With Proven and Probable reserves of 38 million ounces of gold and 10 billion pounds of copper, the potential of Seabridge Gold’s KSM project in British Columbia has long been sky-high. In this interview with The Gold Report, Chairman/CEO Rudi Fronk explains that his company has always maximized its leverage to the price of gold. So now, with KSM fully permitted and greatly enhanced by the discovery of higher-grade gold and copper, and a bull market in gold now on the way, the recent strong gains made by investors in his company are likely only the beginning.
The Gold Report: You cofounded Seabridge Gold Inc. (SEA:TSX; SA:NYSE.MKT) in 1999. What is the key lesson this company has taught you over the last 16 years?
Rudi Fronk: The importance of clear and consistent messaging to our shareholders. We accomplish this with a self-imposed report card. In each annual report we clearly lay out the objectives for the upcoming year. Then in the following year’s annual report we state how we did against those objectives and announce new objectives for the upcoming year. This policy provides our shareholders with a firm understanding of where we are heading and allows them to ascertain whether we are staying the course. As a result, we have maintained a long-standing and consistently loyal shareholder base.
TGR: Seabridge has a very tight share structure, correct?
RF: Yes, we have only 52 million (52M) shares outstanding. Our largest shareholder is Albert Friedberg, the head of Friedberg Mercantile Group in Toronto, who through parties controlled by him, owns 18.7% of Seabridge outright and has a financial instrument through a swapping arrangement of another 4.6M shares. Insiders of the company, officers, directors, employees and people close to the company own another 10% or so of the company.
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