Mining some tales with… Claudia Tornquist

Mining some tales with… Claudia Tornquist 

Every month, The Northern Miner gets to know a different executive in the mining industry by asking them about everything — except mining. 

This month, we feature Claudia Tornquist, president and CEO of Kodiak Copper. 

Q: What was your first job?
A: My first job was as a math tutor when I was at high school. 

Q: If you weren’t in mining, where would you be?
A: In the automotive industry. That’s where I started out after university, before life took me to the resource sector. 

Q: What is the most used app on your phone?
A: For work I use Mail, Messages, WhatsApp and Stocks, and otherwise BBC News and Duolingo. 

Q: What’s your favourite reading?
A: The Economist. 

Q: What do you drive?
A: My favourite car is our vintage 1981 Porsche Targa convertible. You might also see me at the helm of a big rig, pulling a horse trailer with our F350 truck. 

Q: Favourite band?
A: That’s a difficult one, I like lots of music. Anything that’s upbeat and up-tempo, whether it’s pop, rock, dance… At the moment am listening to lots of old French music that I used to like when I was younger like Rita Mitsouko, Elmer Foot Beat or Niagara.

Q: What’s the last song you listened to on your music app?
A: Make A Circuit With Me by The Polecats. 

Q: Marvel or Quentin Tarantino? 
A: Quentin Tarantino. 

Q: Window or aisle seat?
A: Definitively window. Even after many miles in the air I find looking out of an airplane window never gets old. 

Q: Favourite sports team?
A: The Canucks. When I still lived in Germany where I grew up, I was a big fan of an underdog soccer team in Hamburg called FC St. Pauli. I lived right next to the stadium and followed all their games. 

Q: What’s your kryptonite?
A: Weak equity markets. As a public company executive you are exposed to them but don’t have control over them which can be very frustrating. 

Q: What are you really into these days?
A: Studying languages every day. I also really love skiing and playing polo. 

Q: What are you avoiding?
A: People with a big ego who talk at you rather than with you.

Q: What’s your biggest fear?
A: Not sure I have a biggest fear. Maybe that we’ll see more and more catastrophic weather events. Or more and more polarization and ideology in politics, rather than compromise and cooperation. 

Q: Who is your mentor, guide or guru?
A: My mother. She lost her eyesight as a teenager due to an illness and never let it hold her back. She became a music teacher and ran a music school, while managing our household and family at the same time. Seeing her succeed despite the adversity she faced gave me confidence that if you want to achieve something you should just go for it! And if you are smart and work hard you have a good chance of getting there. 

Q: What have you learned along the way?
A: Hopefully a lot, I’ve been at it for a couple of decades after all 😊 The first thing that comes to mind is that business and live in general is all about people and there is nothing more important and rewarding than establishing trust and good relationships. 

Q: What’s your next task? 
A: Making a great return for our shareholders at Kodiak.