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Eira Thomas, CEO of Lucara Diamond Corp., in Vancouver, on Oct. 4, 2018.DARRYL DYCK/Globe and Mail

Eira Thomas is the chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Lucara Diamond Corp., which she co-founded in 2007. Ms. Thomas has more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry, including 14 years in various roles with Aber Diamond Corp. (now Dominion Diamond Mines) and as co-founder of Stornoway Diamond Corp., serving first as CEO and then as executive chairman. Ms. Thomas was also CEO of Kaminak Gold Corp., which was acquired by Goldcorp in 2016 for $520-million.

I was born in Calgary in 1968 the daughter of a mining engineer who then got the exploration bug and later started his own exploration company, Aber Diamond. I have three siblings, a brother and two sisters. I’m the oldest. My brother is also in the mining business. One of my sisters is a winemaker in the Okanagan and the other is currently a stay-at-home mom. My mother was involved in banking and finance, but she left her job to become the primary caregiver of four children.

I was always raised to believe I could do whatever I wanted to do. My dad’s influence on my career is obvious. As a youngster, I spent a lot of time with him in the north.

When I went to the University of Toronto I started in biology, but quickly migrated into geology. I felt it was a science that incorporated all of the other sciences. I knew when I chose geology what that involved. My dad was thrilled, but also pleased it was a decision I came to myself.

What I learned from my father early on is the importance of a qualified team, of bringing skills together. He was never a one-man band. He was very good at putting together skill sets. He recognized that any success in exploration is based on experience and expertise. He also sought out close relationships with the people that had that experience and in many cases that would be local First Nations. He knew how to put a project and team together to get the job done.

I think each and every experience is important in shaping a person’s outlook and approach. The most challenging piece of finding and developing a mine was around the finding, particularly with diamonds because these deposits are so rare. What I then learned with Stornoway is that taking that discovery and stewarding it through the stages to development is also very challenging. Even when you’re convinced you have an economic ore deposit, actually assessing it, financing it and developing it in a way that actually makes money for your major stakeholders and shareholders can be equally challenging.

Leadership for me is really about recognizing talent. It’s not only about recognizing the appropriate skills, but also looking at people and personalities and how you can put people together to work productively. You can put the smartest people together in a room, but if they can’t work together there’s not a lot of utility in it.

As a leader, it’s about making sure you’re maximizing the contributions that come from those different team members. You’re not only meeting expectations of the company, the board and the project but also their expectations to ensure they’re engaged and happy with their role and the contribution they’re making.

When you have a small company and a small team, you ask a lot of people. When you have a dedicated team, they tend to put in the hours, no matter what. I try to make sure that we have a sustainable plan and that people aren’t getting burned out, that they hit the pause button from time-to-time and have the resources they need. I’m pretty fortunate to work with a group of people that have that experience and are able to manage their own teams very effectively. The key is communication, making sure that we operate in an open and transparent way.

Some of the best advice I’ve been given is that, when you do face challenges, the natural response is to look for a solution that’s immediate or short-term. Some challenges require medium- and long-term solutions to get the effective outcome you want. You need to have a vision for a longer-term outcome. It’s about managing expectations.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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