Golden Band Resources

Golden opportunity┬áGolden Band Resources of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has found a successful strategy in focusing solely on gold exploration and production, even during down markets. President & CEO Rodney Orr tells Linda Seid Frembes why it works. Located in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the Saskatoon area is well known for farming and mining. The region produces half of CanadaÔÇÖs export crops and is the worldÔÇÖs largest exporter of uranium and potash. However, it wasnÔÇÖt until the late 1980s that significant gold exploration took place in the province.  Golden Band Resources is a junior exploration company based in Saskatoon whose sole focus is the exploration and production of gold in Saskatchewan. Since 1994 the company has executed on a simple strategy of acquiring land, gold deposits and a licensed gold mill so that it may one day become a gold producer. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve been doing gold exploration as our sole focus for the past 15 years, which is unique for a junior exploration company, since juniors often try to be opportunistic and go with the sentiments of the stock market in order to succeed in the near term,ÔÇØ says Rodney Orr, president, CEO and director of Golden Band. He has both geology and business degrees and is also an active member of the Saskatchewan mining industry, with more than 30 years of mining industry experience. ÔÇ£Now weÔÇÖve finally reached a point where we can go into production.ÔÇØGolden BandÔÇÖs success is the net result of years of hard work and determination. The extremely focused company has held to its strategy by meeting expectations, proper planning and execution, recognizing great growth prospects, and taking an enormous amount of pride in the company and its operations. Orr credits Ronald K. Netolitzky, chairman of the board for Golden Band, for the companyÔÇÖs single-focus strategy. ÔÇ£He has the experience to look beyond what the market is saying in any one cycle,ÔÇØ says Orr.Orr notes that Netolitzky was the first geologist to recognize the gold potential of the La Ronge Gold Belt in the late 1960s. As a result of his foresight, starting in the 1990s the company began to acquire properties and assets such as its gold mill cheaply at a time when no one wanted them. ÔÇ£Gold has historically been something that people want and value, so we felt okay about concentrating on just gold for the long term,ÔÇØ says Orr. ÔÇ£Therefore, weÔÇÖre also experts in a commodity and in a geological environment that we understand much better than othersÔÇöand because of our long-term focus, where we have acquired a commanding land position and the only remaining mill.ÔÇØGolden Band recently completed an $8 million underground exploration that it planned and executed from scratch.┬áÔÇ£Exploration is as much luck as it is science. But the harder you work, the luckier you get,ÔÇØ says Orr. ÔÇ£Our success speaks to the knowledge of our geologists, and especially Klaus Lehnert-Thiel, our former VP exploration and still a director, who must be able to conceptualize how these deposits occur in nature, not in a laboratory.ÔÇØThe companyÔÇÖs projects are within a formerly producing gold belt, of which Orr says, ÔÇ£The best place to find a new mine is where mines are or have been.ÔÇØThe company currently holds a total of 12 gold deposits that were either acquired or discovered by Golden Band, and exploration continues both to expand these and to discover more. Orr expects production by the end of 2009, and because of the gold mill the company acquired, itÔÇÖs on a fast track to production. The mill was built in 1988 for $12 million but was acquired for $500,000 in shares and cash. Orr notes that the mill needs updating but is still a great value for the money. ÔÇ£Financing is what weÔÇÖre now working on, and because, as Ron Netolitzky states, it must be done ÔÇÿin the context of the market,ÔÇÖ the current turmoil in the global markets makes it a challenge. But having weathered many cycles in the past, we remain guardedly optimistic in our continued ability to obtain financing,ÔÇØ says Orr.Always looking for innovative ways to advance the companyÔÇÖs options, in late 2008 Golden Band announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration of Anhui Province, Peoples Republic of China (Anhui Geology). According to the announcement, the MoU includes exploration-stage gold projects that Anhui Geology may elect to participate in under business relationships that would be determined in subsequent discussions. The signing by Golden Band Resources and Anhui Geology took place in Beijing on November 13, 2008, while Golden Band was attending meetings that included its participation as part of the Saskatchewan and Canadian delegations to the China Mining 2008 conference.The company is also working closely with the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, on whose traditional lands are all of the companyÔÇÖs projects. The Lac La Ronge band is the largest First Nation in Saskatchewan and one of the 10 largest in Canada. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve made significant and proactive efforts to include them in our work and to communicate with them often as part of our long-term focusÔÇösomething that again differentiates Golden Band from many other junior companies,ÔÇØ says Orr.Company growth has occurred organically over the past 15 years. Orr was the third full-time employee when he joined the company as VP operations in 2004, and the company has since grown to 17 people and moved its main office from Vancouver to a 5,000-square-foot space in Saskatoon. Being in Saskatoon means that the work area is a six-hour drive from the office to the northernmost part of the project instead of a day-long trip from the west coast. ÔÇ£It has been hard to find people because the world has been in a commodity supercycle,ÔÇØ says Orr. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve found that the best source for new employees is current employees who are recruiting by word of mouth. ThereÔÇÖs a factor of trust since weÔÇÖve been around for so long.ÔÇØGolden Band invests in safety and training programs for all field employees. ÔÇ£The work is done in isolation but is less dangerous than you might think,ÔÇØ says Orr. ÔÇ£There are basic requirements of first aid and courses for field-related activities. WeÔÇÖre in a highly regulated industry, so there are basic minimum standards as well.ÔÇØAt the dawn of 2009, Orr thinks it will be a banner year for his company. It is currently in the process of completing environmental permitting with the provincial and federal governments, and Orr expects the provincial portion to be completed in early 2009. From that point, the company will enter a six-month building cycle for its three initial mines and to refurbish and expand the gold mill. According to Orr, the company currently has over 839,000 ounces of gold in the measured plus indicated resource category in eight of the companyÔÇÖs twelve deposits, and another 207,000 ounces of inferred gold resources. Golden Band Resources is a golden opportunity that has been 15 years in the making. ÔÇô Editorial research by Ryan Kirkey┬á