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John Skinner of Painted Rock Estate and Meridian Mining (TSXV:MNO) In Spring 2008, mining magnate Frank Giustra’s cell phone rang. John Skinner was on the line, looking to sell a large block in Giustra’s company New Gold to fund a 'side venture’. Skinner had worked two decades funding mining deals with Yorkton Securities and Canaccord Genuity. After a string of wins in the mid 2000’s mining boom he wanted to retire from finance and pursue his dream to build a winery. Skinner’s ‘side venture’ was already staked. He’d found an idyllic property on the north shore of BC’s Skaha Lake in 2003, bought the land, and begun it’s transformation. Giustra instructed Skinner to offer the New Gold stock at a set time, and with a few keystrokes and a blip on the screen, it was gone. As fast as Giustra bought his stock that day in 2008 Skinner left the investment industry. The timing turned out to be good. As the stock market reeled from the global financial crisis Skinner built Painted Rock Estate...

It was early 2016, and I doubted I would ever be able to afford a home in Vancouver. Six months later I bought a beautiful house with a garden big enough to practice my short game. I am a scavenger of the mining market. I look for ten baggers with less risk than pure exploration. Out of favour assets trading well below historical investment, ideally dropped by majors changing focus. Add skilled new management and good things happen if you time it right. My down payment came from a handful of startups following this formula. K92 Mining was one of them. They acquired a gold project from Barrick, the world’s top producer, for pennies on the dollar in a bear market. Around K92’s 2016 IPO I bought stock at 35 cents a share plus warrants at 45 cents. It reached $8.95 last week. - that’s a 50X return including warrants. You may have seen our reports on Skeena Resources ( 1 , 2 , 3 ). Like K92, Skeena brought new life to an old Barrick mine and has seen its share price 10X since. Sabina Gold ...