INTRODUCTION
Geologist, Emily King has considerable experience leading mineral exploration programmes in emerging, frontier, and post-conflict markets including Afghanistan, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Mexico.
After working for the Department of Defense in collaboration with the Afghan Ministry of Mining and the US Geological Survey to digitise historical data, collect new data on 15 mineral deposits throughout Afghanistan, and execute four tenders of early stage copper and gold assets, King started her first company, Global Venture Consulting, to help natural resource companies enter emerging and frontier markets.
In 2020, she went on to found Prospector, an AI-enabled search engine for the industry designed to help investors find and fund mining assets. Alongside her roles at Prospector and Global Venture Consulting, King also holds board level leadership positions at various organisations including VP of Women in Mining USA, Director at VVC Exploration, Director at Welsbach Technology Metals Acquisition Corp, and Director of Analog Gold. Keen to stimulate conversation around the mining industry and its future relevance, King also entertains regular guests as host of the On The Rocks podcast.
Throughout her career, she has been awarded the Medal of Merit by American Mining Hall of Fame, the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the Global War on Terrorism Award, and a Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award. We speak with her to find out more.
What led you to the inception of Prospector? Could you tell us a bit about how the platform works?
Emily King (EK): I was walking the floor of the Prospectors & Developers Association Canada in Toronto in 2019 and had the idea for a platform and app that would allow me to search for exploration and mining projects easily – so I didn’t have to go on Sedar to find 43-101 reports! I also wanted to be able to follow companies and projects and share my findings with colleagues without everyone working from different Excel spreadsheets.
Prospector allows a user to search the world’s publicly traded TSX and ASX exploration and mining companies’ disclosure documents. It is built to work like a search engine that combs through over 10,000 projects owned by over 2,800 companies to find just the data you’re looking for, all in a simple, easy-to-use interface.
Tell us more about the On the Rocks podcast?
On the Rocks started as a fun way to connect with friends from the mining industry during COVID – we would hop on and chat about the industry, projects, and problems or trends we saw over a cocktail. I’m a big fan of bourbon, so we tape each episode over a drink – though sometimes we’re taping early in the day so I’m stuck with coffee. I want listeners to walk away learning something about what we do in mining, why it’s important to the world, and see that we have great adventures with cool people.
Why is it so important to you to promote gender diversity and the greater education of women within the mining industry?
Mining and exploration are critical to what our world is doing now and will do in the future, and I want to make sure women are a part of that. I believe it’s important to have diversity of all kinds within the industry to make sure we are incorporating all viewpoints and perspectives as we prepare to supply the world with the resources we need for the future we all want.
Mining and exploration are critical to what our world is doing now and will do in the future, and I want to make sure women are a part of that”
Emily King, Founder, Prospector
Finally, as a mining futurist, what predictions do you see for the industry in the years ahead? How do you forecast its development over the next decade for example?
I see the mining industry as working more closely with technology companies of all kinds, to help visionaries make the future a reality. I believe we will be critical to space exploration, deep sea exploration, as well as the development of life-changing tools in healthcare, mobility, electrification, and analytics. We are a fundamental partner for any company looking toward the future, and I predict our industry will be more closely aligned with and integrated with those firms in the next decade as new minerals are needed and more metals are consumed to make that future possible.
