Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum chairman Nick Giorgetta says the annual forum has proved to be the buoyant event he had expected and organisers are planning to continue holding the event in the mining hub of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
Giorgetta spoke to Proactive Investors at lunchtime, saying: “Everyone I’ve spoken to this morning is saying how buoyant the mood is and how everything is looking good for the industry.
“Everybody says there’s good vibes, there’s a lot of deals being made, a lot of good presentations to listen to – it’s a very good conference.
“The fact that we’ve got more than 2,300 people attending the conference – we’ve got something like 180-200 people from overseas – it just reinforces the fact that we have become an international conference.”
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Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum chairman Nick Giorgetta
The chairman noted a number of companies had attracted buzz.
“There’s the standard companies that always perform well, companies like Evolution (Mining), Northern Star (Resources) because they come up with good results, good cash profits, good … reserves,” he said.
“Then there’s the emerging ones, that are really going to become the next line of producers – lithium, a few cobalt, just the companies that are not so much junior explorer but the would-be producer …they are popular.”
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Delegates take in the experience of a Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum
Giorgetta said most attendees were already across the minerals they specialised in and were turning their attention to particular companies and presentations.
“Some people like the producers just coming up, some people like what they’ve heard about the reserves and want to buy,” he said.
“They try to isolate the companies that are doing the same thing and select the ones that are doing the best or have got no future.”
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Giorgetta said forum delegates were finding the Goldfields Arts Centre venue great and reaffirmed organisers were planning to continue to hold the annual event in the mining city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
“We will stay here,” he said.
“Everything is lovely, (delegates) are finding the people in Kalgoorlie, they’re really cooperative, they’re very friendly with them.
“Last night I was in a function and at least seven, eight people came to see me to say ‘are you sure you’re going to stay in Kalgoorlie with this conference because you’re really wanted here’.
“It’s great, it is at long last being recognised for (the value) to Kalgoorlie and the mining industry.”
The twilight experience of a past year's Diggers gala dinner. The WesTrac Gala Dinner will be held tonight in Kalgoorlie.
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Giorgetta expressed his frustration at what he called an “attempt to find a correlation between skimpies and the Diggers and Dealers forum”.
He argued instead the event had become a mature, relevant global conference.
“It’s about time people forget about that, people come to Kalgoorlie because it’s a great mining town, there’s many mines around here, we don’t come here for the skimpies and hotels,” Giorgetta said.
“Almost every year people try to relate Diggers and Dealers to the skimpies, and I think that’s totally unrelated.
The name of the main street of Kalgoorlie is a nod to gold prospector Paddy Hannan who helped start a gold rush.
“We come here just so we can send people to tours, they can see the mine, they can see the history of the town and the fact is there’s skimpies there.
“I haven’t seen one yet … and you can bypass them if it is a problem.
“I really want the media and everybody to get over this, the relationship between Diggers and Dealers and skimpies, it just doesn’t exist, it’s just a coincidence the skimpies are in the town where we hold the conference.
“People are still trying to relate it, and it just doesn’t make sense anymore, it is a serious, relevant forum and we want people to start seeing it that way.”
The Esplanade Hotel in Kalgoorlie sits alongside the long-running Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper.
The chairman indicated the reception to mine site tours remained positive, like in the prior three years.
“Generally the ones who have not really seen much of the mines – they are invited … and they say it’s an eye-opener, they didn’t realise what’s involved,” he said.
Giorgetta said the forum would review the year ahead when putting together next year’s program and learn from this year while also taking suggestions.
“We just hope that the industry remains buoyant and that everything goes well for everybody in the next 12 months and then we look forward to all the stories next year,” he said.
“Generally the better the industry, the better the Diggers and Dealers of course, but even in bad times people come to look for bargains.
“It should be fine, I don’t see any downturns in the industry in the short term.”