Where are they now? Here’s which companies some of the most successful ASX mining executives are at now after hitting the jackpot

When thinking of who are the most successful ASX mining executives, it is those who hit paydirt and have exited their company having created substantial wealth – either through an M&A deal or departing of their own accord.

But there’s a question of where to next? Will they go to another sector, to another company or retire? And if they go to another company, does that mean they’ll be just as successful as they were before? There’s no guarantee of that, although they wouldn’t be going to new companies unless they had a reasonable degree of confidence they could hit the jackpot again.

Look where De Grey’s Simon Lill has wound up

We’ve been thinking hard about this question after hearing where former De Grey Mining Chairman Simon Lill wound up at only a matter of days after his company got bought for $6bn by Northern Star.

Namely, at Kairos Minerals (ASX:KAI) which holds a 1.4Moz gold deposit just 55km away from Hemi. Lill himself said,’ Kairos ticks many development boxes with a strong team, an existing resource of 1.4Moz in a single pit shell, big opportunity for resource growth and cash at bank’.

‘As we are 55kms from Hemi, I have intimate knowledge of the reason and look forward to assisting the Kairos team in their development of Mt York for the benefit of shareholders’.

Let’s take a look at where some of the most successful ASX resources executives have wound up at after hitting the jackpot and departing.

Here’s which companies some of the most successful ASX mining executives are at now after hitting the jackpot

Sirius’ Mark Bennett – at S2 Resources

IGO’s Nova-Bollinger deposit was discovered by microcap explorer Sirius Resources in 2012. It was just 5c at the time, and rocketed to $2.50 in just a matter of months. By 2015, it was bought by IGO for $1.8bn, or $4.38 per share. Every explorers’ dream. While his colleague Chris Fraser has turned to making vodka and gin, Mark Bennett is Executive Chairman at S2 Resources.

This actually isn’t a surprising move because this company was formed from a demerger of Sirius’ other projects. But while the company is capped at $44m, it is in base metals and gold. While gold is going strong, base metals (especially nickel) are not so much. But S2 is current undertaking an aggressive exploration program across four of its projects.

Ian Murray (Gold Road – Arafura),

Gold Road is being taken over by South Africa’s Gold Fields for A$3.7bn. This company went from rags to riches from its Gruyere gold discovery a decade ago. Former CEO and Managing Director Ian Murray has since moved on from Gold Road but is on a number of boards including Black Rock Mining and Jupiter Mines. But we think Arafura is one that deserves a mention. It is building the Nolans’ project in NT that will produce NdPr, an essential element for EVs and wind turbines.

Miles Kennedy (Sandfire Resources – Lucapa)

While Karl Simich gets most of the credit for Sandfire’s DeGrussa discovery, we don’t think Miles Kennedy can be overlooked. His departure in late 2009 was sudden and some may have forgotten his contribution, but Sandfire was already sitting on a hefty 3000% gain at the time he left.

Kennedy has since 2008 been on the board of Lucapa Diamond Company. And not many may still remember this, but he ‘struck gold’ with diamonds before, formerly chairing the Kimberley Diamond Company which developed the Ellendale diamond mine which was bought out for $320m in 2007.

Mark Creasy (various companies – Peregrine Gold)

The name says it all. Creasy is a veteran investor who has had many successful exits starting with the Bronzewing Gold Mine in the 1990s. Creasy’s latest successes were selling Azure Minerals to Gine Rinehart for $1.7bn (of which his company Yandal had 12.8%), and then selling iron ore play CZR Resources to Fenix for $71m.

Peregrine Gold is not the only company his Yandal Group is still invested in, but it is one that stands out because it was only 2 months ago that Peregrine and Creasy partnered to fund gold exploration at Peregrine’s Newman Project in the Pilbara. Any expenditures for the project would be funded by Creasy, and would be deducted from the value of any gold recovered. The Net Value of any gold would be divided 60-40 in favour of Peregrine.

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