Claims: Adventures in the Gold Trade

Aluin Gilchrist is a Vancouver-based Canadian government civil
litigation lawyer.

Most of us remember Ken Lefolii as editor of Maclean ‘s Magazine. His distinguished career includes television production (“This Hour Has Seven Days,” “W-5”) as well as writing. In 1980, he bought an interest in some old mines in the California Rockies. As a participant in the gold trade, he has had many adventures.

In Corona vs. Lac, a promotional mining company sued a senior mining company, claiming breach of partnership and breach of confidence. The Hemlo property is the richest square mile of gold mines in the western hemisphere, so the stakes were very high indeed. For those readers who know something of the matter, there is an excellent index to lead you to the point where you fit in.

That lawsuit is the central theme of Lefolii’s anecdotes about the lure of gold and about how people react to one another’s pursuit of wealth.

This is a true story, of hopeful investors, prospectors, promoters, hustlers, smugglers, miners, geologists, and lawyers. Most are still alive. Lefolii shows keen insight, a superb sense of theatre, and a rich and kindly wit as he has us meet them.

Claims is a fascinating book. I recommend it to any literate teenager who is finding out what makes the world go round, and I commend it to anyone who desires to make the acquaintance of some very colourful real people. It is well bound and a good read.