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Maple Gold Mines
RGN INTERVIEWS WOMEN IN MINING: MAPLE GOLD MINES
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RGN INTERVIEWS WOMEN IN MINING: MAPLE GOLD MINES
In March 2021, the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) published a report aimed at pushing governments to promote gender equality in the mining sector. While the document, which was published to coincide with International Women’s Day, called for reforms to legislative frameworks to fight gender discrimination in countries around the world, it got RGN thinking about what positive contributions we could make as a media organisation covering the mining space. Following internal discussions on the topic, we have decided to start a regular ‘women in mining’ spotlight, comprised of exclusive interviews with inspiring women who have scaled the corporate ladder in the industry and broken into the historically male-dominated board rooms of publiclylisted mining companies. The inaugural RGN interviews women in mining feature shines the spotlight on investor relations (IR) and corporate communications guru Shirley Anthony, along with successful natural resources entrepreneur Michelle Roth. Anthony forms an integral part of the management team at Canadian exploration firm Maple Gold Mines, while Roth continues to offer her wealth of experience to the company in her role as a director.
Jacob Ambrose Willson: Shirley, you have over 12 years’ experience in corporate communications across several sectors, but how did you get into natural resources and eventually Maple Gold?
Shirley Anthony: Growing up, I was only aware of a few career paths, such as becoming a classical musician like my parents, or becoming a teacher, doctor, biologist or chemist. But I did soon find myself interested in journalism, and the first place where I landed
SHIRLEY ANTHONY, MAPLE GOLD MINES DIRECTOR, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
a job after university was in business journalism at Stockwatch, which is a stock information portal that I still use to this day.
During my time there I got to learn about the stock market through the Canadian Securities Course. I went through hundreds of press releases and newsletters about companies in all sectors from telecommunications to pharmaceuticals and of course mining. Until that time, the whole idea of the public
MICHELLE ROTH, ROTH INVESTOR RELATIONS FOUNDER AND MAPLE GOLD MINES DIRECTOR
markets and stock trading was totally foreign to me. But once I learned about the public markets, I found it absolutely fascinating; full of exciting opportunities, intriguing scandals and the amount of wealth that can be generated and lost could be staggering. The more I learned, the more I was intrigued about going over to the corporate side, and of course Vancouver is a huge hub for mining juniors, where there is a highly active capital markets scene. With my background, I landed in investor relations and corporate communications, and I’ve loved it so much that I never looked back. I started in resources back in 2004 and spent most of my time there, but I did venture out into the transportation and cannabis sectors for short periods, but natural resources was what I knew the best and where I really excelled, so when the opportunity with Maple Gold Mines was brought to my attention, I definitely took a closer look. What intrigued me about this company is that it’s in an incredible mining jurisdiction and has significant gold resources that were completely underappreciated. For me, the most exciting opportunities in IR is these types of undervalued assets and this is where I can add the most value in terms of helping them gain exposure to a fair market valuation and where we have the best chances of generating shareholders value.
MAPLE GOLD MINES
AT A GLANCE
STOCK TICKER:
TSXV:MGM
MARKET CAPITALISATION:
US$106.4 million (as of May 27, 2021)
a j JAW: Michelle, you were the driving force behind Roth Investor Relations, which you founded back in 1987. What specifically genderbased barriers did you have to overcome as a female entrepreneur at that time?
Michelle Roth: IR was a relatively new discipline and in 1987 I had a kind of first mover advantage, in terms of being solely focused on the mining space. I’m based in New York and there were only three other women in all of mining at the time, encompassing not only mining companies in the US, but Wall Street as well. But I used this to my advantage and combined it with my previous experience working at Echo Bay Mines, where I learned the workings of the industry.
I also developed a large a degree of contacts built on the buy side and the sell side and then combined that with my training on Wall Street, which
is where I started my career. It created this unique dynamic, which really helped me to stand out in a crowd. In fact I remember an occasion in around 1988 when I went to a conference in New York hosted by Institutional Investor magazine. There must’ve been 400-500 people there; a sea of blue suits, and I walked in in a red suit. So, I used it to my advantage, but I think the main reason why I’ve been successful is nobody told me I couldn’t do it. There were no barriers there because I eliminated the glass ceiling on Wall Street, and on the agency side of the business working with mining companies, I just did my thing. Because I was offering a quality product - as it where - I had companies coming to me. The bulk of my business had been through referral, so I guess I’ve been doing something right.
JAW: Comparing 1987 with today, what level of progress has been made with respect to the compositions of board rooms in the mining sector?
MR: Without having checked the statistics I would venture to say that back in the late 80s you didn’t see women in
RGN editor Jacob Ambrose Willson interviews Maple Gold Mines director, corporate communications Shirley Anthony, April 01 2021
“It has been wonderful to see more women in positions of power, including as board members, such as Catherine Gignac on the board of Cameco, and more women as CEOs of mining companies, like Alexandra Woodyer Sherron at Empress Royalty” Shirley Anthony, Maple Gold Mines director of corporate communications
board rooms in any significant numbers in any industry. It was more the exception to the rule. In fact down at the NYSE, there is a dedicated room to Muriel Siebert, who was the first woman to purchase a seat on the NYSE back in the late 60s/early 70s, and that was so unheard of.
I’m lucky to be part of that first generational wave of professional women coming into Wall Street, working in a variety of capacities. We’ve seen an increase in women analysts and portfolio managers, but - to my dismay - less of an increase in the area of investment banking, which I would still stand to improve in that regard, and I’m very hopeful that it will continue to improve.
