Lukas Lundin passes away at 64

Mining financier and entrepreneur Lukas H. Lundin has died in Geneva at the age of 64, following a two-year battle with brain cancer. 

The Swedish-Canadian Lundin, known for his shrewd business sense and willingness to take risks, was born in 1958 in Stockholm. Lundin learned the natural resource business from his father, the late Swedish resource magnate Adolf H. Lundin and founder of the Lundin Group of companies. Lukas started his career in the international energy and mining sectors in the early 1980s working alongside his father, after earning an engineering degree from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1981.  

The financier had a hand in founding, leading and building successful mining companies including: Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN), Lundin Gold (TSX: LUG) and Lucara Diamond (TSX: LUC). He resigned from his corporate duties in May. 

At Lundin Gold, which the entrepreneur founded in 2014, Lundin oversaw the development of Ecuador’s first large-scale modern gold mine — and one of the highest-grade gold mines in the world — Fruta del Norte (FDN). But first, he made the decision to acquire the project from Kinross Gold, which had been unable to advance the asset after purchasing it in 2008 for $1.2 billion. 

In a statement, Lundin Gold’s president and CEO, Ron Hochstein lauded Lundin’s timing and vision in acquiring the asset for only $240 million and then developing it. 

“It was his keen view of a great asset in Fruta del Norte and the sense of timing to go to Ecuador, a country that many had deemed high risk and unworkable, that led to Lundin Gold,” Hochstein said. “Through Lukas’s vision and perseverance, the construction and operation of Fruta del Norte has changed thousands of lives in Zamora Chinchipe and changed Ecuador to be a new frontier for the responsible mining sector.” 

In a late 2019 interview with Canadian Mining Journal, just ahead of FDN’s first gold pour, Hochstein noted that Lukas, like his father, had a hands-on approach that ultimately led to successful investments and partnerships. 

“The family going back to Adolf and Lukas and I think now with the sons, have this innate ability to understand and be able to talk to people,” Hochstein said. “Lukas came down and we met with several government ministers and he could sit there and say ‘I’m willing to invest the family’s money here — are you guys serious about moving forward?’ Our whole philosophy is we’re doing this with the country — this isn’t us coming in and we’re going to build a mine and then take all the gold.” 

That sense of timing, willingness to take risks, and readiness to invest counter-cyclically similarly led to Lundin Mining’s acquisitions of Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) Eagle nickel-copper project in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for $325 million in 2013 and Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE: FCX) Candelaria copper mine in Chile for US$1.8 billion 2014. 

“We try to find projects that make economic sense even when prices are down,” Lundin told The Northern Miner in 2008. 

But Lundin wasn’t all business. He participated in the Paris-Dakar motorcycle race multiple times, a motorbike journey with his brother Ian from Cairo to Cape Town in 2006 – during which he saw the potential for resource development to be a catalyst for sustainable development — which inspired the creation of the Lundin Foundation. The non-profit, originally focused on development in Africa, has now expanded to support development, training and procurement programs in Asia and Latin America, backed by the Lundin Group of companies. 

Lundin received many honours during his career, including being named The Northern Miner’s Mining Person of the Year in 2015; induction into the American Hall of Fame in 2020; and the 2022 Selwyn Blaylock Canadian Mining Excellence Award, granted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM). 

Presenting Lukas Lundin (centre), principal of The Lundin Group of Companies, with The Northern Miner’s “Mining Person of the Year” award for 2015, at the Kasa Moto restaurant in Toronto in May 2016: Anthony Vaccaro (left), publisher of The Northern Miner, and John Cumming, former editor-in-chief of The Northern Miner. Photo by georgematthew.com for The Northern Miner.

Visionary

Lundin’s impact on Canada’s mining industry was evident through the expressions of appreciation that poured in after his untimely passing, including from Eira Thomas and Catherine McLeod-Seltzer, who cofounded Lucara with Lundin in 2007. 

“Lukas will be remembered as a visionary, a man of true conviction who was never afraid to swim against the tide once the value of an opportunity became apparent,” Thomas and McLeod-Seltzer said.  

Lucara acquired, developed and now operates the Karowe diamond mine in Botswana, known for producing large, high-value gems. 

Lundin Mining’s President and CEO, Peter Rockandel, said the guidance and support that Lundin offered his colleagues would be deeply missed, but his vision would endure. 

“The many successes of Lundin Mining and the Lundin Group owe directly to Lukas’s extraordinary strategic foresight, matched only by his relentless drive,” he said. “Lukas would say, ‘Get the right people. Empower the people. And have good assets.’  Those of us that worked closest with Lukas share in his approach and will continue to build upon his legacy.” 

In a joint statement, Lundin’s sons Harry, Adam, Jack and William said their father was their biggest inspiration. 

“His passion for the industries to which he devoted his life was unparalleled,” they said. “Lukas saw people as the key to success and spent decades building some of the strongest management teams in our industries. He always strived to empower those working with him and continuously pushed us to aim higher. We could not have had a better father and mentor.” 

The brothers also said they would continue to build on the success of the Lundin Group with the support of shareholders, other stakeholders and local communities. 

“The companies in the Lundin Group stand stronger than ever and the Lundin family is united in our commitment to remain long term shareholders.” 

Under the leadership of Lundin and his brother Ian, the 11 companies that make up the Lundin Group have a combined market capitalization of $11 billion and directly employ more than 15,000 people.