Page 24 - Demo
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 We’ve had some astonishing results – some of the
most promising in the gold mining industry – but there’s
also another factor here. For investors in NOVAGOLD stock
and those who have relied upon me, Greg Lang, Mélanie Hennessey, Igor Levental, and other members of the NOVAGOLD management team to tell that story, we’re going to see a sea change. Because as exuberant and passionate as we are about Donlin Gold, anyone who knows Mark Bristow knows that when he loves, he loves very deeply. And I believe that he will be falling in love with Donlin Gold. He’s already said that he’s catching up with the Kaplan narrative. Now, I think after anyone that’s been listening to me, that must be a terrifying prospect because the fact that two of us will be doing that simultaneously is very good.
So here’s what I think will happen, which I believe is so wonderful for NOVAGOLD shareholders: Number one, anyone from the sell side who follows the gold industry follows Barrick. They’re now going to have to look more deeply into Donlin Gold. Some of them will be doing so in the context of following
You’re going from almost none to potentially...
Right now, we have two analysts following us. God bless them, we love them dearly. But even they, I would imagine, would love to see six or eight analysts following us. Now,
just look at the psychology of it. If you are already following Donlin Gold because you have to follow Barrick, because it’s the 800-pound gorilla, then why not look at having a pure play on a great asset in a great jurisdiction? Why not? Some won’t bother. Others will jump all over it. Now, that’s number one, but number two is that as the Donlin Gold story gets rippled through the market because of Barrick, some of that offtake
is going to spill out onto us. And we’re a stock with very, very loyal shareholders who’ve been in it for a long time – some of them almost as long as I have, and I’ve been in it for 12 years.
I am more passionate about the story than ever before. They are watching this unfold.
In fact we’ve had multiple calls from people saying congratulations with regard to the December joint press release because they understand that as Donlin Gold gets some more coverage, more investors will be looking for a
pure play on the story. And you start to get a few shareholders taking positions like the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia did over the last year or so, and it’s a game-changer. My agenda and Greg’s agenda is that we are aiming to be the go-to stock in the gold development space. I believe that we’re already there. But more than that, we want to be viewed as being
the premier value and growth story in a sector in which the defining attribute is scarcity.
Where do you think – because this is an unusual, unique situation – NOVAGOLD should trade? I understand
that more analysts following it will certainly help, but theoretically, hypothetically, we have a long-dated call on the gold price. That’s how I see it anyway. How in
your mind, and I’m strictly asking this from an academic point of view, because I know you and I think the stock should trade higher, but how would one analytically get to a higher price, when I guess production will not occur until six, seven, eight years down the road? What are your thoughts on that?
 “When you look at NOVAGOLD, what
you see is this combination of Donlin Gold’s size, grade, exploration potential, production profile, and cost structure. And superimposed upon all that is jurisdictional safety.”
Barrick, which I really hope they will. This is great news for Barrick shareholders because I don’t believe that the value of Donlin Gold is reflected at all in the Barrick share price. And analysts following Donlin Gold already will start to follow NOVAGOLD as a pure play on this emerging gold district.
So we’ll have more analytical coverage. I feel pretty confident about that. It’s almost the law of averages.
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