Central Asia Metals won the battle of the booths on the first day of Mines and Money with its magic well of replenishing skittles.
The plastic container never seemed to empty, even as delegates swung by what was one of the busier stands, topped up on sugar and the latest on Central Asia’s extensive copper operations, and then moved on into the afternoon with a slightly stronger rush than they’d had before.
Further down the aisle, a discarded memory stick, issued as a freebie by a company that will remain nameless, was slowly trodden into the carpet.
How to describe Mines & Money this year?
There was a sort of low-level optimism running across the floor, tempered to a degree by the latest COVID panic. This was the first Mines & Money in which our newly invented culture of mask-wearing was given an opportunity to manifest itself.
Perhaps not surprisingly from an industry built on its own unique combination of pragmatism and wishful thinking, the masks were in the minority, and the dialogue, the conversation and the deal-making was able to flow unencumbered.
No-one was really celebrating, though. Yes, commodities prices have on the whole been strong, and the outlook remains broadly favourable.
But the uncertainties of operating in COVID times, the jittery nature of the mining equities markets, and the continuing lack of a clear read from the majors as to what they really want from their junior exploration peers, all advise caution to the industry’s senior executives.
Still, the conference was busy, even if diminished in size, so that was one tick in the box. The executives and delegates who are attending aren’t all cowering and shivering in fear of COVID, so that was another.
And there is a cautious expectation that corporate activity might be about to pick up, and that the ground work for future deals can at least be laid this week.
ESG was a big topic too. Delegates struggled to work out whether ESG is just CSR by another name, and the answer seemed to be yes, but now it’s trendy. ESG has its own awards, its own companies and now its own mining investment fund, headed up by a woman well-known and well respected in the mining sector, Amanda van Dyke.
This is all to the good, but one couldn’t help coming away from the first day wondering whether the sector as a whole really has a clear direction of travel.
For mining, these times really are like the curate’s egg. Perhaps day two will make things clearer.