Happy days are here again in the southwestern corner of Canada. The sun is out, the thaw is thawed (or so they tell me) and the coffee is freshbrewed. Also, this weekend sees a major junior mining bash happening over that corner of the world, the "2009 World Resource Investment Conference" over at the VCC (get there early Sunday and don't miss Mickey Fulp's jawbone session. It'll be SRO and he's always good for a non-BS view of things).Unfortunately your humble correspondent will not be in attendance due to future illness (conferences make me sick) but as IKN loves you like your very own parents, here's a special cut-out-and-keep table to take along with you to the show...guaranteed to break the ice with those extra special superduper rock stars of rock (tell Rick! Otto sez "hi" if you see him, yeah?).
The Vancouver Sun just published a list of BC's top paid executives. You can read the whole thing here, but below are the people that matter to us. IKN has filtered the list via two criteria:
- mining or junior mining companies
- company made a loss in 2008 (bar Mansfield, that returned a very slight paper profit)
The result you see is the number of mining executives amongst those that pulled in $1m or more in the region that need rotten eggs and flour thrown at them as soon as they give you the "Yeah, well, 2008 was a hard year for everyone, but ..........." line.
Special applause for Rick! of course, but the real biscuit-taker is Robert Friedland, who not only heads the list but manages to make it there twice thanks to Ivanhoe Mining and Ivanhoe Energy (that between them lost $233m last year). What a player, Robbie! Your shareholders must feel so very proud of you!
Special applause for Rick! of course, but the real biscuit-taker is Robert Friedland, who not only heads the list but manages to make it there twice thanks to Ivanhoe Mining and Ivanhoe Energy (that between them lost $233m last year). What a player, Robbie! Your shareholders must feel so very proud of you!
| Name | Company | 2008 Total | 2008 Company | |
| Compensation | (Profits (C$) | |||
| 1 | Robert Friedland | Ivanhoe Mines | $10,663,034 | ($198,470,580) |
| 2 | Rui Feng | Silvercorp Metals | $10,019,212 | ($16,512,000) |
| 9 | John Macken | Ivanhoe Mines | $4,709,169 | ($198,470,580) |
| 10 | Peter Meredith | Ivanhoe Mines | $4,556,361 | ($198,470,580) |
| 15 | Stephen Sorensen | UEX Corporation | $4,023,481 | ($8,800,000) |
| 16 | Doug Kirwin | Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. | $4,017,718 | ($198,470,580) |
| 20 | Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse | NovaGold | $3,324,161 | ($194,970,000) |
| 25 | Patrick Downey | Aura Minerals Inc. | $3,083,675 | ($55,610,000) |
| 37 | Clifford Davis | New Gold Inc. | $2,239,315 | ($110,689,040) |
| 40 | Robert Friedland | Ivanhoe Energy Inc. | $2,078,952 | ($36,856,820) |
| 44 | Meghan Lewis | Aura Minerals Inc. | $1,988,964 | ($55,610,000) |
| 46 | Mark O'Dea | Fronteer Development | $1,893,859 | ($31,710,000) |
| 49 | Fausto Taddei | Aura Minerals Inc. | $1,796,860 | ($55,610,000) |
| 51 | Robert Quartermain | Silver Standard | $1,780,868 | ($10,596,740) |
| 64 | Stephen Rogers | Nautilus Minerals Inc. | $1,598,802 | ($87,954,020) |
| 65 | Tony Giardini | Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. | $1,566,068 | ($198,470,580) |
| 66 | Phillip Kotze | Anooraq Resources | $1,559,428 | ($13,490,000) |
| 67 | Gordon Leask | Mansfield Minerals Inc. | $1,555,200 | $230,000 |
| 67 | John Leask | Mansfield Minerals Inc. | $1,555,200 | $230,000 |
| 73 | Steve Garcia | Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. | $1,488,534 | ($198,470,580) |
| 76 | Tumelo Motsisi | Anooraq Resources | $1,461,985 | ($13,490,000) |
| 80 | George Paspalas | Silver Standard | $1,423,203 | ($10,596,740) |
| 81 | Jean Nortier | Uranium One | $1,421,119 | ($2,636,626,300) |
| 82 | David Woodall | Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. | $1,402,564 | ($198,470,580) |
| 86 | Harold Motaung | Anooraq Resources | $1,370,535 | ($13,490,000) |
| 87 | Joseph Ovsenek | Silver Standard | $1,366,313 | ($10,596,740) |
| 89 | Marco Romero | Polaris Minerals Corp. | $1,346,661 | ($10,553,620) |
| 92 | Joel Kesler | Anooraq Resources | $1,320,935 | ($13,490,000) |
| 94 | Paul Martin | New Gold Inc. | $1,287,283 | ($110,689,040) |
| 96 | Sierd Eriks | UEX Corporation | $1,281,245 | ($8,800,000) |
| 99 | Michele Jones | Aura Minerals Inc. | $1,216,648 | ($55,610,000) |
| 99 | Anthony George | Aura Minerals Inc. | $1,216,648 | ($55,610,000) |
| 102 | Myles Gao | Silvercorp Metals Inc. | $1,203,969 | ($16,000,000) |
| 103 | Antony Harwood | Africo Resources Ltd. | $1,173,903 | ($6,457,220) |
| 105 | Christopher Bradbrook | New Gold Inc. | $1,153,407 | ($110,689,040) |
| 106 | Chris Theodoropoulos | Africo Resources Ltd. | $1,142,406 | ($6,457,220) |
| 109 | Quinton Hennigh | Evolving Gold Corp. | $1,113,325 | ($8,742,364) |
| 110 | Rupert Legge | Plutonic Power Corp. | $1,103,651 | ($14,320,000) |
| 111 | Robert Gallagher | New Gold Inc. | $1,102,522 | ($110,689,040) |
| 120 | Robert Bick | Evolving Gold Corp. | $1,023,953 | ($8,742,364) |
| 121 | Ronald Thiessen | Northern Dynasty | $1,015,141 | ($149,910,000) |
| 122 | Louie Zioulas | UEX Corporation | $1,006,342 | ($8,800,000) |
Canada is such a generous country.