When New Century Resources acquired a zinc mine in Queensland, Australia, they estimated cleanup costs of over 220 million Australian dollars. New Century needed an insurer that could work closely with them to understand the unique challenges ahead. That’s why they turned to Argo.
“Argo did extensive due diligence to understand our unique business,” says New Century Resources Managing Director Patrick Walta.
Understanding client needs while remaining flexible
Argo Surety’s team of engineers, including Mike Svonavec, Director of Engineering, and Bryan Mortimer, Senior Engineer, gathered all the information they could to understand New Century’s operations and goals. However, pandemic travel restrictions delayed site visits, requiring Argo to decide whether to move forward or wait. Usually, the team visits a site before issuing a bond.
“There’s nothing like seeing the place to really understand the business,” Walta says. “Years of audited data can only do so much.”
However, Argo understood the urgency. Joe Poplawski, SVP, National Underwriting Officer, Mining Practice Leader at Argo Surety, reviewed Patrick’s data with the engineering team. Confident in what they saw and in their own expertise, the team moved forward with the bond despite not being able to conduct a site visit.
As the project wrapped up and pandemic restrictions eased, Argo Surety team members were able to visit the site and work with New Century to solve any additional challenges as they arose.
