Bob Evans, CEO of Ascot Resources Ltd., likens the process of exploring for precious metals to playing the lottery. And, indeed, the Vancouver, B.C.-based company has been touting its prospective Mount St. Helens-area mine as a potentially big prize for struggling rural Southwest Washington.
In a July 2011 letter sent to Lewis and Skamania County citizens, Ascot President John Toffan wrote that the company’s volcano-area deposit, while not yet proven, “could be a financial lifeline for the region’s struggling economy.”
Copper, gold and molybdenum deposits “of this size and quality could generate approximately 2,000 direct jobs and 4,000 indirect jobs, as well as considerable tax revenue,” Toffan wrote.
But the chances of local communities winning big — or at all — are slim.
Ascot is not actually in the business of developing mines, and in the company’s 26-year history of exploring for minerals in South, Central, and North America, none of its projects has ever resulted in the construction of a mine. Part of this is simply due to the highly volatile and speculative nature of the industry, and in Ascot’s case, its success at Mount St. Helens will depend on investors’ willingness to continue bankrolling the company.