I’m excited to present to you another episode of my What Smart Mining Investors Know series. Today I talk about the people. Who's running a company and what past successes or failures they've had, what pertinent knowledge they offer, and how they treat their shareholders - these things are really important. A team has to have enough experience, knowledge and connections to cover all of a public explorer needs, from the very technical exploration and engineering side of things all the way through the capital markets.

But how can we assess this? When I'm dealing with new people, I start with a good old "tell me about your company" meeting. And when I do that, what I'm looking for is a team that outlines and emphasizes that they are guided by a clear plan to create value for shareholders. Sounds basic but if the pitch is carried by a clear and credible plan to create value then odds are much improved that the team is good.

There's no doubt the people running a company are absolutely the most important factor of that. They choose the project, determine how to advance and structure the company, raise the money to communicate with the markets, and find funds to invest, and the technical people make or break the exploration side of the story. So this week I talk about how I figure out if 'the people' are any good.