Robert Quartermain has spent 15 years in the silver industry and has 30 years experience in resource exploration and development. In 1985, he became President of Silver Standard Resources (Silver Standard) and spearheaded its growth. The company now controls the largest in-ground silver resource of any publicly-traded silver company. Today, Silver Standard has about 1.4 billion resource ounces in all categories spread amongst 17 projects in Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Canada, United States, Australia and Chile.
Robert Quartermain’s devotion to the field started early and never wavered. He mapped the mountains of Canada, which he tackled from 1976 to 1981, even before he completed his education.
“My first season in the bush was working with the Geological Survey of Canada in the Northwest Territories north of Baker Lake, which I quite enjoyed,” said Quartermain.
Quartermain graduated in 1977 from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology, and from Queen's University in 1981 with a Master of Science degree in mineral exploration.
From 1977 to 1979, he worked with Essex Minerals, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel Corporation. This was during the last uranium boom, and he looked for uranium in the Thelon Basin and the Dubawnt Basin, the same areas of the Northwest Territories now under exploration anew.
After working in the metals industry for three years, he studied for his Master’s degree in the mineral exploration program offered at Queens University. Even then he wanted to understand the industry’s economic parameters. “I needed to know why we go to look for projects and which ones have a chance of becoming a mine,” said Quartermain. “So, I went back to study at the mineral exploration program at Queens, which gave a certain amount of economic framework. I thought going and working at a mine would give me some more practical experience.” With his degree in hand, he joined Teck Corporation and worked there until he joined Silver Standard in 1985 as President. Since then, he has served as a Director and/or Officer of a number of public resource companies, including Vista Gold Corp. and formerly IAMGOLD Corporation.
Quartermain started working with Teck 5,500 feet below surface at the Lamaque Gold Mine in Val d’Or, Québec – a 2,000 ton a day underground mine. He then switched to mine-type geology exploration at the Newfoundland zinc mine. Then Teck transferred him to the Corona project at Hemlo, where drilling was getting started in 1981.
“I arrived with Drill Hole No. 176 (not long after the discovery hole) and left when the David Bell Mine was almost in production,” said Quartermain. “It was very gratifying to go from an exploration play through to feasibility, and then through to construction and mapping the shaft to the 2,000 foot level.”
The experience with Teck gave Quartermain a well balanced view on the financial side, which he has retained along with the excitement of exploration. His personal blend of the geologic and economic has given Quartermain a unique, well-rounded perspective that has benefited every company he has been involved with.
Teck had a 32 percent sharehold in Silver Standard. The Keevil family, through Teck, which would later work on open mine projects in Vancouver, started investing in Silver Standard in 1969 to get exposure in British Columbia.
“My boss at Teck asked me, ‘Do you want to live in North Bay and be a field geologist? Or would you like to come to Vancouver and try your hand at running a public company?’,” said Quartermain. “My choice was -20 degrees in North Bay or one or two days of snow in Vancouver. Since I’m always up for a challenge, I said yes to Vancouver.”
At the time, Quartermain didn’t own a suit, had never met an accountant or a lawyer, and hadn’t read a public company balance sheet. “It was basically take over and run,” he recalled. “And learn by experience.”
“My initial job was to go out and try to find some traction for Silver Standard, to separate it from the other 1,500 junior companies in Vancouver. We had a number of properties, which we had optioned off. We had some interests in some mines which came from the old Silver Standard days. That small cash flow and option activity allowed us to continue to explore.”
Business Values Bred Early
“I grew up in a town of just 2,000 people, so the small town traditional values of honesty and integrity were instilled in me from an early age,” said Quartermain. “While being financially driven is good, it’s far from the only thing that matters in business.”
As a boy, Quartermain worked in his grandfather’s store selling Scottish tartan wool and blankets. At 12 years old, he knew just about every Scottish tartan pattern by heart and business values were instilled in his character. His family was also supportive, encouraging his interest in geology and the natural world. First a boy scout, he later explored the Northwest Territory during his first job. “Exploring and working, I got a bug that all explorationists get,” he said. “But I loved the economic geology side of it too.”
His economic geology professors instilled greater interest in the field, as did his bosses at Teck. He learned the importance of keeping your word, even when it’s a written note or a handshake to stake a claim or prospect in the bush. “You have to live by your word,” said Quartermain. “At Silver Standard, we’ve always tried to do a deal that is fair for both sides.”
Quartermain returned to his alma mater, the University of New Brunswick, last year to help finance the Quartermain Science Center, recruiting young people to the field with a new approach. “As a society we need metal commodities, and we are now better at mining them and trying to minimize the footprint that we have on the earth,” he said.
Quartermain was elected as President of the Silver Institute, the leading international association for the silver industry, on June 14, 2007. Silver Standard has been a member of the Silver Institute since 2003.
Today, Quartermain sees renewed interest in the commodity with silver consumption continuing to increase. For the first time, silver is being used more for industrial and electronic applications than in traditional uses of photography and jewelry. China undertakes significant silver jewelry manufacturing, but a lot of it ends up in first world economies, even sold on the Home Shopping Network in the United States.
Last year, silver consumption was about 910 million ounces. Silver mine production was about 650 million ounces, leaving 260 million ounces recycled from photography and jewelry scrap. If scrap supplies were to ever dry up, business and industry would be seeking new mine production. “The Silver Institute needs more companies as members to provide additional financial backing to support research and increase the use of silver going forward,” said Quartermain. “We are getting better at global education about silver, its uses as a green metal in this environmentally sensitive world, and the fact that it has multiple uses.”
A Great Career
Asked how he would advise a young person thinking about a career in geology, Quartermain responded that they would have to be able to be independent and mobile, in order to deal with today’s global industry. Whether one is focused on the exploration side or the academic side, they have to be aware of the challenges, he suggested. “You have to be able to pack up and move away, and you have to be able to be resourceful,” he said. “When you’re up in the Northwest Territories and something breaks, you have to know how to fix it – generators, trucks and the like. It’ll be part of the job. Otherwise you’ll get frustrated.”
A geologist needs to love travel, be physically fit, and have a true curiosity about the rest of the world, he said. “Don’t export the North American view of how things are, but realize you are a guest in other people’s countries and be adaptable. Anyone getting into business nowadays has to speak Spanish or even Chinese, because it is important to be able to communicate in the areas you work in.”
An economic geologist has to have knowledge of social responsibilities, stakeholder issues, legalities and accounting. “Back in the 1970s, finding a deposit was the hard part,” said Quartermain. “Nowadays that’s often the easiest aspect. For me, it has been a great career, but one not without its challenges: the travel and the constant disconnect from family. You need to have a secure family life, so that you can go off and get the job done. I had no idea when I took a first year geology course back in 1973 that I would arrive at this point in this place, but I can’t think of anything else that I would rather be doing.”