I've been reviewing several new project opportunities this week, in both minerals and petroleum.
It's got me thinking about genius.
Good resource companies have some kind of genius. Something the team does very well. The most successful companies are the ones that most closely match their genius to their project portfolio.
For example, I've been looking at oil projects in southeast Asia. Basins that haven't seen a lot of modern exploration. The technical challenges are fairly straightforward.
But the operational challenges are huge. These are countries where it's not easy to navigate politics, permitting, supply chains and corruption. These projects need a team genius in local logistics.
Yes, competency in petroleum geology is also important here. But it's not like working on, say, a developing U.S. shale gas play. In such case, technical genius is the main requirement, in order to get tricky completions properly engineered.
On the minerals side, there are teams that are genius in using advanced technology like remote sensing and database compilations to generate new prospect leads. This skill set is well-matched with projects in mature areas with a lot of available data. Where fresh thinking is needed to create new play concepts.
Some geologists are genius with very specific types of rocks. Porphyry copper-molybdenum deposits. Or fractured carbonate oil reservoirs. Try to drop these people in a volcanic massive sulfide play, or a deltaic sandstone field, and the genius is squandered and ineffective.
Too often we assume that because a team has succeeded in one place, they can do it anywhere. Another kind of genius is in consistently putting the right people with the right project environment.
By. Dave Forest of Notela Resources
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