Robert McEwen does more than expected

“I’m stubbornly persistent, I’m intensely curious, and I have a great aversion to standing in line,” said Robert McEwen, 2017 inductee into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and president of McEwen Mining. “And I treasure honesty and loyalty and pushing to always make a better product or service.” These themes remain true throughout his entire career, even as he made the switch from investments to mining.

The first 18 years of his career was in brokerage, doing sales, research and investment management. Most of his work happened to focus on investments with gold and gold mining companies, making the transition relatively smooth. “I chose to jump into the mining industry because I found that it was a fascinating industry. It was one of the only industries where you can create enormous wealth very quickly with a big discovery,” McEwen said. He admits that the probability of making a big discovery is low. However, “the exciting part is that the possibility exists.”

The Goldcorp challenge

“I found that mining, at the time, seemed fairly narrowly focused and could use the outsider’s perspective to move ahead,” said McEwen. His outsider point of view resulted in many successes during his time with Goldcorp Inc. One of his most notable moves with Goldcorp was the “Goldcorp Challenge,” during which he put Red Lake Mine’s geological data from 1984 and onward onto the Internet. “The Goldcorp Challenge was definitely a big step forward for Goldcorp and myself,” he said. “The Goldcorp Challenge lifted us onto a world stage not only in the mining industry, but in the investment industry in general.”

Prizes were offered in exchange for exploration concepts. “During that time, our workforce went on strike and remained out for 46 months,” he said. “At the end, they decided to leave the mine. This was the first time in North America that united field workers had walked away from any mine, particularly a mine that they had been at for more than 40 years.” Red Lake Mine went on to become a huge value for the shareholders, as a 500,000-ounce producer while at the same time lowering operational costs.

Stressing simplicity

It was with the support of mentors, family and friends that Robert McEwen was able to achieve all that he has. The best advice he was ever given, he would pass along to anyone else to this day: “Deliver more than expected, and treat the owners of capital with great respect.” Perseverance, a determination to not wait in line for opportunity, and values that place those he works with in high respect exemplify this advice. He has always tried to create a better product.

McEwen is always focused on goals larger than the immediate situation, including making mining an industry that respects its investors. He believes simplicity is key. “The ever-growing mass of regulations surrounding public companies, whether it be securities, law or accounting procedures, to me was a royal pain,” he said. “It was one of the reasons I chose to step away from Goldcorp.” After 19 years with Goldcorp, McEwen stepped away to pursue other interests, despite the excellent status of the company.

As the president of McEwen Mining, he is able to continue his well-placed dedication to simplifying the industry. “I think there’s an opportunity to create; to discover a big deposit; to experiment with new technologies; to improve,” said McEwen. “The industry is wide open for innovation, and that means it’s a very fertile area to build in. I think we should also be looking to simplify.

“I like to keep things simple. I like to be direct,” McEwen said. He has challenged the over-complication present in the mining industry over the years. “We as an industry need to seek simplification and push back against the accounting profession, legal profession, the security regulators and government to say ‘our number one customer is our share owner.’ Without them, there is no money, no exploration, no mine, no business—nothing. We have to take care of them. That’s a lesson I’ve learned,” he said. “It’s one of my crusades right now.”

Multiplying power

Aside from crusading for simplification within the industry, McEwen has continuously shown his support for society as a whole. He and his wife have become respected philanthropists, donating to causes in both health care and education in ways he never thought imaginable. “The opportunity to contribute to improving the health care of Canadians is one of the forces of our donations,” he said. “It allows one to multiply the power of the money that they’ve earned and cause it to benefit a much larger group of people.”