Riverside Resources CEO John-Mark Staude says that twice in his life he had the opportunity to go on major trips for work but decided not to. And although he is happy with how his career turned out, he still wonders what might have happened if he had made those journeys.
In 1995 while working for BHP Billiton in Tucscon, Staude was asked if he wanted to visit Australia to gauge his interest in moving there for his job. Because he didn't feel he would have been interested in the move, he turned the trip down.
And in 2005, he was asked if he could move to Moscow because his position with BHP was being eliminated. Again, he didn't get on a plane and check it out.
"I didn't go take a look, and I should have gone," he said. "It's been a great career, I've really enjoyed it, we really enjoy being here and there isn't necessarily a negative second thought– but if I would have gone, I just wonder if something even greater and better would have happened."
Four years later, working for Riverside, he had the opportunity to go to Reno, Nevada. Teck Resources was closing an office there, and Staude found out that the company might have key information he needed for a project he was working on called Sugarloaf Peak. This time he didn't hesitate.
"I went to the airport immediately. I didn't even go home to get a toothbrush. I was there the day before they closed and archived and gave up all their files to a warehouse."
He subsequently got access to data that informed him of more than a million ounces of gold resources the company would not have known about otherwise. Staude said because of that information, Sugarloaf Peak is still going well.
"We now have over 100 drill holes and have made good progress on the project and are very pleased."
Staude said he still wonders what would have happened if he had jumped at the previous opportunities he turned down.
"If I had [taken those opportunities], maybe the career would have grown in even greater dimensions and faster. If I would have gone to look, I would then have been able to make a better, more informed decision.
"No second thoughts though."
On turning down travel opportunities: "In both cases, the reason I didn't do it was the feeling of obligation to the person funding my trip. If I'm going to go, I feel responsible, it's an accountability, I really want to be honestly entertaining the concept of moving. In both cases, I had very good situations, and I didn't feel that there was a high likelihood that I would have made the move. In hindsight I think I could have entertained it more."
