:07:09,890 to what home state was mining for 125 years and similar 127 00:07:09,890 --> 00:07:14,530 grades. And but I think potentially as 128 00:07:14,530 --> 00:07:19,890 interesting or more interesting, we found a a new discovery, a 129 00:07:20,170 --> 00:07:24,090 second discovery in a different rock type that typically sits 130 00:07:24,370 --> 00:07:28,450 much shallower and closer to surface and we called that the 131 00:07:28,450 --> 00:07:32,060 Unionville zone. Which was actually the original 132 00:07:32,060 --> 00:07:35,380 name of the of that plane in 1876. 133 00:07:35,860 --> 00:07:39,900 So with every drill hole we drill on our Maitland project we 134 00:07:39,900 --> 00:07:43,220 have, we have an opportunity to hit both kinds of mineralization 135 00:07:43,420 --> 00:07:46,540 which is fantastic. And again Maitland is on is on 136 00:07:46,540 --> 00:07:49,180 private ground and it's contiguous with this 40 million 137 00:07:49,180 --> 00:07:52,810 ounce generational orbit. And then what about the cost of 138 00:07:52,810 --> 00:07:55,570 the gold coming out per oz? What does that look like? 139 00:07:55,570 --> 00:07:58,570 Cuz I know with oil a lot of big talk is out cost them $30.50 140 00:07:58,570 --> 00:08:00,890 dollars whatever it is. How does that work with gold? 141 00:08:01,610 --> 00:08:04,410 So again, so right now we're still in the expiration 142 00:08:04,410 --> 00:08:09,330 development phase, but this was an iconic gold mine that 143 00:08:09,330 --> 00:08:18,610 produced for 125 years, so from you know, 19. 90 to 2000 when 144 00:08:18,610 --> 00:08:21,850 bull was that sub $300.00 really challenging time for the gold 145 00:08:21,850 --> 00:08:24,850 industry. You know they kept chasing this 146 00:08:24,850 --> 00:08:29,010 ore body down below 8000 feet, so they ultimately decided to 147 00:08:29,010 --> 00:08:33,690 shut the mine down in 1996. The last production came in 2001 148 00:08:34,409 --> 00:08:37,289 and you know it, it basically sat so. 149 00:08:37,330 --> 00:08:40,650 So Barrick, the second largest gold mining company in the 150 00:08:40,650 --> 00:08:44,850 world, bought Homestake Mining in 2001. 151 00:08:44,850 --> 00:08:47,690 The transaction closed in O2. And right away went into 152 00:08:47,690 --> 00:08:52,010 barracks closure group. So we bought these assets from 153 00:08:52,010 --> 00:08:53,490 Barrack out of their closure group. 154 00:08:54,090 --> 00:08:56,530 And this will be the third transaction in the last five 155 00:08:56,530 --> 00:08:59,690 years that Barrack has done out of the closure group under the 156 00:09:00,290 --> 00:09:04,050 newly combined Rangold barrack led by Mark Bristow with the 157 00:09:04,050 --> 00:09:07,250 other two companies being Skena and K92. 158 00:09:07,250 --> 00:09:11,410 Skena is just under a billion dollars and K 92 is about 1.5 159 00:09:11,410 --> 00:09:15,480 billion and. But again, just having the 160 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,440 opportunity to somewhat control your own destiny by having 161 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:26,000 private ground in a previously disturbed area historical mining 162 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,400 community is hugely advantageous. 163 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,810 Yeah, No, I fully couldn't agree with you more from a dollar 164 00:09:32,810 --> 00:09:36,810 standpoint, you're talking about a rough estimates, not you 165 00:09:36,810 --> 00:09:39,490 specifically industry wide to pull the mine out of the ground, 166 00:09:39,570 --> 00:09:42,570 what are the norm, is it half of words trading, is it a third, is 167 00:09:42,570 --> 00:09:46,250 it at what is trading just so understand the margins and the 168 00:09:46,250 --> 00:09:48,770 potential for growth. So I would say the, you know the 169 00:09:48,770 --> 00:09:54,250 companies with with high margin assets in the lowest quartile 170 00:09:54,250 --> 00:09:58,050 would be you know sub $900 what's called ASIC. 171 00:09:58,050 --> 00:10:01,050 So all in standing, cash loss. So that's where the Creme de la 172 00:10:01,050 --> 00:10:04,850 creme, so you've got $1000 margin with with best deposits. 173 00:10:05,010 --> 00:10:08,570 Some of the higher margin assets are in that 14 to $1500. 174 00:10:08,970 --> 00:10:12,410 So you still have say a 20% margin which is which is not 175 00:10:12,450 --> 00:10:13,530 bad. Yeah. 176 00:10:15,290 --> 00:10:19,690 But this was a high grade bond and it's, it's a very like 177 00:10:19,690 --> 00:10:23,050 contiguous ore body. So once you get into it, it's 178 00:10:23,050 --> 00:10:27,010 then a function of following it north-south, east or West. 179 00:10:27,550 --> 00:10:29,110 And that's kind of really what we're doing now. 180 00:10:29,110 --> 00:10:31,950 We made this discovery. We're utilizing what's called 181 00:10:31,950 --> 00:10:34,510 directional drilling. So we'll have much tighter 182 00:10:34,510 --> 00:10:36,990 spacing. But again, with every hole we 183 00:10:36,990 --> 00:10:40,430 draw on our mainland project, we have an opportunity to hit this 184 00:10:40,430 --> 00:10:44,230 tertiary epithermal discovery and then homestay formation 185 00:10:44,230 --> 00:10:45,990 underneath it, which is, which is fantastic. 