I think that if you don’t have a technical background, whether you’re male or female, companies will often turn to the financial side of the equation and look to recruit
RGN editor Jacob Ambrose Willson interviews Maple Gold Mines director and Roth Investor Relations founder Michelle Roth, April 01 2021
people with finance and accounting skillsets. So, if you don’t have women in more prominent positions on the finance side of the business, companies aren’t going to either know of them or know they can tap into them to join either the C-suite or the boards.
JAW: Shirley, mining has historically been a maledominated industry, but there are signs that this is gradually changing. How should we educate young women so as to attract them to the industry, and the various avenues of employment it can provide?
SA: Back when I started in 2005, I still did not see many women on the executive teams or on boards. Now it has been wonderful to see that changing over the years and today I am seeing more women in positions of power, including as board members, such as Catherine Gignac on the board of Cameco, and of
“I believe that the best way to make an impact is through mentoring. I was very fortunate to have been mentored throughout my career, but I took that on as
ALTUS STRATEGIES ASSISTS CAMEROON COVID-19 RELIEF CARAVANan obligation to pay
it forward and help other young women in the sector, and just be there as a touchstone” Michelle Roth, founder of Roth Investor
Relations and Maple
Gold Mines director
SPOTLIGHT ON Shirley Anthony
Shirley Anthony has 15 years of investor relations and corporate communications experience with publicly listed companies on the NYSE, TSX, TSX Venture Exchange, CSE and OTCQB covering the natural resources, transport and cannabis sectors. In the natural resources sector, Ms. Anthony has developed and implemented high-impact investor relations and strategic marketing programmes for companies involved in the production, development and exploration of gold, silver, base metals and uranium across North and South America as well as the Asia Pacific. Ms. Anthony holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia.
a j course our wonderful director Michelle Roth. I’m also seeing more women as CEOs of companies, like Alexandra Woodyer Sherron at Empress Royalty and Bryce Bradley at Thunderstruck Resources.
In terms of getting more women to join the mining space, or in any industry, I think opportunities should be made for young people - regardless of gender - but certainly with a focus on young women in secondary school and perhaps in the first two years of higher education, for there to be courses available to learn about the public markets. I think there are many careers that are ideal for women in the public market space that really don’t exist elsewhere in private companies, such as compliance, IR and corporate secretarial roles. I generally find that women are strong communicators and when it comes to communicating the merits of a story, particularly when I see women presenting
(I don’t see many but when I do), they’re absolutely phenomenal at it.
I think it’s about exposing them to the public markets at a younger age, because when I was growing up, I didn’t know anything about what public companies did. I had no idea. So to expose them early on would open up a completely new world to them, where the opportunities are truly endless. Having the education system help them grow up a little bit faster would be a great help, because the public markets are such a huge part of the economy.
Even someone that we brought on to the Maple Gold team on the marketing/ communications side; she’s a 25-years old, dynamic woman and the same thing. At her age, she had no idea that this world even existed until we brought her on. There’s lots of opportunities out there and I think the education system could be improved to expose people to this exciting world. Michelle Roth is an entrepreneur and business leader who founded Roth Investor Relations in 1987. She expanded this global consulting business through multiple investment cycles by formulating comprehensive shareholder engagement solutions for a worldwide client base. Mining clients have operated mines or explored in North America, Australia, Africa, Europe and South America for gold, silver, platinum, copper, nickel and diamonds. In the public sector, Ms. Roth served as Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Planning Board Chairperson of Manalapan Township, New Jersey. She has also held appointed positions on other governmental boards. Ms. Roth earned her MBA in Finance from Fordham University.
SPOTLIGHT ON Michelle Roth
j
JAW: Are either of you involved with the work of industry associations supporting gender equality in the sector (for instance Women in Mining)? How important is it that these organisations highlight inspiring stories and contributions made by women in the industry?
MR: I’m a member of Women in Mining in the UK actually, and have attended events in the past but I believe that the best way to make an impact is through mentoring. I was very fortunate to have been mentored by men who were very forward-thinking, including my late father. But I took that on as an obligation to pay it forward and not only have I mentored my three daughters (none of whom who have followed in my footsteps by the way), I’ve also made sure to help other young women in the sector and just be there as a touchstone. It can range from anything like how offering advice on how to deal with a specific issue to introducing someone to someone in your contacts who runs the gamut. I think that personalised one-to-one is really impactful and the organisations themselves are doing great work, but more women need to take on this mentoring role to truly change the course, in my opinion.
JAW: Shirley, do you agree with Michelle’s points or have
anything further to add with regards to mentoring in the industry?
SA: I was nodding profusely at what Michelle was saying! Absolutely, because one-onone mentoring is critical. Michelle, I am right there with you and having brought someone on that I saw so much talent and potential in, I wanted to introduce her to this incredible world and I wish I could do that for so many more women. I am familiar with Women in Mining Canada, it’s a great association. I haven’t been very active because I started a young family about five years ago, and with kids and a career, you don’t have too much time for anything else! But now that I’m a little bit older, I would love to get involved in these associations, but also look for other opportunities to provide information to young women.
Perhaps it’s going out to speak at a high school graduation, or going to talk to a gym bowl of high school kids about the public markets and the IR field. I’m sure there are many opportunities for us to spread information about this really exciting space and the careers that are available. I’m sure there are many opportunities like that, but mentoring is absolutely critical and if I could do what I’m doing right now with this young woman that works with us, I would do it 10 times over.
