Apex Silver Mines Limited („Apex”)
In 1993, Thomas Kaplan (founder and Chief Investment Officer of the Electrum Group) founded Apex with a view to capitalizing on the improving supply and demand fundamentals of precious metals. Apex Silver began as an acquirer of silver properties near the bottom of the precious metals cycle. Mr. Kaplan formed and led an expert management team that ran an aggressive exploration effort at a time of little activity in the sector. In 1996, the Apex Silver team discovered one of the world’s largest open-pit silver deposits, which was then developed. During Mr. Kaplan’s tenure as CEO and Chairman, the company steadily advanced through the value chain, rising from a start-up to a listed company that owned one of the world’s largest, most prolific silver-lead zinc mines and had a market capitalization of more than $1 billion at the time of Dr. Kaplan’s retirement in 2004.
Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Corp („SSMRC”)
SSMRC is a U.S.-based precious metals exploration and development company, created with the objective of becoming a premier silver producer. The company, which was founded by the Electrum Group in 2010, is currently focused on the advancement of its two tier-one assets – the Sunshine Mine, located in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in Idaho (USA), and the Los Gatos project, situated in Chihuahua, Mexico. The Sunshine Mine is one of the highest-grade large-scale primary silver projects in the world. Despite the project’s prolific production history, exploration work completed by Electrum at the project has successfully confirmed the existence of multiple new veins and the extension of known veins. Los Gatos is a newly identified polymetallic project that was discovered by Electrum’s team of geologists while prospecting in a previously unexplored area of the Mexican silver district. The project has advanced steadily from initial discovery to the commencement of construction (October 2017) and the start of ore mining (November 2018), and is anticipated to be in production in July 2019. The Los Gatos project, which currently employs over 1,000 people, benefits from low production costs, significant existing resources, and tremendous exploration upside.
Leor Exploration & Production LLC („Leor”)
Mr. Kaplan, the chairman of Leor’s Board, founded and financed Leor in 2003 as a vehicle for energy exploration to capture the upside leverage from his prediction that oil (then trading at approximately $20 a barrel) was headed to $100. After making a major Texas-based discovery, Leor added Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch to its shareholder base and became the fastest growing privately held natural gas producer in the United States. In November 2007, Leor sold its East Texas holdings to EnCana Corporation, North America’s largest independent natural gas producer, for $2.55 billion.
Other
In addition to having founded and operated several successful exploration and production companies, the Electrum Group is a significant shareholder in a number of public natural resources and precious metals companies. For example, Electrum is the largest shareholder of NOVAGOLD, which owns 50% of the Donlin Gold Project, one of the world’s largest and richest known undeveloped gold projects, situated in Alaska, USA. The Electrum Group has established a reputation as a value-added investor and partner working closely with management, providing personnel, offering advice and lending its experience and expertise where necessary to companies in which it is invested, with a view to optimizing their ability to successfully advance along the mining lifecycle, from exploration, to development and ultimately production.