Categories: Base Metals
Topics: General Base Metals

Aguila Copper Corp. (TSX-V: AGL)(OTCQB: AGLAF) Board Member Amanda Dahl on the Clean Energy Revolution & How Aguila Plans to Contribute

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the Consultant and Owner of Boost Consulting, and newest member to the Aguila Copper Board, Miss Amanda Dahl. Amanda, it is a pleasure to have you on, first time around, how are you?

Amanda Dahl: Hey, Gerardo. Great to meet you as well and great to be here. Super excited to be talking about Aguila today and my new role.

Gerardo Del Real: Listen, I am extremely biased whenever I speak with anyone. In the case of Aguila Copper, I'm biased because, one, I happen to be a shareholder, and two, I'm familiar with some of your background, which is pretty extensive, so I was excited to see the appointment of you to the Board. Before we get to that, I would love for you to tell us just a little bit about your background and that success that I spoke of because it's pretty extensive, and so don't be modest, don't be humble.

Amanda Dahl: I was actually born and I grew up here in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Live here today, middle of Canada, Prairie province; got my BSC geology here too, so I went to school here. I started my career actually as a geologist. I'm sure you're not unfamiliar with those groups of people, but really passionate about exploration. I spent about ten years as a geologist working for Cameco Corporation, a large uranium mining company that's actually headquartered here. It was really cool. I spent a lot of time working in Northern Saskatchewan, all over Canada, the U.S., overseas as well; got to meet a ton of different people, get a lot of different experience, which ultimately launched me into a different role at Cameco. I was really enthralled by business strategy, mergers, acquisitions, and so how to roll in the Corporate Development Department.

That was great, worked there for about five years and actually moved into a department called Operational Excellence; so still relying a lot on my technical background, a lot on my mining background, but I really got to dig into learning how to work more efficiently, learning how to create that culture, and ultimately where I got introduced to project management. Clearly varied career, done a bunch of different things, and that led me to how you introduced me, is to start my own company. Started my own consulting company, Boost Consulting, I guess that would've been earlier last year. I get to draw on all that experience now; I get to bring that to all my clients and, of course, now Aguila. Thanks for asking.

Gerardo Del Real: I love it, I love it. Listen, the electrification of everything is a trend that I believe will be with us for decades to come. It's pretty clear to me, and obviously, your background with Cameco and in the uranium space, speaks for itself. Tell me a bit about that expertise that you bring in the uranium space, and then right after that, I got to ask, why Aguila Copper? I clearly understand copper and nickel and its role in that electrification of everything, but I would love for you to speak to that a little bit, but let's talk a little bit more about your uranium experience.

Amanda Dahl: Sure. Thanks, Gerardo. Absolutely. This is something, I don't know if you can hear the smile in my voice, but I think I'll always be passionate about ... I still follow the uranium industry today, the low carbon energy world, follow Cameco; I like to stay up to speed on other developments globally on that. I'm just passionate about exploration and potential for discoveries, really, in any industry. I draw on a lot of that expertise, that you noted, from the uranium industry, again, whether it be geological, business, anything really that I can, and now that's something I can apply and share with Aguila. I'm really excited to be part of the industry again.

Gerardo Del Real: To go from a company with the market cap, and influence, and history of a Cameco, to a company like Aguila Copper, which still has a market cap, sub 10 million dollars Canadian; that for me is the opportunity and the runway, and that's what gets me so excited to have you on the Board. What is it about Aguila Copper that attracted you to the company? Then let's talk strategy and what that looks like moving forward, and what you bring to the table in that aspect.

Amanda Dahl: Thanks. Yes, absolutely. I wish we had three days, so I could answer that question. But some of the high-level points, I actually met Mark Saxon, the CEO, overseas about 10 years ago when I was working for Cameco, and we just had a really positive working relationship; he's clearly very talented, great track record in leadership, very technically experienced. He actually phoned me up late last year and asked if I'd be interested in this role, and I absolutely thought it'd be a great fit. Even though, like you say, I worked for Cameco, a large company, I still worked in the Exploration Department. I am very familiar with the importance of making discoveries, and so when I heard about the great work that Mark, and the team, and others at Aguila had been doing in addition to their vision for the future and what they were looking to do, I just was absolutely on board.

One of the most recent acquisitions, and I'm sure Mark will talk to you about it, but the Sherridon property here in Manitoba, which is a neighboring province to where I live, really excited. It's in a mining district, it's in a well known district that's very supportive of mining, lots of upside there, past production, the resources are near surface, they have access to historical exploration data, I could go on and on. But in addition to all the other things they're doing with property, again, very passionate about working in this area. Lastly, I've worked a lot here, so I believe that I can bring to the board a lot of insight, and guidance, and other information about the people here, the exploration processes, the geology, et cetera. That was pretty long winded, I could go on forever, but like you, I'm very excited to be a part of this.

Gerardo Del Real: No, no, that was great. Listen, you're clearly passionate about the electrification of everything, as I call it, and the future for that, and how Aguila Copper can contribute in a positive way. Can you speak a bit to copper and how you see Aguila fitting in with that contribution towards a cleaner energy, sources, and future? That's the pivot, that's the trend that I see lasting for decades on end. How does Aguila fit into that?

Amanda Dahl: Yes. When I first was contacted about this role, I'd been out of the mining world for a while, and so I really started to dig into copper, and zinc, and other metals, and get familiar. It was absolutely clear from talking to others in the industry, like yourself, or digging into the information, that there is some near-term risks, obviously, to the global copper supply, but it was more that increasing demand. You could see it, like you say, in the low carbon energy space, EVs, winds, solar; copper's part of that story, it's required. There's a clear need for additional production, and a lot of that starts at discovery. That's where I see Aguila really fitting in, is they can be part of that story in not only discovery, but production and filling that need, filling that gap for that demand. Like I said, really excited to be part of that, and support that, and be working in this space again.

Gerardo Del Real: Wonderful, wonderful. Before I let you go, tell me a bit about Boost Consulting. You mentioned Mark and the working relationship, and how fruitful that's been, and obviously you're clearly, clearly passionate about what you do. Tell me a little bit more about the business. How can people get in touch with you?

Amanda Dahl: Thanks. Absolutely. I appreciate the shameless plug. It's called boostconsulting.ca; you can find me online, you can find me on LinkedIn. But really at the core of my business and what I'll bring to Aguila, is essentially, I'm obsessed with entrepreneurship and supporting others. Supporting success, again, whether it's drawing on my project management, operational excellence, geoscience planning, whatever it is, I like to weave those experiences together and find that relevant, holistic approach. That's something that I'll be bringing to the Board, and a lot of that knowledge and experience, in whatever way, makes sense and can support them. Thanks again for the opportunity to touch on my own business. I'm really excited, and ultimately it's allowed me this opportunity and given me time to jump in.

Gerardo Del Real: We'll make sure to put a link up for everyone. Thank you so much. I am looking forward to chatting with you more as the Aguila story develops. I sense 2022 is going to be a pretty busy year, and I'm looking forward to having Mark Saxon, the CEO, back on here within the next week or two to chat projects and planning, and obviously you're going to play a critical part in that, so thanks again. Anything to add to that, Amanda?

Amanda Dahl: No, just really thankful to be here and, like you, I'm really excited about the copper industry around Aguila's future, and just glad to be back in this world. Thank you, Gerardo.

Gerardo Del Real: Absolutely, my pleasure. Thanks again for your time.

Amanda Dahl: Thanks.