Laurel Sayer: The Woman With a Golden Touch

How did Laurel Sayer end up being the only female in the world to bust the “golden ceiling” of the mining industry and become the CEO of Perpetua Resources? Sayer’s answers are as intriguing as her title.

To begin: Imagine treading carefully for 20-plus years up a steep and narrow path while balancing concerns of politicians, the environment, the people of Idaho, an extended family that includes six children and 22 grandchildren, and of course, the bottom line for stockholders. In other words, Sayer got the job by doing what a man could not do better. Here is what she shared when we sat down with her for a Q&A.

“I started out working for Congressman Simpson,” said Sayer, 62. “And I stayed for 20 years, concentrating on his natural resource work. I loved the work because I loved rural Idaho, and the people of rural Idaho. That’s how I was raised on a dairy farm. And you know who is really running those rural farms and ranches? It’s the women. The matriarchs. They are the strength of that cultural tradition from generation to generation. My grandmother was that way, so I was attracted and cared about working with the ranching and farming families because their livelihoods are interconnected to natural resources.”

Q: How did you balance their needs, say, for diminished grazing lands, with Congressman Simpson’s Boulder White Clouds Wilderness Bill?

A: “I feel that farming and ranching families are conservationists because they use the land with the idea of maintaining and improving it to ensure the future of their business. They have no choice but to be good stewards of the land. Most understand and want to improve habitat for fish because they need a healthy water sources for their crops and livestock. However, many also don’t have the knowledge of how to find funding or negotiate regulatory mechanisms. They needed help. So, I learned regulatory and revenue policy. I actually cared deeply about the people, the land and how politics can help both thrive.”

Q: And after retirement from your federal position, you became the Executive Director of the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts?

A: “Yes, but I wasn’t looking for a position. Governor Otter had appointed my husband head of commerce, and we moved to Boise. I was serving on the Arts Commission and really enjoying it. The associations came to me, and these were people I’d worked with all along with The Lemhi Land Trust, the Teton Valley, The Nature Conservancy, middle-ground organizations politically. They just want to take care of the land and their communities. So, I took the job and helped create the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts. While I was doing that, I was exposed to Midas Gold, which is now, Perpetua Resources. They came to me and asked me to be on their board.”

Q: But isn’t that a conflict of interest and priorities, serving conservation and being on the board of a publicly-held resource extraction company?

A: “My governmental and conservation background is exactly the viewpoint Midas needed to hear. Working for the congressman, I’ve been familiar with a lot of mining projects in Idaho. I knew bad ones and good ones. But this project was different, like nothing I’d seen before. The Stibnite mining area outside of Yellow Pine was a mess and is still a mess today because the government mined it during WWII and the Korean War for tungsten and antimony. These were necessary elements for the war effort, but we didn’t have the regulatory requirements enforced today. They weren’t required to improve it. This company intended to go back in for the gold and antimony, but also restore the area back to the way it was 100 years ago. They were actually going to make the area better. That’s what appealed to me. And two years later, when they offered me a position, that’s why I accepted.”

Q: Where are you in that process now? How has this process of guiding the company through NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) approval taught you about the reality of balancing your love of environment and citizens with knowing the purpose of the operation is to make a profit?

A: “Those results do not have to oppose each other. We’re making headway and getting close to our record of decision, which I believed would happen. I knew DC, the Forest Service and regulations. I was prepared for due diligence by all my past lessons. Politics had also prepared me for going into a male-dominated industry. But truthfully, I don’t think I was prepared for this, the mining industry.”

Q: How so? Does the type of industry really matter, when a woman walks into a room of men who have been running the show since time began?

A: “Working for the congressman, I’ve been in lots of meetings as the only woman in the room. But the mining industry didn’t have any women at the top. Ever. I found the key to maintaining self-confidence came with the recognition that women think and look at things differently. And if you bring your ideas forward with that in mind, all points of view can be valued for being different, as opposed to being right or wrong, or female or male. And as a woman and leader, you have to be bold about hiring other women. Today we have 33% women in the leadership of our company. The company is stronger because of it.”

As a woman and leader, you have to be bold about hiring other women. Today we have 33% women in the leadership of our company. The company is stronger because of it.

Q: Is this the direct result of your leadership?

A: “I can say yes, proudly. And I can also confidently say those women have helped the local community trust that the company maintains a strong social license. We care about their families. We offer jobs. And when they look at me, they see someone who understands if a woman, or man, engineer, or backhoe driver, needs a flexible schedule to take care of their kids.”

Q: But what about environmental buzzwords like “arsenic” and “superfund site?” Don’t those raise not only eyebrows, but quality-of-life and limb protests?

A: “Another thing that makes me different in the mining industry is that not that I’m not a geologist, or an engineer. I think politically which requires balancing (there’s that word again) and addressing people’s questions and concerns. Eventually, when the mine gets through the regulatory process, I’ll step aside. But my attention to the integrity of the operation will not go away, even though someone who knows how to construct and operate a mine will take my place.” Q: What are the odds it will be man? A: “Who knows?” she said, laughing. “What were the odds I’d be here today?”