by James Kwantes
Published first at Patreon
After the latest mining M&A -- Coeur Mining's acquisition of Silvercrest Metals -- I Googled "Eric Fier" out of curiosity. The top initial result was a child psychiatrist in Atlanta.
Eric Fier, the low-profile mining entrepreneur, on Friday sold his Silvercrest Metals (SIL-T) and its Las Chispas silver-gold mine in Sonora, Mexico to Coeur Mining (CDE) for $2.3 billion, or $15.40 a share (Coeur shares closed down 9.5% on news of the all-share deal).
In 2015 Fier sold his original Silvercrest Mines to First Majestic Silver (FR-T) for $154 million. It all adds up to $2.45 billion in shareholder value creation, during a period of mostly bear markets.
An impressive track record during a period of mostly bear markets for mining and in a jurisdiction -- Mexico -- that some investors won't touch.
Remarkably, Fier (right) started with exploration plays and twice built profitable mines, the second emerging from the spinout of the original Silvercrest. That company's flagship asset was Santa Elena, now one of First Majestic's top mines.
Did First Majestic's Eric Neumeyer want the Las Chispas exploration project too? Yes.
Did he get it? No.
As part of the Arrangement, SilverCrest (Mines) will transfer the Las Chispas, Cruz de Mayo, Angel de Plata, Huasabas and Estacion Llano exploration properties located in northern Mexico, as well as C$5.25 million in cash and certain other assets currently owned by SilverCrest to New SilverCrest.
I clearly remember Fier pitching the new Silvercrest at an investor conference. The stock was trading for dimes. "We sold Silvercrest to a producer and we're going to do it again." A year or so later, I had the pleasure of sitting beside him at an investor dinner during PDAC. Sadly, I did not buy the stock.
Fier will join the Coeur board and remains non-executive chairman of Mako Mining (MKO-V), which purchased Goldsource Mines (where Fier was executive chairman) earlier this year.
Intriguingly, Fier's daughter Stephany (Rosy) Fier, a mining and geological engineer, is Silvercrest's VP Exploration and Technical Services.
This father-daughter duo is one to watch going forward.
