Discovery, Luck and the Thrill of the Chase (Mark Bennett)

Discovery, Luck and the Thrill of the Chase (Mark Bennett)

July 3, 2026 · 1h 15m

About this episode

Mark Bennett discusses his journey in exploration geology and the challenges and successes he faced in discovering world-class ore bodies.

Exploration geologist Mark Bennett joins us for a conversation on his journey finding world-class ore bodies, from his start at Western Mining, through discoveries at Thunderbox and onto the staggering story of the Nova-Bollinger discovery. Mark shares stories from WMC, getting a taste for success at LionOre, the disaster at Apex that taught him how boards really work, and his deal with Mark Creasy that birthed Sirius. He relives the white-knuckle Nova discovery, drilled on the last holes they could afford, the 18-month dance with circling predators, battling Glencore on an offtake, and the IGO takeover. We get into: • Why big companies create the openings for small explorers • Riding LionOre from $40m to $7B • How disaster at Apex shaped the next steps • The iconic Nova-Bollinger discovery • Dancing with predators, tussling with Glencore, and the culminating takeover …………...… DIRECTOR'S SPECIAL EMAIL Join 16k+ subscribers to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Director’s Special⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : one daily email with all the news that matters in mining …………… TIMESTAMPS…

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