Day-to-day operation of “The Buzz” is handled by myself, Laurie (short for Laurence) Thomson.

I would not presume to call myself an expert in any sense of the word.  I do, however, have extensive experience (more than 25 years) in the mining industry and am happy to share my knowledge and observations with you.

My academic background is Geology.  After graduation, I joined a Japanese trading company, one of the “Big Ten,” where I was engaged in International minerals business. I then moved on to Placer Dome, Inc., and handled mineral product exports; and from there, to BHP Minerals Ltd., now BHP-Billiton Ltd., where I was responsible for a much broader portfolio and found myself “kicked upstairs” as part of BHP’s senior management team, dealing with a wide range of responsibilities, including corporate strategy and policy, finance, sales and marketing, project management, human resources, and CSR (corporate social responsibility) management.

Most recently, I have contracted to a number of junior mining companies and been involved in mergers and acquisition, exploration, investor relations and advising on corporate strategy, policy and procedures as they move from pure exploration to mine development and operation.

~

The creation of “The Buzz” is the result of inspiration from and collaboration with my wife, Claire.

Claire is an information systems and Internet data-mining specialist.  Her “day job” is Senior Director, Knowledge and Information Systems for the Mining Association of British Columbia.  She has been instrumental in developing and managing our Internet information-gathering system and, when her schedule permits, she shares in the writing and editing of the final product for “The Buzz.”