{"id":12689,"date":"2026-06-01T18:33:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/?p=12689"},"modified":"2026-06-01T18:33:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:33:34","slug":"stepping-into-open-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/stepping-into-open-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping into Open Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you are a regular reader of North American Mining<\/em> magazine, you know our editorial staff is highly experienced and that we value our expert contributors. A diversity of voices is powerful when those are backed by deep expertise and, in many cases, decades spent studying their sectors. Just as important, they all share your passion for the mining industry and for what makes it one of the most exciting fields in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Stuart
Stuart Burgess<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One of our newest column contributors is Burgex<\/a> co-founder Stuart Burgess, who has been a proud part of the mining industry, especially in the western U.S., for nearly 20 years. This issue features his third column (for his first and second ones, visit northamericanmining.com, click on Digital Archives, then pick an issue and search \u201cStuart\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we know and appreciate Stuart and the path that led him to mining, we realized that some readers may not. So we did what any responsible jounalist would do: gathered some questions and went straight to the source for answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuart, who has been in mining since 2007 when he co-founded nonprofit explorer group Mojave Underground, said his passion for mining and mining history really evolved during his tenure into a serious interest in modern mining and exploration. He went on with Crystal Burgess to found Burgess Exploration in 2010, a company name that would later evolve to Burgex. Burgex, in its current form, is developer of the mineral intelligence and data platform Mineralocity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of Burgex, Stuart has had a range of positions across the mineral exploration industry \u2013 business development, exploration director, and advisory-board seats with several junior companies. He\u2019s also a co-founder of Alpha Aggregates, a group that employs various strategies to bring institutional capital into construction aggregate and industrial mineral projects, a deeply underserved corner of the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mission going forward is twofold. First, it is imperative that I navigate the rapidly changing business environment being driven by AI and position our companies to thrive in it rather than be flattened by it. Second, I feel a tremendous obligation to leverage what I\u2019ve learned over the last two decades to help expand domestic mining capacity within the United States through exploration and development. We need more minerals, we need them now, and we need to find them here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for his column Open Ground<\/a>, Stuart said there is a layered meaning for him, but one that he hopes readers will connect with in each column he writes. \u201cThe words \u2018open ground\u2019 are music to my ears when we\u2019re doing land-status research for a prospective exploration project. Open ground means mineral rights that are unclaimed and unencumbered \u2013 fair game for staking. There\u2019s a particular thrill that comes with the realization that no one else has gotten there first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat feeling \u2013 equal parts discovery, possibility, and a healthy dose of luck \u2013 is what I hope to bring to the column.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Send Stuart your Open Ground feedback at sburgess@burgex.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n