186 00:10:46,350 --> 00:10:47,910 Yeah. And that gold is trading above 187 00:10:47,910 --> 00:10:51,480 1900 an ounce, but you're talking about just big, big 188 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:53,520 money there that that makes a perfect plan. 189 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:55,760 Thank you for that. So let's shift the conversation 190 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,040 a little bit and talk about some timeless lessons you've learned 191 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,200 along the way. You come from finance, 192 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:02,720 background investing. You also CEO of publicly traded 193 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:04,520 company. You've done M and A mergers and 194 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:05,880 acquisitions. You've bought something. 195 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:08,800 I'm interested to see what you have to share with us please. 196 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,120 Yeah. So, so is as, as you know, this 197 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:14,480 is a very simple business, right. 198 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,640 So the time to buy assets is when everybody wants to sell 199 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,560 them. But that's also the most 200 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:24,720 challenging time to raise capital because it can be in 201 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:26,560 your cost of capital can be more expensive. 202 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,320 So one of the lessons that I learned very early on was was 203 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,200 you know one of the reasons why a lot of companies fail in this 204 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,520 industry is being undercapitalized and and that's 205 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,840 less you can apply to almost any industry. 206 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:44,000 And, you know, so I was involved with a company earlier on in my 207 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,440 career that ran into some financial difficulties and the 208 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,840 company was in a heap of financial trouble. 209 00:11:50,510 --> 00:11:53,630 And that's where I, you know that lesson of being you know 210 00:11:53,630 --> 00:11:56,310 almost overly capitalized because the mining industry 211 00:11:56,310 --> 00:12:00,910 things you know kind of take longer, they cost more and you 212 00:12:00,910 --> 00:12:03,750 just you just don't know what can happen. 213 00:12:04,350 --> 00:12:08,030 And so being flat footed and undercapitalized again is is 214 00:12:08,030 --> 00:12:11,510 something that I just I when I got into running Gold Standard 215 00:12:11,510 --> 00:12:14,550 and then Dakota Gold it was I always wanted to be in a strong 216 00:12:14,550 --> 00:12:17,710 financial position relative to my entire peer group and we are 217 00:12:17,750 --> 00:12:22,440 in that category today. And also aligning yourself with 218 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,360 the right people. You know, I was very fortunate 219 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,120 enough to have met Bob Quartermain back in 2010. 220 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:33,480 So Bob was founder, president, CEO of Silver Standard, which he 221 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,160 grew from two and a half million to 2 1/2 billion. 222 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:38,600 He left in 2010. It's currently a $4 billion 223 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:40,680 company. And then one of the more 224 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,200 oppressive things that you'll see anywhere in the world in the 225 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:49,710 mining industry is. 2010 Eleven Bob acquired an asset called 226 00:12:49,710 --> 00:12:53,710 Bruce Jack from Silver Standard formed a company called Prettium 227 00:12:54,030 --> 00:12:56,670 and from acquisition to discovery to gold pour in under 228 00:12:56,670 --> 00:13:01,430 seven years and came in and bought new Newmont came in and 229 00:13:01,430 --> 00:13:05,030 bought well new Crest but new Crest bought this Prettium for 230 00:13:05,030 --> 00:13:10,070 3.5 billion you know so having an opportunity to learn with and 231 00:13:10,070 --> 00:13:13,550 partner with someone like Bob Quartermain who's one of our Co 232 00:13:13,550 --> 00:13:16,900 chairs. And a lot of sheller is, is 233 00:13:16,900 --> 00:13:19,660 fantastic and just surrounding yourself with the right people. 