The new logo for the company Northback featuring the maple leaf and the seven-pointed star. (Northback photo)
Nicholas L. M. Allen
Jul 19, 2023
Riversdale Resources has changed their name to Northback, with an unveiling at the Crowsnest Community Market.
Northback’s CEO helped premiere the company’s new name at the Crowsnest Community Market on July 13.
Mike Young took over the position of CEO at the end of 2022. He has “done this before,” having previous experience running companies with an old name tied to an old philosophy. Young joked about how the full name they had before, Benga Mining Ltd. operating as Riversdale Resources, was a “bit awkward” to say.
“The old company, Riversdale, were around long before Hancock got involved. Hancock Prospecting is our parent company out of Australia,” explained Young, “Thats who got me to come over.”
He talked about how the previous owners “dressed it up for a sale” compared to the current intentions of the company to mine at Grassy Mountain.
“We’ve got a long-term vision. We’re really committed to the Pass, to the First Nations people and so we just thought that the Riversdale name and the Riverdale history wasn’t consistent with what we want to do and what our vision is,” said Young.
Northback approached a company in Calgary about the rebrand, going through a process which included giving them a background about their ownership.
“We went through a process with names and this one popped up because it’s basically a play on ‘true north strong and free’ and the Australian Outback,” added Young.
He pointed at the red bar in the name and said it is a nod to the iron ore in the Outback and “links the north to the back” in the name. The logo consists of a maple leaf combined with a seven-pointed star (Commonwealth Star) from the Australian flag. He continued by explaining another step the company had to take after deciding to change names.
“I’ve been through four different name changes and every time you’ve got to check and make sure that nobody else has it and it doesn’t translate into anything bad,” said Young.
Young said the perfect example of this going wrong was Chevrolet with the Nova in Central America as Nova means ‘no go’ in Spanish.
After ensuring there were no negative translations, he said they even had time to get their name and logo on a chuckwagon at the Calgary Stampede. Dallas Dyck rode for Northback, placing eighth in the competition.
He said he enjoyed his first stampede after moving to Alberta in October of last year and that he is looking forward to moving forward with the company now known as Northback.
“I’m a Canadian born Western Australian now in Alberta so I’m perfect for the job,” added Young.
Northback is currently reassessing the mountain and how they can mine the “best metallurgical coal in the world” according to Young.
More information is available on northback.ca which includes the link to their parent company, Hancock Prospecting.