PDAC, the world\u2019s biggest mining convention, begins on Sunday
\nSeveral Australian companies, particularly those focused on the Americas, will be presenting
\nForum is renowned for playing a role in linking up aspiring juniors with cashed-up majors<\/p>\n
It is sometimes described as mining\u2019s version of Coachella, even Diggers & Dealers on steroids \u2013 and for any Aussie junior with a project in the Americas, it is a must-attend event, especially if you\u2019re looking to court a major benefactor.<\/p>\n
The annual resources conference calendar turns to Canada next week for PDAC, as most people know it. Or the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Convention, as only those who regularly attend probably know it.<\/p>\n
We previously told you last month\u2019s African Mining Indaba<\/a> was big. In comparison to PDAC, it\u2019s actually rather small fish.<\/p>\n It could even be argued the tagline on the official PDAC website, which reads \u201cthe world\u2019s premier mineral exploration and mining convention\u201d, is perhaps underselling it to an extent.<\/p>\n Tens of thousands of people connected to the global mining industry attend the actual conference inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Fairmont Royal York Hotel, let alone those who hang about the peripheries of the main event.<\/p>\n PDAC is renewed the world over as the forum to brush shoulders by all the big-name gold players, particularly those operating across all parts of North, South and Central America. It is also the place for the major copper companies to catch up on all things impacting the red metal.<\/p>\n In more recent times, lithium has become a key item on the conference agenda given the influx of companies \u2013 largely led by the Aussies<\/a> \u2013 into regions such as Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba known to be prospective for the battery mineral.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Metro Toronto Convention Centre will once again play host to PDAC. Pic via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The only real peculiarity about the four-day convention is it begins on a Sunday. Must be a Canadian thing.<\/p>\n Before they jetted off to Toronto for a massive week of networking, Stockhead<\/em> caught up with some of the companies set to fly the Australian flag at PDAC.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n American West Metals (ASX:AW1)<\/a> will arrive in Toronto with a strong tailwind of news flow behind it, having recently unveiled a maiden resource<\/a> for its Storm copper project in Nunavut and raised $10 million to support some 22,000m of drilling planned to kick off this month.<\/p>\n It will be somewhat of a triumph return to PDAC for AW1 managing director Dave O\u2019Neill and the team after teasing delegates about a potential major copper discovery at its flagship asset this time last year.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone came past the booth in the morning and then in the afternoon came past again and said \u2018you are the only company that we\u2019ve come back to the booth twice\u2019, so for us that was quite a good reflection on Storm,\u201d O\u2019Neill told Stockhead<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cA fair bit came from being on the floor at PDAC last year, we had lots of good follow-up meetings and all that sort of stuff. It\u2019s definitely more our hunting ground. You seem to get a lot of people from Europe, North America and Asia all go to PDAC. That\u2019s the diversity of the opportunity there.<\/p>\n \u201cOur assets are in North America, so I think that\u2019s why it resonates with people there. If you\u2019re an Aussie going to spruik West Australian projects, I think it would be a much tougher sell.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Neill will be joined this year by his new chairman \u2013 and former boss at Western Areas \u2013 Dan Lougher, with the pair also spending several days in New York prior to attending PDAC in a bid to put the AW1 story in front of more North American investors.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n American West has delineated 205,000t of high-grade copper at Storm. Pic: Supplied (AW1)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Canadian investors are somewhat familiar with the AW1 narrative already given the Storm project was previously owned in its entirety by TSXV-listed Aston Bay Holdings which still has a minority stake.<\/p>\n O\u2019Neill says the company would use PDAC to further push its credentials in front of major players in the copper game.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes you feel like you\u2019re swimming with the big boys a little bit there, but maybe that\u2019s where the opportunity is for a little company like us because we\u2019re not a blue-chip stock \u2013 hopefully one day \u2013 but at this point we fall into the category of those with a good little bit of growth potential, so that may be another reason why we seem to resonate well there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n AW1\u2019s portfolio also includes the Copper Warrior and West Desert base metals projects in Utah, with the latter host to the only confirmed indium resource in the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n While he is not directly involved in the space, O\u2019Neill is keen to hear how his Aussie peers in the Canadian lithium sector are travelling, having been all the rage at PDAC this time last year.