234 00:13:20,260 --> 00:13:25,260 And because I'm not a geologist or mining engineer, surrounding 235 00:13:25,260 --> 00:13:31,220 yourself with people who let the data do the talking and don't 236 00:13:31,220 --> 00:13:35,900 get influenced by, you know, bankers and and and just tell 237 00:13:35,900 --> 00:13:38,060 you the truth, There's a lot of promotion. 238 00:13:38,060 --> 00:13:41,260 There's a lot of arm wave. There's a lot of trying to make 239 00:13:41,260 --> 00:13:44,580 an asset work where it shouldn't and that's where I think. 240 00:13:44,870 --> 00:13:49,430 You know Bob's one of his principles is just if you test 241 00:13:49,430 --> 00:13:52,350 the target and it's not there, why are you, you know, why do 242 00:13:52,350 --> 00:13:57,310 you keep drawing so, so being being aligned with shareholders, 243 00:13:58,470 --> 00:14:01,070 you know having skin in the game, you know there's far too 244 00:14:01,070 --> 00:14:03,950 many management teams that don't have any money at risk. 245 00:14:04,470 --> 00:14:07,270 So I think, I think you know management of of Dakota owns 246 00:14:07,270 --> 00:14:11,800 over 25% of the company and. You know we've got two 247 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,360 phenomenal Co chairs and and and Bob Quartermain and Steve 248 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,840 O'Rourke. So Steve actually equally as 249 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:22,800 impressive he ran global expiration for BHP where he had 250 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,920 annual budgets for petroleum annual budgets that were in the 251 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,760 billions. So you've got this large 252 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,400 commercial expertise, you've got M and A capital markets. 253 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,160 So you know 22 excellent resources to to have my 254 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,300 fingertips. So very blessed to have them 255 00:14:40,300 --> 00:14:44,580 involved and just understanding that this is a long term 256 00:14:44,580 --> 00:14:49,060 business and you have to understand how to navigate 257 00:14:49,340 --> 00:14:51,380 cycles. But when you're buying assets, 258 00:14:51,980 --> 00:14:55,540 when you buy assets is really, really important. 259 00:14:55,620 --> 00:14:58,500 So having capital, having people who will support you in addition 260 00:14:58,500 --> 00:15:02,100 to the your own capital you're going to put in is really, 261 00:15:02,100 --> 00:15:03,820 really important. I love that. 262 00:15:03,820 --> 00:15:05,860 That's really, really powerful. And what about some timeless 263 00:15:05,860 --> 00:15:09,260 mistakes you've made and and or seen other people make and how 264 00:15:09,260 --> 00:15:11,620 do you avoid them besides being undercapitalized because that's 265 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:13,260 happened to me and countless others. 266 00:15:13,260 --> 00:15:15,140 And the fact that you've been able to come through that by the 267 00:15:15,140 --> 00:15:18,420 way, you know I'm still standing like Elton Johnstone that that 268 00:15:18,540 --> 00:15:20,420 that's what I love that. So by all means. 269 00:15:21,140 --> 00:15:23,260 Don't don't ask me the other day, all right? 270 00:15:23,300 --> 00:15:26,620 If you were to go back in time for you know mistake that you 271 00:15:26,620 --> 00:15:29,540 would eat and own for gold standard, what would it be? 272 00:15:31,030 --> 00:15:33,750 So we made, we made three discoveries at our lab package 273 00:15:33,750 --> 00:15:36,390 in the Carla Trenton, Nevada for gold standard and we had an 274 00:15:36,390 --> 00:15:41,830 opportunity to buy water rights back in late 2015, early 16. 275 00:15:41,830 --> 00:15:44,030 We've just gotten into this new oxide discovery that was 276 00:15:44,030 --> 00:15:48,150 exciting and I had a budget from my board of I think up to 277 00:15:48,150 --> 00:15:51,070 4,000,000 bucks, maybe a 3 1/2 or 4,000,000 bucks. 278 00:15:51,950 --> 00:15:53,590 And so we're negotiating for these water rights. 279 00:15:53,590 --> 00:15:55,470 And Sky wanted, you know, 10 million bucks. 280 00:15:55,470 --> 00:15:59,670 Oh my gosh, And just just couldn't get there. 