The Metallurgist's Edge: How Rob Cohen Finds Alpha in Gold

From summer jobs in BHP metallurgical labs to running one of Canada's most consistent gold-focused funds, Rob Cohen has spent three decades proving that deep technical understanding, concentrated conviction, and the courage to buy on market still matter.

Rob Cohen does not hug indexes. He does not wait politely for the next placement. And he does not treat geology as a secondary consideration. In a recent conversation on the Money of Mine podcast, the veteran portfolio manager of the 1832 Asset Management gold fund (Scotiabank) offered a rare window into a process refined over nearly thirty years of institutional investing in gold equities across Canada and Australia. For Canadian resource investors and those who follow the junior and mid-tier gold space, the discussion is less a collection of stock picks than a masterclass in how technical competence, patience, and selective concentration can generate durable alpha in a sector that routinely destroys capital.

From the Mill to the Desk

Cohen’s path is unusual among fund managers. He comes from a mining family—his father and older brother were mining engineers. He trained as a metallurgical and mineral process engineer, worked summer jobs in BHP’s Island Copper met lab, spent time at Escondida, and operated at smaller Canadian gold mines and a Chilean copper operation. When copper markets turned soft in the mid-1990s, he pursued an MBA and, through a chance meeting at Diggers & Dealers in 1996 with Murray John of Dynamic Funds, secured a summer internship that became a career. He has been at the same firm ever since. His résumé, he notes with characteristic understatement, still fits on one page. That operating background shapes everything that follows. “If you had to choose between a mechanical issue or a geological issue,” Cohen has said, “a mechanical issue can be fixed. The rocks you can’t fix.” Geology is the non-negotiable filter. Mechanical and operational problems can be engineered around. Bad rock cannot.

Not an Index Hugger

Cohen runs a concentrated portfolio—typically 30 to 35 names. He deliberately avoids the largest, most liquid producers that dominate benchmarks. The goal is not to track the GDX or any gold equity index. The goal is to construct a portfolio of opportunities that an individual sitting in an armchair cannot easily replicate.“I want to put together a portfolio of things that sitting in their armchair they can’t do themselves,” he explained. That means seeking companies where geological re-rating, operational turnaround, or under-appreciated scale can still move the needle meaningfully. Australia occupies a central place in this approach. After the Toronto Stock Exchange, Australia hosts the second-largest population of listed gold companies. Western Australia, in particular, remains less thoroughly combed than Nevada or many Canadian camps. The market is more parochial and receives less foreign capital flow than Canada, which creates periodic mispricings. Cohen’s team treats the Australian market with the same seriousness as the Canadian one—an uncommon stance among North American institutions that often cite time-zone friction as an excuse for neglect.

Case Studies in Conviction

Several of the fund’s notable winners illustrate the method. Northern Star was acquired near A$1 during an early Diggers and Dealers presentation by Bill Beament. The position was held through the multi-bagger re-rating that followed the acquisition of Barrick and Newmont assets and the transformation of assets many considered exhausted. Spartan Resources (formerly Gascoyne) required overcoming prior capital destruction. Cohen initially resisted meeting management. A Canaccord introduction at Beaver Creek forced the conversation. One meeting revealed a fundamentally different geological interpretation beneath old workings, with rapidly building ounces per vertical metre. The fund invested heavily near 40 cents. The subsequent re-rating and eventual acquisition by Ramelius validated the call. Founders Metals in Guyana was discovered almost by accident at a cocktail party in Kelowna. A young geologist described double-digit widths and grades. Follow-up work confirmed the opportunity. The fund participated in a 10% placement at 40 cents even after the stock had already moved. The land package has since expanded dramatically. Patience remains essential—large, underexplored packages rarely reveal their centre of gravity on the first few drill holes. Lorvatto demonstrated the value of thinking laterally. Drill results highlighting gold were interesting; the antimony grades (1.2–1.5%) were exceptional when compared with the much lower grades at Perpetua. Cohen began accumulating on market around 40–50 cents before the full force of China’s export restrictions hit. The ability to move a project into production on a relatively short timeline and modest capital budget differentiated it from more remote, longer-dated peers. Great Bear was accumulated near C$1 as the LP Fault story unfolded. The position grew to roughly 13%. The eventual acquisition by Kinross at $29, plus participation in the royalty spin-out (including opportunistic purchases of grey-market shares), produced one of the cleaner institutional outcomes of the last cycle. In each case the common threads are early technical conviction, willingness to buy liquidity in the market rather than wait for a financing, and the fortitude to hold through volatility once the geological thesis remains intact.

The Geopolitical Filter Tightens

Cohen has grown more sensitive to jurisdictional risk. Mali is effectively a no-fly zone. Burkina Faso was exited. Exposure to Mexico has been reduced. West African exposure is now limited and carefully chosen (primarily Côte d’Ivoire). The practical test he applies is blunt: would he take his family there on vacation? If the answer is no, the geology must be exceptional to compensate. The shift is not ideological. It is a recognition that conflict, organized groups, and rising resource nationalism have made previously acceptable jurisdictions materially more dangerous. In a world with abundant geological opportunity in safer places—the Guyana Shield being one current focus—the risk-adjusted case for operating in higher-risk jurisdictions has deteriorated.

Lessons for Canadian Resource Investors

Several durable principles emerge from Cohen’s approach: Geology is primary. Technical competence—whether in-house or accessed through trusted experts—remains the highest-conviction edge available to a generalist capital allocator. Concentration requires expertise. A 30–35 stock portfolio only works if the manager (and team) can genuinely understand the assets. Diversification without insight is not risk management; it is dilution of attention. On-market buying is a feature, not a bug. Waiting exclusively for placements often means missing the period of maximum mispricing. Liquidity exists for those willing to use it. Quality can look expensive. Agnico Eagle was frequently dismissed as “too expensive” for decades. Consistent execution and disciplined capital allocation compounded into one of the sector’s strongest long-term performers. The same dynamic appears in other high-quality operators. Patience with scale. Large, underexplored land packages (Founders, Snowline) rarely deliver their full value on a tidy timeline. The market’s intolerance for that reality creates opportunity for those who can underwrite multi-year development.Jurisdiction is a risk factor that compounds. Political and security deterioration is rarely linear. Once a jurisdiction crosses a threshold, capital often leaves faster than it arrived.

The Quiet Advantage

Cohen’s career illustrates a vanishing style of resource investing: deep technical literacy combined with institutional scale and the temperament to act when conviction is high. In an industry increasingly dominated by passive flows, ESG overlays, and short-term performance pressure, the willingness to maintain a concentrated, geology-driven portfolio across two major gold jurisdictions remains rare. For Canadian investors watching the same companies—whether on the TSX, TSXV, or ASX—the lesson is not to replicate any single position. It is to recognize that the highest returns in this sector still accrue to those who do the geological work, accept concentration risk intelligently, and possess the patience to let the rocks, rather than the narrative, do the heavy lifting. The market will continue to offer periods of fear, indifference, and excessive enthusiasm. The process that survives those cycles is the one grounded in what cannot be engineered away: the quality of the rock in the ground, the competence of the people developing it, and the jurisdiction in which both reside.

Disclaimer: 

 This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, or an endorsement of any fund or strategy. Resource equities involve substantial risk of loss, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professional advisors.