Remembering David Coffin

The world of mining and mineral exploration has lost a giant with the sudden passing of David Coffin.

David was a big part in the steady development of Cambridge House, both through his participation at conferences as a speaker and, in reality, by being a big part of the Cambridge House family.

For years, David and his brother Eric, have delivered timely and deep investment coverage of projects around the world through their newsletter, The Hard Rock Analyst. I have to get personal when I think about David. Over the years he has been my mentor in teaching me about the mineral exploration business. He became a very close personal friend.

I think of site tours I made with him in China, Thailand, Korea and many in North America. We rode elephants in Thailand to look at one project. We drank fermented goat’s milk in the yurt of goat herders in the mountains of western China. He kept me abreast of his travels to countries around the world and of what he thought of what he saw.

He could simplify complex problems so I and others could understand them. I witnessed companies change the direction of their exploration projects after David had made his observations. And, they did well with those changes, as did the followers of the newsletter.

David was soft spoken. I think of the dozens and dozens of times we sat in quiet corners of some place where there was a Cambridge conference or in a city in some country and talked. He had an eclectic mind and could add new dimensions to any number of subjects. I think back about ten years ago when we drove down together from a conference in Kelowna and we spent four hours talking about the demise of the American empire. Things coming true today.

Many of the reasons why Cambridge House has been a leader in tracking trends and explaining how they might affect investing were the direct result of those forward thinking chats with David.

David never married. He was devoted to his family and his brothers’ families. In reality he had an extensive personal family through all of the people in our industry who respected and genuinely loved him.

David spent some time with my wife and I over this past Christmas break. We talked about new directions he wanted to go. He still wanted to finish a book he and Eric were putting together on the history of all metals.

Our industry has lost one of its real treasures. I have lost a mentor, a friend, a brother.
Joe Martin
Chairman
Cambridge House International Inc.