Because Friday was the end of an era in the mining industry

Colorful mine trafficker Ivan Glasenberg will retire as the head of Glencore, the huge mining giant and one of the top 500 largest public companies in the world.

Audience Miner Michael McCrae spotted the change during the Kitco Roundtable podcast, recorded Friday. McCrae was joined by correspondent Paul Harris; the director Neils Christensen; and special guest Terry Harbort, CEO of Talisker Resources.

Ivan Glasenberg joined Glencore in April 1984 and has been CEO since January 2002. Glasenberg spearheaded the deal that saw Glencore’s $ 90 billion merger with Xstrata in 2013.

Glencore is one of the largest diversified natural resources companies in the world with 160,000 employees and contractors and $ 11.6 billion in earnings in 2019.

Glasenberg’s successor is Gary Nagle, who has held senior roles in coal and ferroalloys. Nagle is 45, Glasenberg 63.

“The exit of Glasenberg will mark the transition to a new, younger leadership for the business, which, along with other mining companies, has faced increasing pressure from investors to cut carbon emissions,” writes Reuters.

The panel also noted that Seabridge Gold has expanded its presence in BC’s Golden Triangle after raising Pretium Resources’s Snowfield project for $ 105 million. Osisko Mining made headlines with his drilling result at Windfall, a project Harbort helped advance prior to his current role at Talisker.

Harbort was asked what decisions he made when setting up his company and team.

“Our strong belief is that exploration is a science and we must apply it to be successful as an exploration company,” said Harbort. “Many companies can [be] a little luck … a little serendipity. We hear all those stories and we all have a bit of a joke about them, but most of the good finds and the teams that make more discoveries [are] based on systematic exploration and the application of good science “.