to keep them abreast of your progress and results. This is done through disclosure of plans, budgets, activities and most importantly results. Do the results prove or disprove your idea?
Because most investors are not geologists, mining engi-
neers, metallurgists or technical experts, you will need to craft your news releases so that the casual observer can understand the result and its implications for the stock – this is not an easy task. Distilling highly complex technical data so that your grandmother can understand what you are talking about is an art.
It’s good to have someone in your circle whom you
can trust with confidential information and who can carefully review your information as a layman. It’s important that your news release is clear, simple and well written. It’s also the investor’s window into the company, and poorly written material says a lot about your intentions, ability and atten- tion to detail.
Continuous disclosure is how Canadian junior companies
keep their investors up to date. Disclosure must be reviewed and approved by a qualified person. Unlike the NI43-101, this person can be someone who has the credentials of a qualified person but can be associated with the company. For Company B, I was the qualified person for the news releases. I often asked my securities lawyer to review the news before distrib- uting. Lawyers are meant to worry so you must make sure they do not change the intent of your news. They only need to confirm that the release conforms with NI43-101 disclosure standards.
Once you have a budget and plan, a helpful activity is to sit
down with your team and outline when activities will be com- plete and, on this basis, map out the timing of news releases for the next 12 to 18 months. This helps with program timelines and gives management a sense of where information might occur so they can get ahead of the issue in the event that it is positive or negative. If you promised the market a milestone in Q2 and you see that that isn’t going to happen, you need to let them know that the event is delayed, and most importantly, why it is delayed.
Keeping in tune with the pulse of the market is hard work
and requires a lot of email, face and telephone time. You may consider hiring a professional investor relations firm or an investor relations manager. This will be your company’s face to the investing public and someone who will remind you of what was promised and when. This person needs to be the
www.aipg.org Editor’s note: William (Bill) Howald, CPG-11041, is
a serial entrepreneur who has started and sold several public companies over the past 12 years. Prior to creat- ing junior mining companies, he was General Manager of Exploration, United States and Latin America, for Placer Dome Inc. During his tenure at Placer Dome, Mr. Howald was an integral part of the teams that delivered over 100M oz of gold resources to the Placer portfolio. A number of these resources are now mines. Mr. Howald was born on the “Richest Hill on Earth” (Butte, MT) and has over 34 years in the international exploration and mining industry gained primarily in the Western US, Mexico, and Central and South America.
quintessential people person with extreme patience – you can’t please all the people all the time, and you will hear about it constantly.
Behaving Like an Owner This is probably the most important point of this article.
There is nothing like executing on your plan and giving the market the results you initially envisioned. Execution, execu- tion and execution will give investors comfort and drive your market capitalization higher as you de-risk your project. As I said before, sometimes things don’t go as planned. When that happens, you must get out and let your investors know what happened and how you are going to fix it. They may be upset at the result, but will appreciate the transparency, and some will give you the benefit of the doubt and remain a shareholder. Candor is important.
Starting your own company or business is intellectually, personally and professionally rewarding. You will never work as hard professionally as you will with your own business. You’ll finally understand those catch phrases like “Act Like an Owner”. You must focus on getting the right technical and administrative people, doing the right things, selecting the best projects, and executing on your corporate strategy. If you succeed at these core functions, your company will be rewarded in the capital markets, and you will have extreme fun and the gratification that you made it happen.
Jul.Aug.Sep 2019 • TPG 55
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