65th PDAC emphasized global opportunities

Same show, new roof.

The 65th annual convention of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) had a new home, the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre, and a new, roomier feel, while still treating delegates to what they have come to expect — one of the best-attended and most comprehensive shows in the international mining industry.

Old-timers, used to treading the carpets of the Royal York Hotel, might have spent much of their first day finding their bearings, but it proved to be worth the effort at the largest PDAC convention to date — 7,000 delegates, 450 exhibitors, and 200 companies in the Investors’ Exchange.

Meanwhile, the Royal York played host to the evening functions, including the Annual Awards Banquet, Kirkland Lake Night and the closing celebrations.

Minister of Natural Resources Anne McLellan announced the Canadian government’s response to recommendations made by the Natural Resources Committee of the House of Commons. Under the Environmental Assessment Act, the government is developing rules designed to provide a clearer process for decisions. The government also will limit to 15 months the allowable time for assessment panels to review environmental impact statements. The government will also present to Parliament amendments to the Fisheries Act and the Navigable Waters Act.

McLellan suggested that the consultation and co-operation that have evolved over the past few years in Canada could serve as a model for mining development the world over. But the minister was not the only one to extol her own country’s virtues at the convention. Delegations from Argentina, Fiji, Mongolia, China and Russia all held sessions designed to promote the opportunities for mining and mineral exploration in their countries, and 25 foreign countries set up display booths.

Eduard Eshuys of Great Central Mines (GTCMY-Q) spoke on the recent discoveries at the company’s Bronzewing and Jundee gold mines. He also remarked about the recent discovery of the Quarters gold deposit for Great Central’s sister company, Centaur Mining & Exploration (CEMGY-O).

Eshuys was bullish on Australia’s gold potential, remarking that the Land Down Under is about to outpace the U.S. in gold production and could even surpass South Africa by the year 2000.

As is tradition at PDAC conventions, several universities were represented.

Unusual, however, were the great numbers of students (surely surpassing the hundred mark) that came to represent their respective schools. From as far away as the province of Newfoundland, students came in hopes of meeting and (more importantly) becoming part of the mining industry. Whether their interests were in soil geochemistry or finances, they all played a part in increasing their own and the public’s perception of the industry that the convention has come to epitomize.

The Tuesday morning session was highlighted by a rosy base metal price forecast from David Lloyd and Quentin Amos of the merchant bank Rothschild Australia. The company told delegates at the PDAC to expect the price of zinc to jump by 50%, aluminum by roughly 40% and copper by a more modest amount (due to much-increased supply) before the millenium comes to a close. The new demand will come almost exclusively from the booming Asian “tiger” countries, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Tuesday morning also saw four speakers from South Africa describe how the reborn nation is striving to facilitate foreign investment in its mining sector by providing new, detailed geological and geophysical maps, and a revision of South Africa’s minerals and mining policy that will encourage the large mining houses to make dormant land they hold available to junior exploration companies.

The ever-popular Core Shack attracted visitors eager to see mineralization from such new finds as Midas in Nevada; Bulyanhulu in Tanzania; Antamina in Peru; Wolverine in the Yukon; Meliadine in the Northwest Territories; Gross Rosebel in Suriname; and Cerro Casale in Chile.