Tim Crossley, Siecap Advisory Board Member and former President BHP Billiton West Australian Iron Ore has recently returned from a trip to Toronto, where he attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention from 5 – 8 March 2017 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
With over 8,000 members around the world, the PDAC’s mission is to promote a globally responsible, vibrant and sustainable minerals industry, encouraging best practices in technical, operational, environmental, safety and social performance.
At this year’s convention, Tim was one of over 22,000 attendees from 125 countries and 900 exhibitors who converged to gain insights into future trends in mineral exploration and finance, through presentations, technical sessions, short courses and networking events.
An Australasian resources industry authority, Mr. Crossley noted that the atmosphere at the event was significantly more upbeat than the previous year.
“An appetite to start funding exploration and even Greenfields exploration for the right commodities seems to have returned to the sector”, he said.
Tim observed that gold remains popular, as does copper and the obvious darlings of the month: lithium and cobalt, although there is probably a view that lithium has over shot.
In terms of key mineral financing outtakes, Mr. Crossley sensed that “the industry has gone through a 12-24 month phase where private equity and counter cyclical buyers have been cherry picking advanced exploration projects, and now early stage exploration is being looked at. Some juniors seem to be getting funding in their own right, rather than relying on joint ventures”, he said.
For further information about the PDAC convention, visit: http://www.pdac.ca/convention
To find out more about Siecap’s project management and advisory services, watch their mining solutions video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XTGEqMZ01M
