Previous Page
Sector Spotlight
SILVeRSTANDARD ReSOURCeS
John Smith, President and CEO of Silver Standard Resources.
Contact: John Smith President & CEO of Silver Standard Resorces
Executive Officer of Silver Standard. He started his career in the North Sea oil industry and has spent the last 18 years with BHP Billiton where he has worked in various operational, strategic, M&A, and commercial roles within BHP Billiton. In his most recent operations role, he was President Integration for the planned combination of BHP’s and Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations, for which he designed and implemented an organization to manage the growth and safe production of 700mt of iron ore per year. Prior to that, he was CEO of the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance, which operates one of the world's largest coal operations in the Bowen Basin of Queensland, consisting of nine mines, a port, and 4,000 employees. Under his leadership, four of the mines completed significant expansion projects, one new mine was brought into operation, and a tenth mine was developed to within a year of production. He has a BA, Commerce degree from Robert
r. Smith, with over 30 years of varied experience in the resources industry,
is the President and Chief
Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, and an MBA with Distinction from Aberdeen University. Mr. Smith is based in Vancouver, B.C.
Silver Standard was founded in 1946. Until fairly recently, the company was primarily engaged in exploration. The idea was to aggregate silver resources into a single vehicle for investors seeking exposure to silver. This model worked well for many years. However, with the advent of ETFs, investors were able to obtain exposure to silver through other means. With this, the company decided to develop operating mines, rather than remain as a land-bank. Silver Standard now operates one of the world’s largest open-pit primary silver mines (Pirquitas, in Argentina) and has a number of exploration and development projects underway. Looking ahead, the company aims to develop mines in Mexico and Peru, pending the outcome of ongoing feasibility studies and community negotiations.