Heart of Gold: A Conversation with Jim Hesketh
Viva Gold. If the name conjures up Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret in the 1964 musical Viva Las Vegas, you’re absolutely right. Chosen on a whim as part of a last-minute meeting for a name for his newly acquired shell company, Jim Hesketh, Viva’s CEO says, “one of our directors had just watched [it] and threw it out there,” and we thought, “why not.” In fact, it’s the perfect moniker for the Nevada-focused gold exploration company moving into feasibility—distinct, memorable, and quite simply, fun.
After four decades in the mining business, Jim knows a thing or two about names companies, and mining. Born in Barbados to English ex-patriot parents, over the course of his long career he’s worked in Greece, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Canadian artic, as well as Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and various frontier zones all around Canada.
Times have changed since he got his start, especially mining financing: “It has led the rise of streaming and royalty companies,” says Jim, “one that can be seen negatively because their revenue streams come off the top. But, in today’s environment, you need to do whatever it takes to move your project forward.”
Other challenges today come from society: “Our world is very materials intensive. From coal energy to wind power, it takes a lot of manmade materials and minerals from the earth. In response, there tends to be a trend of “not in my backyard”. The reality is there is an increasing need for mined materials and the large mines are mining lower grade core as their reach the end of life. There is a real need for replacements.”
He set down roots in the Midwest in the 80s working with a US major Cyprus Minerals Company. “At that time,” he explains, “we were supplying 50% of the world’s Lithium supply from three mines in the US and Chile.” He went on to add, “that division got sold off and later spun out as Albelmarle,” well-known today as the world’s largest Lithium producer who supplies Tesla.
By the early 2000s, he jumped into mining finance at NM Rothschild & Co. It was a pivotal moment and one that led him to the junior sector, which appealed to him, particularly because of its job flexibility. “It was 100% domestic, and allowed me to go home at night to my family. And, one where I could run my own shop.”
His secret to success: patience. “Mining projects take time. You have to do your homework and do it well,” he says. “It comes down to project management. There’s a lot of steps involved. If you’ve done a good job de-risking the project—it’s not just about discovery— it’s all the aspects of post-discovery, then you’ll have more of a chance to succeed.”
In today’s world, he explains, it’s all about location. “You don’t want to be in a location where there is opposition. That ties up time, money and resources.”
Projects, he continues need to use proven technology because as he explains, “investors don’t like unproven technology”. The mineral deposit “should have a high-grade core that you can easily access for quick payback after construction. I don’t use IRR or NPV, payback is my measure of success.”
His current project on around 11,000 acres in Tonopah, Nevada is about halfway between Reno and Vegas. The land is, according to Jim: “pretty much worthless for farming and ranching. It’s high plain desert with ready paved road access to the location, commercial water, and power. It checks all the boxes.”
With around 700 drill holes already in the ground and, the metallurgy well-defined, there’s not much on the surface other than the occasional wild horse, a few passing mountain lions, and a whole tangle of rattle snakes, but below, ‘there is gold in thar hills’.
Viva Gold!