They call it the “Beaty factor” – the magic that happens when Vancouver mine-maker Ross Beaty dives into a resources project. But his touch in silver and copper seems elusive so far for Magma Energy Corp., his entry into the nascent geothermal energy industry. Nowhere has it been more challenging than in the geothermal hot spot of Iceland, where Magma bought the local player, HS Orka, setting off a protest that engaged even the island’s quirky musical icon Bjork. The Icelandic standoff is a perverse twist to a classic Canadian business theme – “national champion taken out by foreign acquisitor” – and the irony is not lost on Mr. Beaty.
You’ve talked about the need to put a better face on the mining industry. Do you think it is denigrated?
Everywhere in the world. Mining companies are good at building mines. They’re good at developing resources. They’re good at feeding minerals to the world. They’re not good at public relations … and they shouldn’t be. They’re not good at promoting their industry. It’s just something that very few people are good at, unless they’re politicians or in the media.
Isn’t public relations important?
Of course. I’m the poster child for doing a terrible job of that, in the context of Magma Energy’s project in Iceland. We made a dreadful job of public relations, because clearly the government was against us. It’s a leftist government right now, and we just didn’t do a good job at promoting our case to the Icelandic people – and we’re paying for it.
You now own 98.5 per cent of the Icelandic company. Are there still hurdles?
The ongoing hurdle is convincing the Icelandic people we’re a good company, and we’re going to do that by actions, not words. … We should have taken a more active role in public relations, in broadcasting a number of facts that were badly misrepresented.
The first misrepresentation was that we were out to buy the energy resources of the country. False. All we have is utilization rights [in geothermal] for a limited period of time. We have no ownership at all in resources.
No. 2, that we were somehow tied up with the International Monetary Fund, and that’s fiction – as is the idea all we want is a short-term profit and then we will run away.
The next [misrepresentation] is that those financial Vikings that brought the country down are involved with us, and that they were secretly hiding behind us. That is completely false.
Then you got Bjork against you.
We didn’t get Bjork against us – Bjork just decided to go against us. If there was one disappointment, it’s that Magma’s environmental message wasn’t getting across to Icelanders. … The whole essence of Magma’s business purpose is to build a clean energy company, to reduce the world’s dependence on oil and fossil fuels and get into an alternative clean energy.
For Bjork, the big issue was opposing foreign involvement in resource development. That attitude is very hard to argue against.
Didn’t you offer to bring her in as partner?
Engaging with Bjork was a bad idea, and I really regret doing that. I did some colossally stupid things in my interaction with the people who opposed us, but fundamentally I believe we are the right company for Iceland, and we will ultimately be given a seal of approval by the people.
Through what process?
It will happen through time. One hundred per cent of our employees in Iceland are going to maintain their jobs; we’re there for the long term; we’re going to invest a lot more money before we take any money out. It’s the same kind of approach I’ve taken in Peru, Mexico, Bolivia and Argentina.
