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Aurum Exploration Services started in a cyclical downturn, so it knows how to cope with current conditionsÔÇövia original ideas, comprehensive resources and customer service, as Ruari McCallion found.
The name says a lot, but not everything. Aurum is the Latin for gold, so you would expect Aurum Exploration Services to be interested in the yellow stuff. And it isÔÇöbut not to the exclusion of all else.
ÔÇ£We love gold and other metals, but we consider our geological knowledge and experience as our greatest resource,ÔÇØ says company chairman Wilson Robb, who founded the exploration service company Aurum in 2002. ÔÇ£We have the ability to diversify; we have six principal geologists each with more than seventeen yearsÔÇÖ experience in the exploration industry, so we also have the resources to cover all exploration environments.ÔÇØ And those resources are important. Although Aurum is working in Africa, the Middle East and throughout Europe, two of its key projects are in the companyÔÇÖs home turf of Ireland.
ÔÇ£Ireland has the largest zinc mine in Europe,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£In fact, there are three zinc mines in the country.ÔÇØ The largest is the Boliden Tara zinc mine, which is located near Navan, Co. Meath, to the north-west of Dublin. The mine supplies part of its zinc concentrates to BolidenÔÇÖs smelters in Kokkola, Finland and Odda, Norway. Around 2.7 million tonnes of ore are mined annually, yielding zinc and lead concentrates containing up to 200,000 tonnes of zinc and 40,000 tonnes of lead metal.
Gold figures in every branch of Irish historyÔÇömagical rings, gifts of great value or the cause of fierce disputesÔÇöand Irish place names resonate with heritage, myth and legend. Tara may be better known as a zinc mine now but it was the traditional seat of the islandÔÇÖs high kings (ard-righs). Nearby Navan is where Aurum originated, before it moved to Kells, where the great illuminated manuscript of IonaÔÇÖs Bible was kept safe from pagan Norse raiders in the Dark Ages. Its legacy as a repository of knowledge has a modern manifestation in Aurum Exploration Services, which provides customers around the world with a comprehensive range of services, from mineral exploration and mine development to geotourism management.
ÔÇ£Aurum Exploration Services was founded out of a company called Navan Resources, an Irish company that went under in the early part of the century. My founding partner, Vaughan Williams, and I took what was left of the company and established Aurum,ÔÇØ says Robb. ÔÇ£The driver was the opportunities we saw in the market. As a geologist working for an exploration company, my heart was always in my mouth, to an extent. You are always waiting for the next downturn, when you could find yourself out of a job. But there are always opportunities, if you understand the business.ÔÇØ Aurum was founded at the bottom of the last cycle which, he maintains, is often the best time.
ÔÇ£There were tremendous opportunities for us then, and there are again now,ÔÇØ he continues. ÔÇ£In the current economic climate, people are walking away, saying they canÔÇÖt afford it.ÔÇØ And thatÔÇÖs when things hit a much lower cost. But the opportunities arenÔÇÖt there for everyone; in every industry, itÔÇÖs the companies that see things differently, operate differently, and have different skill sets that prosper.
ÔÇ£We provide exploration services, from blue sky to scoping studies,ÔÇØ says Robb. ÔÇ£Our main thrust is the generation of ideas, identifying targets and setting up opportunities.ÔÇØ Aurum either takes its ideas to others or people come to them. ÔÇ£We put guys on the ground and provide everything from basic field work to managing complete exploration programmes for clients.ÔÇØ
AurumÔÇÖs specific services include field exploration such as geochemical and geophysical sampling, geological mapping, logging and sampling drillcore and office services such as target generation using current exploration models and exploration project management. It also undertakes project auditing and analysis, which covers computerised geological modelling and independent resource and reserve assessment.
ÔÇ£Aurum is fully equipped for all field- and office-based geological surveying, sampling and data acquisition or manipulation,ÔÇØ says Dr. Sandy Archibald, technical director. From its existing databases, the company is able to develop client-specific exploration portfolios and conceptual precious and base-metal exploration targets across the world. It has built up extensive contacts throughout all levels of the mineral exploration industry in Europe and North America, which means that it can act as an advisor to clients seeking specific types and sizes of projects.
It may sound as if Aurum is a large organisation but itÔÇÖs actually a tight-knit group of people with skills, experience and resources. It has twenty employees on its booksÔÇömainly geologists, but with other exploration skills as well. ItÔÇÖs an international collection, with representatives from all countries of the British Isles, a Canadian, two Central Europeans and a South African. That gives it an enviable language base, too. It is unusual in that it has a permanent team, rather than using contractors.
ÔÇ£Our managing director, Dr. Mark Holdstock, is very keen that we continue to develop the Aurum team,ÔÇØ says Robb. ÔÇ£My personal experience was the contractor model, but I can see the benefits of the team approach now. You get a sense of possession and progress that cannot be generated using a loose association of contractors. We have a good team and they have stuck with us.ÔÇØ Which means that knowledge, the most important resource of all, sticks with them as well.
AurumÔÇÖs turnover this year is expected to be around Ôé¼2 million, from five current projects and another two or three that will start later in the year. ThatÔÇÖs start, not continue, so there are organisations prepared to invest in opportunities.
ÔÇ£We have already held marketing conferences in Saudi Arabia, Cape Town and Vancouver and we are heading to China later this year,ÔÇØ says Robb. ÔÇ£We are in a strong position. We have money in the bank and lots of ideas in our heads, too. Sandy [Archibald] was working in Canada for ten years before he joined us; we are now planning to open an office in Vancouver.ÔÇØ Canada is an important market for Aurum. There are over 1600 exploration companies in the country, mostly in the Vancouver area. ÔÇ£We also operate in Ireland and provide services for North American and global companies in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.ÔÇØ
ItÔÇÖs not just a question of getting new customers; Aurum holds on to existing clients, too. The turning point in its original growth curve was a contract on its own turf.
ÔÇ£Our first major contract was signed in 2003 with a Canadian company that we met while marketing in Canada. The property they had a right to was a gold mine in Northern Ireland, called Curraghinalt,ÔÇØ says Robb. The name is Gaelic for ÔÇÿthe moor on the hillsideÔÇÖ. ÔÇ£There are two gold mines in Ireland and we still have that original gold mine contract. ItÔÇÖs not in production yet; its measured resource is around 600,000 ounces. We are working with the client to get the gold resource up to a million ounces, which could make it the largest gold mine in the British Isles.ÔÇØ
As well as the direct exploration resources, Aurum also has a sub-unit called Aurum Data Solutions, which specialises in geographical information systems (GIS) data capture and presentation. It transforms hard-copy maps and documents to accurate digital products for use in GIS, document management systems and for publication in hard-copy or on the internet.
ThereÔÇÖs a lot going on in the UK and Europe, with which Aurum is, has or will be involved. It has worked in Thailand, Canada and Greenland, as well as Tanzania and West Africa. Its current development strategy is to go global. Wherever it turns up, its customers will be sure of the most comprehensive range of services they could wish for.
