PROFILE (April 27, 1992)

Captains of industry are often portrayed as nose-to-the-grindstone types with little interest in anything but business at hand. But this dated stereotype clearly doesn’t apply to Poul Hansen, president of Highland Valley Copper.

Hansen heads up a company which operates a copper mine near Logan Lake, B.C., one of the world’s largest in terms of tonnage mined and milled. But he also devotes time and energy to organizations such as British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital and Junior Achievement.

Committed to the principle of sustainable development, Hansen is a member of the British Columbia Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, and a member of Vancouver Foundation’s Environmental Advisory Committee. In his spare time, he enjoys tennis and gardening at his home in Vancouver, which he shares with wife, Judith. The couple has three adult children. Hansen was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark, and after a stint with the Royal Danish Navy, lived in such cities as Copenhagen, Vancouver and Tokyo while involved in the shipping and trading business.

His first exposure to mining came when he joined the Cominco organization in 1974. He became president of Highland Valley Copper in 1986, after returning from London where he was chairman and managing director of Cominco Europe. (Highland Valley Copper is owned 50% by Cominco, 33.6% by Rio Algom, 13.9% by Teck and 2.5% by Highmont Mining.)

Highland Valley has measured and indicated reserves of 691.7 million tonnes averaging 0.414% copper and 0.0069% molybdenum, sufficient for 17 more years. Last year, the company carried out a detailed assessment of potential mineralization surrounding the mine, and this year plans to investigate the more promising targets identified in the regional program.

The operation processed 46.3 million tonnes of ore last year at a record average throughput rate of 126,827 tonnes per day. The total production of copper contained in 439,930 tonnes of concentrates was 378.4 million (payable) lb. Both production numbers were record highs.

Hansen believes mining is important to British Columbia’s economy, and he wants that to continue. But because bringing in new mines has become so difficult, costly and time-consuming, he fears his company’s mine could be the only one of its type still operating in the province at the end of this century.

A less cumbersome mine review process would help turn things around, Hansen says, as would economic and tax policies allowing the industry to be globally competitive. Security of tenure (and investment) is also important, he adds.