Golden moment for Idaho Strategic Resources

A local company that works in gold is having its own golden moment.

Idaho Strategic Resources celebrated hitting the big time Friday when it was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

"To higher stock prices," mining engineer Andrew Brackebusch said with a smile, causing his colleagues to laugh during a toast in the company headquarters Friday afternoon.

"To be doing what we love in the state that we love," he said on a more serious note, toasting his coworkers as they lifted little red cups and shared a joyful moment to acknowledge their accomplishment.

Idaho Strategic Resources CEO/President John Swallow said the company received the news within the past week that it would be added to the NYSE, the world's largest stock trading platform. Friday morning was when the company debuted with its stock symbol, IDR.

“Everybody’s been watching it,” Swallow said. "The stock’s done fairly well leading up to this. We’ve actually had a really good volume day."

Idaho Strategic Resources produces gold and rare-earth elements. It was known as the New Jersey Mining Co. until December 2021 when it conducted a reverse stock split and became Idaho Strategic Resources.

The company had to check several items off the list before it could achieve NYSE listing status.

"We just walked our way right through the process to get it done,” Swallow said. "We didn’t have to have a bunch of high-priced attorneys or anything to get it done. We were ourselves and they were great to work with. We just kept knocking down the pins and then here we are.”

The North Idaho company was founded in 1996 and has 55 full-time employees.

“We’re just super excited to get to this point," corporate secretary Monique Hayes said. "The company has been working so hard for so long. It’s just really cool to see a company our size be able to achieve something, and I think rightfully we’re in the right spot. The company’s growth and where we are on the NYSE is fitting."

The company may be small, but it is mighty. It has seen its peaks and valleys through the years, Swallow said.

"When we got involved and helped turn it around, I think there was one employee,” he said. "We really didn’t have anywhere near the assets we have today, so it really was a group of people coming together saying, ‘OK, we’re getting the band back together, we’re going to do this,’ everybody focusing on their part sacrificing. All of it. It’s a scrappy, scrappy story."

Several of its employees are father-son-daughter teams, married couples and other teams representing multiple generations.

Brackebusch is a fourth-generation Idahoan whose grandfather worked for the company. He works alongside his father, Grant Brackebusch.

"I always just felt like the two things that would be important when you’re young looking forward would be serving your country or working for something that your family’s been working for for a long time,” Andrew Brackebusch said. "Doing something my family did so long is why I did mining engineering, because I want to be a part of Grandpa and Dad in the place that I love. I grew up in Wallace, so it’s fun to be home.”

He said everyone's excited about the company being listed on the NYSE, "but we know there’s a lot of work left to do."

"There’s something in front of us," he said. "Growing up around it, mining can be up and down, so going through the up times and the down times, it’s always fun to take a step back and see where you are and see what’s in front of you."

Swallow said this accomplishment is a big testament "to the folks in North Idaho, Silver Valley, bringing together the community, employees, the families for sure."

"It’s pretty cool, but again, it’s shared by everybody; there’s not any one of us that could have done it on our own,” Swallow said. "There are lot of seeds that have been planted that had to come up. A lot of dedication, a lot of moving parts. Especially to do it from a company that started with nothing."

"We did it our way," he said. "We’ve been ourselves the entire time. We want people to know, either invest or don’t invest, but you know exactly who we are.”