Interview

Our new Explorer's League Honoree has five economic mineral discoveries to his name – and he's only 45 years old. Read about the stories of those discoveries below, along with his philosophy about discovery, the projects he's most excited about right now, and his advice for investing in the junior resource sector…. 

Jeff Clark, Explorers' League Editor: Mark, welcome to our Explorer's League. You're our 22nd inductee, and we're glad to have you aboard.

Mark O'Dea: I'm honored to be included, Jeff. Thank you.

Jeff: Let's start at the beginning. How did you get started in the mining industry?

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Company Info

Dr. Mark O’Dea
Inducted: January 2013
Bio

Dr. O’Dea has a track record of creating strong, well-financed companies built on high-quality projects and run by technical leaders. As President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Fronteer Gold (2001 to 2011), Dr. O’Dea grew the company from a $2-million start-up into a well-funded, high-profile, development-focused gold company acquired in 2011 by Newmont Mining Corp. for $2.3 billion. Over the past decade, Dr. O’Dea has raised more than $750 million through equity financings, equity investments and asset divestitures, providing strong returns to his shareholders and bringing financial strength and stability to his companies. Importantly, Dr. O’Dea and his team have a proven track record of discovery, having been integral in advancing and/or discovering five large gold and gold/copper deposits located in Nevada and Turkey and two world-class uranium deposits in Labrador. Dr. O’Dea is the Founder of Oxygen Capital Corp. and plays leadership roles in all Oxygen companies. He is the Founder and Chair of Pilot Gold, Executive Chair of Riverstone Resources,  and Founder and co-Chair of True North Nickel.  He was also Founder and CEO of Blue Gold Mining, which merged with Riverstone Resources in December 2012.

  • Dr. Mark O’Dea
    Inducted: Jan 2013
  • Andy Wallace
    Inducted: Apr 2011
  • André Gaumond
    Inducted: Apr 2011
  • Jim O’Rourke
    Inducted: Feb 2011
  • Dr. Rui Feng
    Inducted: Oct 2009
  • Dr. Sergey V. Kurzin
    Inducted: Oct 2008
  • Catherine McLeod-Seltzer
    Inducted: Jan 2007
  • Arnold Armstrong
    Inducted: Jan 2007
  • Robert A. Quartermain
    Inducted: Dec 2006
  • Ron Parratt
    Inducted: Feb 2006
  • David Lowell
    Inducted: Sep 2005
  • Lukas Lundin
    Inducted: May 2005
  • Ron Netolitzky
    Inducted: Apr 2005
  • Jorge Patricio Jones
    Inducted: Apr 2005
  • Robert Dickinson & Ronald W. Thiessen
    Inducted: Mar 2005
  • Roman Shklanka, PHD
    Inducted: Feb 2005
  • Simon Ridgway
    Inducted: Feb 2005
  • John Prochnau
    Inducted: Feb 2005
  • Duane Poliquin
    Inducted: Feb 2005
  • Adolph Lundin
    Inducted: Feb 2005
  • Ross Beaty
    Inducted: Feb 2005