Alan Hill

"The Mercur mine in Utah was Munk’s next acquisition target, and Bob Smith was front and centre in the decision to go for it. Mercur was owned by Texaco, but had originally been developed by the mining arm of Getty Oil Company. With permission from Texaco White Plains’ senior executive, Peter Byur (later Texaco’s chairman and CEO), Munk sent his newly acquired Camflo team of mining engineers to do a two-day appraisal of Mercur. Bob Smith, the chief, took two of his Camflo geologists with him, Brian Meikle, a McGill graduate, and Alan Hill, a former Noranda mine manager. Smith and his team liked what they saw. Mercur was producing 70,000 ounces a year, but Smith reported that production could be increased dramatically, that the base cost per ounce could be lowered just as dramatically, and that he could run the mine much more efficiently."

"Peter Munk had never seen the gold mine he fought so hard to buy. His decision to go for it was based on his faith and trust in his mining team. As soon as the deal was closed, Munk says, Bob Smith went out with his people, Dr. Meikle and Alan Hill. They started to drill and they became very excited. They wouldnt’ tell me how excited they were because I don’t know anything about drill holes. At the point Barrick took over Camflo, Bob and his people had little credibility. There was nothing but friction at Camflo. So I had to learn by experience, and my confidence in them grew over the years as they performed and I realized how brilliant they were, and how much integrity they had. But at that time, if they had said to me that we had a billion-dollar mine there in Goldstrike, believe me, I would have run for the hills!"