Australia inaugurates PDAC-style convention

Australia’s mining industry has launched a major international mining convention and trade show here in the country’s banking centre.

Billed with characteristic Aussie restraint as “the greatest mining event on earth,” the 3-day Mining 2000, held in the spacious Melbourne Exhibition Centre, shone a spotlight on Australia’s junior explorers and producers, industry suppliers, bankers and brokers.

Western Australia’s lively junior scene is already well-served by the 8-year-old Diggers & Dealers forum, held each southern winter in Kalgoorlie. However, Stewart McDonald, managing director of Mining 2000, says the new event — to be held in Melbourne annually — has a more international focus and better serves more-populous eastern Australia, home of the country’s banks and brokerage houses. The cosmopolitan city is also an attractive destination for overseas visitors.

Speakers in the international portion of Mining 2000 included high-ranking officers from AngloGold, Gold Fields, Inco, Teck and Cominco, as well as officials from several South American countries.

The Australian portion included presentations by more than 50 juniors, as well as government agencies representing each of the country’s six states.

Off-hour activities included a gala dinner at the adjoining Crown Casino, Olympic soccer matches and field trips outside Melbourne to the historic Bendigo goldfields and the Latrobe Valley coalfields.

Mining 2000 attracted close to 1,700 people (of whom about 1,600 were Australian) and 391 exhibitors, including several Latin American groups. By comparison, the last Diggers & Dealers forum, in July, drew 850 people and 75 exhibitors.

“What we’ve tried to do is develop a PDAC-type event,” says McDonald, referring to the venerable convention of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, held every year in Toronto. “This year’s Mining 2000 convention has been a great start and is something to build on substantially.”

Unlike the PDAC, the Mining 2000 organization is owned by private investors, whom McDonald says are members of Australia’s mining industry. He adds that the convention posted a financial loss in its inaugural year.

Australia is also drawing inspiration from Canadian miners by building its own Mining Hall of Fame in Kalgoorlie. A multi-million dollar structure housing a museum, art gallery and archives will be completed by October 2001 to coincide with Australia’s centennial celebrations.