With the price of commodities falling to recent lows, the global mining industry has faced challenging times the past few years. This downturn has resulted in an industry-wide reticence to invest in new exploration.
Junior mining companies already struggle to stretch their remaining working capital and secure additional financing. Analysts expect a correction in commodity prices, but they are unable to predict when the recovery will happen.
While most in the mining industry have adopted a wait-and-see position towards this uncertainty, some bolder players have recognized a massive opportunity.
“There will be a short supply of all of the base metals, but demand will grow or stay the same, which will only do one thing to commodity prices. We identified what was obvious to us: To capitalize on this situation, we needed to have a platform that was different from anybody else,” explained Kaizen Discovery President, CEO and Director B. Matthew Hornor.
Formed in December 2013 as part of the Ivanhoe Capital group, Kaizen Discovery is a Canadian mineral resource company whose strategy involves employing industry-leading exploration technology, as well as forming partnerships with Japanese companies to directly supply metals to Japan’s industrial sector. Its first such collaboration was with Japanese trading giant Itochu Corp. with a market capitalization of approximately $20 billion and over 103,000 employees worldwide
In 2014, Kaizen Discovery acquired Vancouver-based West Cirque Resources (WCQ), which controlled seven prospective copper-gold porphyry exploration projects in British Columbia. The move immediately received the approval of Itochu, which quickly took a 40 percent stake in one of the projects.
With more acquisitions in the pipeline, Kaizen Discovery remains on track to build share value intelligently and strengthen its market position ahead of the inevitable rebound of commodity prices.
Clearly, Asia plays a critical role in the successful growth strategy of Kaizen Discovery, a fact quickly acknowledged by its leadership.
“We are very thankful for our partnership with Itochu Corporation, for their belief in the platform, and for our team. We are also appreciative of the relationships we enjoy with the other groups in Japan who we meet frequently,” said Hornor.