281 00:16:00,470 --> 00:16:03,470 And I think I convinced the board maybe get me to 6 but then 282 00:16:03,470 --> 00:16:09,110 I went to six, he went to 12. And you know now the company 283 00:16:09,110 --> 00:16:12,150 that that acquired gold Standard Ventures is a is a multi billion 284 00:16:12,150 --> 00:16:15,110 dollar company, phenomenal operators they they built a mine 285 00:16:15,110 --> 00:16:19,870 during COVID on time under budget and you know they're 286 00:16:19,870 --> 00:16:23,110 they're still looking for you know to to to secure the water 287 00:16:23,110 --> 00:16:27,030 rights and it'll be likely several times what what was what 288 00:16:27,030 --> 00:16:29,150 we were looking at. But again, big company that 289 00:16:29,230 --> 00:16:31,890 afford it. So I think just with with things 290 00:16:31,890 --> 00:16:36,050 like that that you need, you know I shouldn't have wasted 291 00:16:36,050 --> 00:16:40,130 time, but at at the time I think we had $25 million in the bank. 292 00:16:40,130 --> 00:16:42,410 So it would have been a significant portion of our cash. 293 00:16:42,730 --> 00:16:44,090 They weren't willing to take shares. 294 00:16:45,290 --> 00:16:50,210 So understanding those kinds of key items that you need to 295 00:16:50,210 --> 00:16:53,960 permit, build a mine, don't waste time, just do smart. 296 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,040 Yeah, the KPI is like the key metric that you need to look at. 297 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,960 If it's necessary, just hit it and do it and then move forward, 298 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,880 yeah. Because in some jurisdictions, 299 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,000 sometimes the water is worth as much more than the gold, right? 300 00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:09,280 Right. That was a key lesson for me. 301 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,720 And just the more I get involved in this industry, there's so 302 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,680 many key parts of what makes something successful. 303 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,640 And when you're looking at expiration, again, I talked 304 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,040 about being capitalized. Understanding again particularly 305 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,720 if you're in the US or in Canada, there's you know, First 306 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:26,920 Nations, Native American issues, you have to understand what that 307 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:29,560 looks like. And again because this is a very 308 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:32,600 long term business, you don't want to make it longer by taking 309 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,720 on unnecessary permitting risk. So I think you know, staying 310 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,720 away from, you know, especially in the states, staying away from 311 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:43,640 areas where there's proximity to water, I think when you look at 312 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,760 dealing with federal lands close to water it's it's almost 313 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:51,450 becoming a no fly zone. And that's why South Dakota is 314 00:17:51,450 --> 00:17:55,170 such a great place to be. I mean this is, this is a really 315 00:17:55,170 --> 00:17:58,810 significant, you know gold area, one of the largest 316 00:17:58,810 --> 00:18:00,770 concentrations of gold anywhere in the planet. 317 00:18:01,330 --> 00:18:04,730 So it's, you know, it's people, it's it's capital, it's 318 00:18:04,730 --> 00:18:07,930 jurisdiction, land, tenure permitting. 319 00:18:08,370 --> 00:18:14,330 And with ESG now it's it's if you don't have strong community 320 00:18:14,330 --> 00:18:18,210 ties, great reputation in in in the community, you're not going 321 00:18:18,210 --> 00:18:19,570 to get a social license to operate. 322 00:18:20,020 --> 00:18:24,340 So I think, I think SG is really, really important for any 323 00:18:24,340 --> 00:18:29,140 jurisdiction, but but obviously having a bias particularly in 324 00:18:29,140 --> 00:18:31,460 the US, I love that. That's really, really powerful. 325 00:18:31,460 --> 00:18:33,740 What about leadership? Let's shift gears and talk about 326 00:18:33,740 --> 00:18:35,060 leadership. What makes a great leader? 327 00:18:35,060 --> 00:18:36,980 And what are some lessons you've learned about leadership that 328 00:18:36,980 --> 00:18:38,500 you'd like to share with the audience, please? 329 00:18:39,100 --> 00:18:41,340 Well, hiring really, really smart people and not 330 00:18:41,340 --> 00:18:45,820 micromanaging, making sure that your overall strategy and the 331 00:18:46,140 --> 00:18:48,580 strategic outcomes you're looking to achieve, you're all 332 00:18:48,580 --> 00:18:50,860 aligned. But I mean, you look at someone 333 00:18:50,860 --> 00:18:52,980 like James Berry, who's our Vice President of Exploration. 334 00:18:52,980 --> 00:18:56,900 James is an orified, James has found gold everywhere he's gone. 335 00:18:57,260 --> 00:18:59,980 You know, James was vice president of exploration for a 336 00:18:59,980 --> 00:19:03,620 company called Remark on Minerals that did sort of a 337 00:19:03,620 --> 00:19:07,220 similar thing in in South Carolina and that was bought by 338 00:19:07,220 --> 00:19:09,660 Oceana Gold for almost a billion dollars. 