PROFILE (January 20, 1992)

For the past two years, Noranda Inc. has been redesigning its corporate structure to maximize profit. According to plan, Noranda Minerals alone, a wholly owned subsidiary, will trim its exploration workforce to 250 by May, about 50% from the January, 1990, levels, and will cut its 1992 exploration budget to $107.3 million from $143.5 million last year.

Alex Balogh, president and chief executive officer of Noranda Minerals, notes that the changes will not stop the company’s efforts to upgrade its global presence. “We have already a Swedish connection through 50% owned Falconbridge Ltd.,” he told The Northern Miner. “We are actively looking for partners worldwide and sell our products to international markets.” Noranda Minerals has exploration offices in Mexico, Chile and Australia. Despite a reduced staff, better technology will improve productivity, he says. About $20 million out of Noranda’s $30 million budgeted for technology advancement is for the minerals division.

Balogh predicts that the next discovery will be in the Precambrian shield. “Canada’s geology is still favorable,” says Balogh. “We are largely looking for new reserves at our existing mines. It is economical to develop new mines near existing infrastructure even if the grades are only marginal.” His company will re-emphasize the importance of mining, low-cost mine development and acquisition of mines, adds Balogh. “Mining is not to feed the hungry smelters but to produce quality ore for profit.” With or without a partner, it will acquire a major low-cost operating or developing copper mine anywhere in the world.

Among its assets, Noranda owns 45% of the Louvicourt project through Societe Miniere Louvem. “If everything goes well, the mine could be in operation before the end of 1994,” he says.

Born in Montreal in 1932, Balogh graduated from McGill University in 1954 with a B.Eng. degree in metallurgical engineering. He chose engineering because “I could not afford going to medical school,” he says. “It takes too long. I had to get a degree quickly so that I could be financially independent.”

Married to Marie Fortier, he has two boys and two girls. “The environment is a frequent subject at the dinner table,” he says. “Pressures from family members help shape executives’ decisions on environmental policies.” Fluent in both English and French, Balogh published and edited Voyageur de la Gaspesie, a bilingual weekly newspaper, when he lived in the Gaspe Peninsula (1955-67).

Balogh joined the Noranda group as a trainee in 1954, doing shift work. He rose through the ranks to become a vice-president in 1976. In September, 1989, he succeeded Bill James to be the top man at Falconbridge when Noranda and Trelleborg AB of Sweden took over the company. “I made no attempt to fill Bill’s shoes,” says Balogh. “They can only fit him.” But he shares James’s dislike for bureaucracies and they both get restless in meetings. “Bill James was once described as a gunslinger, who makes deals quickly and well,” adds Balogh. “I can also make deals quickly but with a more careful aim, using a rifle instead of a six-shooter.”

Balogh is bullish about the industry. “Before the end of 1992, the turnaround will be stronger than predicted.”