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Gary Dodson Brings People and Resources Together
<br />Gary Dodson has been interested in
<br />mining since he was a youngster spending
<br />time with his grandparents in northern
<br />New Mexico.
<br />"My grandfather was an old cowboy
<br />prospector. He'd ride around and kick
<br />over rocks, and I kinds' got caught up in
<br />it, too," said Dodson, 46, general superin-
<br />tendent of Battle Mountain Gold's San
<br />Luis Project.
<br />A LIFE IN MINING
<br />For Gary, mining has been the biggest
<br />part of his life. Born in Clovis, New
<br />Mexico, he worked for various conswc-
<br />tion contractors after graduating from high
<br />school in 1961. In 1964, he went to work
<br />for Duval Corporation, which-after
<br />several changes~ventually became
<br />Battle Mountain Gold.
<br />Before being assigned to Colorado, he
<br />was involved with a long list of mines in
<br />Arizona and Nevada. "I used to get up into
<br />this part of Colorado when l was a kid
<br />with my grandparents. 1 enjoyed i[ [hen,
<br />but I never dreamt I'd be back working
<br />here again," he said.
<br />OTBERINTERESTS
<br />Mining may be his occupation, but
<br />there has always been a place in Gary's
<br />life for other interests. At different times
<br />he has farmed and raised cattle and horses.
<br />In Arizona, he and his wife Louise built a
<br />successful "mom and pop" grocery store
<br />from the ground up.
<br />"We sold the store and bought a farm,
<br />and farmed for seven years. Now that was
<br />the way to tum a success into a failure,"
<br />he said. A jackpot roper, Gary still keeps
<br />quarter horses but with less opportunity to
<br />ride, he admits they're "basically pets."
<br />SENSE OF COMMUNITY
<br />As a child living with his mother and
<br />stepfather, Gary moved a lot. "I was a
<br />busy kid, growing up. I went to 22
<br />different schools to get out of the 12th
<br />grade," he said. The experience gave him
<br />an appreciation for the importance of
<br />community.
<br />Gary has been active in local affairs.
<br />And as his three daughters grew up, he
<br />sewed as chairman of the school board in
<br />Lander County, Nevada.
<br />Louise has been the family home-
<br />maker. But a business woman at hear,
<br />she has gone back to work, taking apart-
<br />time job as secretary for the Resource
<br />Conservation and Development program
<br />in Alamosa.
<br />PEOPLE F[RST
<br />Gary said rte is glad to be a pan of the
<br />[rend in mining which emphasizes people
<br />as much as it does machinery and technol-
<br />ogy.
<br />Speaking c~f the San Luis Project, he
<br />said, "the succt ss of this project will
<br />depend on the Ireople who mn it."
<br />He adds: "Mining is the utilization of
<br />natural resources for the benefit of people.
<br />An ore body isn't worth anything if it
<br />doesn't benefit society.
<br />"Our job is to develop our people re-
<br />sources so that :hey prosper along with the
<br />development of the ore body. People re-
<br />sources and na[aral resources go hand in
<br />hand.
<br />"We want ~rur people to be successful,
<br />because they m ilce their company
<br />successful."
<br />WHO IS BATTLE MOUNTAIN GOLD?
<br />Discovery is the lifeblood of [he
<br />mining industry. The history of Battle
<br />Mountain Gold Company is a good
<br />example of that.
<br />Battle Mountain Gold began as a
<br />subsidiary of Duval Corporation. But
<br />Duval began by mining copper, not gold.
<br />When Duval's exploration teams
<br />started prospecting in Nevada's Battle
<br />Mountain Range in April of 1962, they
<br />were looking for copper and [hey found it.
<br />A little more than three years later,
<br />Duval announced plans for a copper mine
<br />in Copper Canyon, jwt a short distance
<br />from the community of Battle Mountain,
<br />in Lander County, Nevada.
<br />Duval was soon producing 3,000 tons
<br />of copper a year. But there was something
<br />else to be found at the mine-a lazge
<br />deposit of gold and silver.
<br />Copper production continued until
<br />1978. In that year copper prices began to
<br />decline, and Battle Mountain turned its
<br />attention to gold. Duval's mine poured its
<br />first bar of gold dote in January of 1979.
<br />In November of 1981, Duval-[hen a
<br />subsidiary of Pennzoil Company-
<br />announced the discovery of $ l.2 billion in
<br />gold and silver reserves at the Copper
<br />Canyon site in 1Jevada and called it the
<br />Fortitude. The Fortitude mine's first full
<br />year of production was 1985.
<br />Eventually spun off by Pennzoil,
<br />Battle Mountain Gold Company became a
<br />publicly held cc mpany in August, 1985.
<br />The company now has about 66
<br />million shares outstanding and some
<br />30,000 shareholders. Battle Mountain is
<br />headquartered in Houston, Texas.
<br />Battle Mountain employs approxi-
<br />mately 530 people worldwide. Some 300
<br />of them work at the Battle Mountain mine
<br />and mill complt x near Battle Mountain in
<br />Lander County. Nevada.
<br />The Bale Mountain complex is made
<br />up of the Fortittde and Surprise mines, the
<br />Canyon Placer operation, and a number of
<br />satellite deposit::.
<br />The Fortitu ie, the flagship of the
<br />complex, is looted approximately 10
<br />miles south of Eattle Mountain. The
<br />Canyon Placer i; on the valley floor
<br />below, and the :surprise Mine is located in
<br />[he mountains s~tuth of Battle Mountain
<br />proper.
<br />Annual production at the Battle
<br />Mountain complex is about 240,000
<br />ounces.
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