339 00:19:11,340 --> 00:19:16,260 So you know, James and I will talk almost every day. 340 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,200 You know, Jerry Abery was the last mine manager when the mine 341 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,520 shut down. So this is, this is someone who 342 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:28,800 understands, you know how to develop something in this 343 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:30,920 district as good or better than anyone on the planet. 344 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,360 You know, I brought over Patrick Malone from Barrack who was 345 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:37,760 running their closure group to, you know, be our Chief 346 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:39,800 Sustainability Officer. So this is an environmental 347 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,080 lawyer who understands how to navigate liaise with with 348 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:44,800 different state and federal agencies. 349 00:19:45,780 --> 00:19:50,380 Just a wonderful resource and then having having two cochairs 350 00:19:50,380 --> 00:19:54,580 like Bob and and you know quarter man and Steve O'Rourke 351 00:19:55,460 --> 00:19:57,620 you know they they both put the shareholder first. 352 00:19:58,260 --> 00:20:02,100 You know it's it's imperative for them to look at is this the 353 00:20:02,100 --> 00:20:05,820 best allocation of our resources and are we aligned with our 354 00:20:05,820 --> 00:20:09,340 shareholders because if you if you do those things over time 355 00:20:09,340 --> 00:20:13,740 these, these are magnifiers, but just hiring amazing people. 356 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,920 Making sure that you're aligned and not micromanaged. 357 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,240 And one of my a book that I read that really helped change the 358 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,320 way I I look at how to run a company or how to run my life 359 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,320 because I'm married with four kids Is is was book called The 360 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:31,600 Principles by Ray Dalio. I love that book. 361 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,120 It's. One of my favorites. 362 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,280 Oh my. And it's, well, radical truth. 363 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,720 Radical transparency, but also meritocracy. 364 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:43,960 Just because I'm the CEO and a big shareholder, Jerry or Bob, 365 00:20:45,170 --> 00:20:48,010 you know sometimes there's always a a, you know, a more 366 00:20:48,010 --> 00:20:51,130 efficient way or a better way to do things and there's being able 367 00:20:51,130 --> 00:20:54,410 to tell someone, hey, I disagree with you for For these reasons. 368 00:20:55,170 --> 00:20:57,610 You talk, you work through it and you move on and you don't 369 00:20:57,610 --> 00:21:00,970 get all sensitive and entitlement and and there's 370 00:21:01,610 --> 00:21:05,210 there's a lot of that in the world today able to have a 371 00:21:05,210 --> 00:21:09,530 transparent discussion with someone for the for, for, for 372 00:21:09,530 --> 00:21:11,760 the greater good of the company, right. 373 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,240 I think it's something that, you know that's certainly principles 374 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,880 that I live by. And then just cost of capital, 375 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,160 cost of capital the mining industry needs to come down. 376 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:26,720 So we're really focused on that because I mean for example, we, 377 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,000 we did a $50 million financing 2 years ago. 378 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:34,800 We chose not to pay a Commission and that saved the company $2.5 379 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:35,480 million. Wow. 380 00:21:37,130 --> 00:21:38,730 I know that makes perfect sense. I love principles. 381 00:21:38,730 --> 00:21:40,690 It's one of my favorite. I always tell people the best 382 00:21:40,690 --> 00:21:42,890 idea wins, right? So it's the matter comes from 383 00:21:42,890 --> 00:21:44,570 the janitor. If it comes from the moon, it 384 00:21:44,570 --> 00:21:46,570 just, you know, what's the best idea and what's wrong with it. 385 00:21:47,010 --> 00:21:50,290 I love that and ultimately the mining industry, but 386 00:21:50,490 --> 00:21:52,130 particularly the exploration development. 