John Gingerich Chairman and President & CEO of Advanced Explorations, Inc
Despite an anxious market bearing witness to the disorienting price seesaw of iron ore over the last few years, a strong insistence on steel in China appears to be positively affecting demand for the stock exchange’s second largest commodity.
On the other side of the world, this forecast bestows John Gingerich many good reasons for his current excitement. The principal geologist, chairman and president & CEO of Advanced Explorations, Inc. is in a position to guide his junior resource development company toward its goal of producing high-quality iron. Throughout a telling dialogue recently conducted by MetalsNews, Gingerich offered his impressions on the potentially remunerative opportunities shaping Advanced Explorations’ clearly defined horizon. John Gingerich has a very distinguished and accomplished career as a geophysicist and business leader. When you talk to him he gives a clear vision of where the company is going, and it is easy to become a believer in his vision of the destiny of the company.
Peninsula of Roche Bay
Tucked away atop Precambrian rock in Nunavut, on Canada’s breathtakingly desolate Melville Peninsula, Roche Bay is home to Advanced Explorations’ flagship magnetite project. Categorized as an Algoma-type, or banded iron ore, the deposit’s geographical position is situated merely 6 kilometers inland from the coast of Hudson’s Bay’s Foxe Basin. To Gingerich, this crucial detail will eventually facilitate one of the key advantages in what he knows will be a very efficient supply chain.
“One of the most important parts of being in the iron ore business is that of logistics and transportation. Being on the ocean, you don’t have a need to build railroads or pipelines. The huge infrastructure required to move things of heavy and large volume like iron ore can be more expensive than the mine itself. Not having to build or operate such a thing will prove to be a significant advantage for us.”
Setting up a new drill
The convenience of a deep-water harbor will prove cost-effective and socially conscious on several fronts once the project’s C-Zone, containing some 357 million inferred tonnes of iron ore grading 28.1%, enters its production phase. At the heart of Gingerich’s operation is his plan to produce and ship a 98-percent iron nugget, a move he calculates will set Advanced Explorations apart from competitors whose product is a pellet averaging 65 percent iron. This detail will ensure a drastic reduction in the number of shipments, thus offering a respectful gesture toward the self-governing Inuit population who appreciate observance of their peaceful, unobtrusive way of life.
“Under current environmental permitting, the Inuit have always requested a 10-week no-ship window during aboriginal hunting season which we will gladly oblige,” Gingerich declared alongside his commitment to minimizing the company’s environmental footprint in indigenous land.
Banded Iron Formation Core Samples
Earlier this year Advanced Explorations’ preliminary economic assessment noted a nearly $3 billion net present value, a 3 to 5 year return on investment, and no less than a 50-year life on their mine. The latter detail should also prove a boon to the Inuit by helping to establishing the framework for economic growth down the line. Gingerich and his exceptionally qualified team are shooting to have headway made on permitting and financing later next year.
Formerly a head of research and development at the Noranda group, Gingerich has devoted more than 30 years, as a professional geophysicist in the field, exploring and establishing many mineral options in Canada and abroad. His renowned leadership, as evidenced in his affiliations with Geotechnical Business Solutions, East Asia Minerals Corporation, the Niskibi Group, as well as several government and industry boards, has no doubt been responsible for attracting luminaries such as Director Jim Excell to the management team at Advanced Explorations.
A 30-plus year veteran in the mining industry, Excell, who also is currently president of Narego Solutions, has established top-ranking international mining ventures. Most notable among these accomplishments is Canada’s first diamond mine, Ekati, where he marshaled the $700 million initiative from construction to operation and later served as COO and president. Just as significant is his time as chairman and president at BHP Billiton Diamonds, Inc., part of the world’s largest mining company.
Advanced Explorations on site drill camp
This past September, Advanced Explorations’ prospecting and mapping expedition, in proximity to the Roche Bay project and deep water harbor, uncovered a massive banded iron formation that continues to engage the company. A recent sample of the 60-meter-high, 2,700-metre-long deposit named Tuktu, the Inuit word for caribou, came back featuring an average of 34 percent, low-contaminant iron. Results are pending from metallurgical tests to deduce if the industry standard 63 percent high grade material can be produced on site. In an Advanced Explorations press release dated November 12th, Gingerich observed:
"We are confident that the Tuktu discovery will add flexibility to the development scenarios of the Roche Bay project. With consistent 20% higher iron grades when compared to the C-Zone and no contaminant issues, it is certainly also worth following up on the prospect of developing subzones amenable to producing sinter feed. The results from the metallurgical testing will guide the next phase of exploration (drilling) as to whether the deposit will be evaluated from a large scale stand-alone operation or a smaller high grade operation as a satellite operation to the Roche Bay project."
As the potential for creating a premium iron ore destined to supply a burgeoning steel demand looms closer and closer into sight for Advanced Explorations, it’s only fitting that the company look toward China as a catalyst and incentive for progress in its mission to head the pack of iron ore producers. China alone fabricated approximately half a billion tons of steel last year.
In yet another wise decision in advance of a decided partnership, Gingerich and his management team appointed China Mining Finance Partners Co. Ltd. President Lei (Eric) Guo to its board of directors. His consulting firm, stationed in both Toronto and Beijing, serves the Chinese natural resources investment community.
“We have a number of ongoing negotiations with China and hope to have some interesting news for our investors very soon,” Gingerich revealed. “You could say that Mr. Guo’s company, which has an off-take agreement with Advance Explorations, is our doorway into China.”
Aiming to be the lowest cost producer of iron product in the world is a daunting but very realistic ambition for Gingerich, who maintained that his company, despite the market, has weathered a difficult storm by raising money in a virtual venture capital vacuum.
“Once the markets rebound, our unique blend of location and logistical simplicity will prove up the benefits to our shareholders.”
For more information visit:
http://www.advanced-exploration.com/
Advanced Explorations Inc.
50 Richmond Street East, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 1N7
Phone: 416-203-0057
Fax: 416-203-0059
416-860-9900
Email: info@advanced-exploration.com