<\/p>\n It is no secret lithium has fallen out of favour with investors in recent months, but there is still expected to be a strong contingent of companies championing the next inevitable uptick in the battery mineral price cycle.<\/p>\n Among those will be Battery Age Minerals (ASX:BM8)<\/a> with newly appointed chief executive Nigel Broomham eager to connect with a range of stakeholders from the North American lithium and battery minerals industries, including First Nations partners, government officials and some of the company\u2019s key service providers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it\u2019s been a tough few months for the lithium sector generally, I think companies operating in North America are united in their optimism about the enormous long-term opportunity for battery materials in this part of the world,\u201d Broomham told Stockhead<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very confident about the supply-demand fundamentals for lithium and I think North America is incredibly well placed to become one of the major new sources of lithium supply over the next decade. For that reason, I\u2019m looking forward to the opportunity to present our story to a wide range of interested stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Battery Age Minerals finds itself in good company in Ontario, Canada. Pic: Supplied (BM8)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n BM8 joined the Aussie lithium expedition in Canada last year and continues to make steady progress at its flagship Falcon Lake project in Ontario. In December, the company announced it had successfully extended the lithium mineralisation at the project<\/a> following another round of drilling.<\/p>\n Broomham urged investors to continue supporting Canadian-based lithium explorers, believing some short-term investment pain now will ultimately convert into some long-term rewards.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada is at the epicentre of one of the most exciting new growth areas for lithium mining and processing in the world and I often equate what\u2019s happening in Canada right now to what happened in the Pilbara in 2014-15,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is ground zero of the next major battery materials production hub globally. Canada is geologically very prospective for very large deposits. And it\u2019s a wonderful place to operate from an infrastructure and regulatory perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Canada is the new lithium frontier and I encourage investors to stick with companies like BM8 that are well placed to capitalise on this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n PDAC is also an important for the real small caps looking to partner up with larger group carrying significantly more financial clout and experience in a particular type of mining.<\/p>\n This year will be the first time the team from Southern Hemisphere Mining (ASX:SUH)<\/a> presents the intricacies of its Llahuin copper-gold project in Chile to the PDAC audience.<\/p>\n SUH chairman Mark Stowell is anticipating a strong reception from delegates, particularly ones with an interest in porphyries such as the one emerging at the company\u2019s flagship asset.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the world\u2019s copper is produced from porphyry-style deposits and six or seven of the top 10 mines in the world are in Chile, so we tick both of those boxes,\u201d Stowell told Stockhead<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cOur project is on the way to being one of the world\u2019s next large copper mines. And that\u2019s why big companies go to PDAC, to look for new projects. It\u2019s the perfect venue for us in the stage of development we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Southern Hemisphere Mining is developing a sizeable porphyry resource at Llahuin in Chile. Pic: Supplied (SUH)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Llahuin boasts a 169mt @ 0.4% copper equivalent resource which SUH has committed to growing thanks to ongoing drilling success<\/a> in recent hits such as 82m @ 0.67% copper equivalent from 46m, even though the project is already shaping as a +20-year open-pit mining operation.<\/p>\n Stowell hopes the company can use the PDAC forum to put Llahuin on the map of a potential cashed-up partner.<\/p>\n \u201cThis project is in the majors category, it\u2019s not a junior-type project to take through development,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s way bigger than we are, so we\u2019re doing our bit and we\u2019ll continue to do so until we get the right major to pick up the baton and run with it through to production.\u201d<\/p>\n Other South American-focused explorers looking to strike a chord with the PDAC crowd include Belararox (ASX:BRX)<\/a><\/strong> which continues to unearth multiple mineralised porphyry systems<\/a> across the expanses of its Toro-Malambo-Tambo (TMT) copper-gold project in Argentina.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While American West Metals, Battery Age Minerals and Southern Hemisphere Mining are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post PDAC: Which Aussies are looking to shine on mining\u2019s biggest stage?<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s definitely more our hunting ground\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Ground zero of the next major battery materials production hub\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018That\u2019s why big companies go to PDAC\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n