387 00:21:52,130 --> 00:21:54,330 So there's there's a constant competition for capital. 388 00:21:54,650 --> 00:21:58,410 So if you've got 10 targets, you might not be able to drill all 389 00:21:58,410 --> 00:22:00,410 10 targets. You have to, you know, be 390 00:22:00,690 --> 00:22:03,730 extremely disciplined and allocate your capital to where 391 00:22:03,730 --> 00:22:06,280 you're having success, right? And if you're not having 392 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,200 success, well, make some adjustments and move on. 393 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,840 And that's okay. But sometimes people get married 394 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,720 to an idea and they keep chasing and pushing it, and that's what 395 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,680 makes some people great. But sometimes, in my opinion, 396 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,840 the great explorers or the great mind builders are able to be 397 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,640 they know when to factor and when to stop and when to keep 398 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,720 pushing and when to stop so. I love that okay. 399 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:30,920 Beautiful. Let's talk about adversity and 400 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:32,760 some obstacles. How do you handle adversity and 401 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,480 what are some obstacles that you had to overcome that you'd like 402 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:39,720 to share with the audience? Look, I think when it comes to 403 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,880 adversity, I mean, I sort of take a head on. 404 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:53,320 I kind of think I thrive in it. I think in the past I would say 405 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,720 that I wouldn't have gone at it head on. 406 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,670 But I think again you do this long enough and you kind of you 407 00:22:59,670 --> 00:23:02,230 know you really understand these cycles and and you know money 408 00:23:02,230 --> 00:23:07,750 flowing in money flowing out and just that whole sometimes we we 409 00:23:07,750 --> 00:23:11,430 don't listen to those little voices or when that you know 410 00:23:11,430 --> 00:23:14,230 intuitive side of you was saying we shouldn't do this or we 411 00:23:14,230 --> 00:23:17,950 should do more of it. Yeah. 412 00:23:18,070 --> 00:23:19,870 And again, I, I, I talked to you about that company. 413 00:23:19,870 --> 00:23:22,190 I was, I was, I was involved with early in my career that 414 00:23:22,190 --> 00:23:26,870 that ran into money problems. And it did so because because, 415 00:23:27,030 --> 00:23:30,350 you know, there's a principle in the company that didn't want to 416 00:23:30,990 --> 00:23:34,590 take a financing that was deemed to be expensive, but it was, it 417 00:23:34,590 --> 00:23:36,470 would have been a lifeline that would have brought them over, 418 00:23:36,670 --> 00:23:39,750 you know, over the line. No, I love that. 419 00:23:40,030 --> 00:23:42,430 OK, beautiful. So what you're saying with 420 00:23:42,670 --> 00:23:46,070 adversity is just tackle it like deal with it, lean into it 421 00:23:46,110 --> 00:23:48,230 opposed to putting your head in the sand and then it just 422 00:23:48,230 --> 00:23:50,110 compounds and gets bigger and bigger and I love that. 423 00:23:50,110 --> 00:23:52,590 Yeah. OK, final question for you. 424 00:23:52,590 --> 00:23:54,430 What's the best piece of advice you'd like to share with the 425 00:23:54,430 --> 00:23:59,830 audience or give your 30 year old self you know be your true 426 00:23:59,830 --> 00:24:03,070 authentic self? You know, I I love what I do so 427 00:24:03,070 --> 00:24:06,350 I don't really consider it work, although my wife and my children 428 00:24:06,350 --> 00:24:08,510 do. But so it's so you know, 429 00:24:08,870 --> 00:24:10,990 constantly be learning, constantly be growing. 430 00:24:11,310 --> 00:24:13,830 You know, surround yourself with amazing people who have had 431 00:24:13,830 --> 00:24:17,550 success and or have learned from failures. 432 00:24:18,070 --> 00:24:24,190 But just be your true authentic self and everything will work 433 00:24:24,190 --> 00:24:26,280 out. But well, Jonathan, thank you so 434 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,600 much for coming on the show. Everybody, this is Dakota, Gold 435 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,320 picker symbol is DC and hopefully Jonathan will speak to 436 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:32,520 you again soon. Really fantastic. 437 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:33,600 Thank you very much. Appreciate it.