Reader Rebuttal: Top 40 Disputed

You can appreciate my surprise and disappointment to note the omission of Northgate Exploration Ltd. from your “Top 40” list in the August 2002 edition of CMJ. With revenues of Cdn$152.4 million from production at the company’s 275,000-ounce/year open pit Kemess mine in north-central British Columbia, Northgate is the eighth-largest gold mining company in the country and should rank 26th overall in your list.

I would invite you to take a closer look at Northgate as it is an impressive story in the Canadian mining scene. The company has an exceptionally strong senior management team lead by industry veterans Ken Stowe (president and CEO) and Maurice Ethier (general manager, Kemess mine). Together with the employees, this team has accomplished much in the two years since they acquired Kemess mine and implemented a comprehensive turnaround strategy:

record gold production of 277,000 ounces in 2001, up 23% from the prior year;

substantial operational improvements in all facets of the mine and mill;

discovery in 2001 of an expanded resource at Kemess North project containing 5.7 million ounces of gold and 2.2 billion pounds of copper;

raised $265 million of equity financing in the first six months of 2002;

received 2001 E.A. Scholz Award for excellence in mine development from the B.C. & Yukon Chamber of Mines; and

received 2001 Edward Prior Safety Award from the B.C. Ministry of Energy & Mines for the lowest accident frequency for comparable mines.

J. Peter Gordon, director Northgate Exploration Limited Toronto, Ont.