Kalgoorlie full with 1300 diggers and dealers July 24, 2004
In Kalgoorlie they're chilling the beer and French champagne, the skimpy barmaids are trimming down their costumes - or throwing them away - and residents are bracing for a deluge of miners and investors attending the 12th annual Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum.
This year's bash promises to be bigger than ever, with a record 1300 delegates, including 100 women, lined up and 300 on waiting lists.
For the first time anyone can remember, the three-day forum has been booked out three months ahead of time, organisers say.
With accommodation in Kalgoorlie at bursting point, some punters will find themselves commuting 40kilometres from Coolgardie, where an old motel has been reopened for the event - or 60km from Kambalda, where the pubs are also said to be booked out.
Diggers, however, is much more than a drinkathon. It's all about deals.
Hartleys resources analyst Jonathan Battershill says a lot of miners are making bucketloads of money at the moment, and they're all going to be looking for a bargain.
"There's a lot of cashed up people," Mr Battershill said.
"They may not be looking to purchase anything at the moment, at the top of the market, but people are going to be keen to see what's out there and what's going to be available in six to 12 months' time when things may be a bit quieter."
Despite the buoyant talk, the lead-up to this year's gabfest in Western Australia, which begins on Monday, is feeling the correction in the resources sector since warnings in April that China planned to slow several key sectors of its economy.
Sentiment was further dampened when US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan later made comments taken as a warning US interest rates would rise rapidly.
The mood last year was very upbeat. This year, people are a little more circumspect.
Analysts have tipped Asia will again feature heavily at the Diggers, with an economic boom not only in China but also in Thailand and South Korea, and signs of Japan emerging from its 12-year recession.
A highlight of the past two Diggers - Pierre Lassonde, the smooth-talking, optimistic Canadian who heads the world's largest gold producer, Newmont Mining - will be missing from this year's event. Newmont, which is to deliver its second quarter earnings in the US on Wednesday, will be represented instead by Australian-based executive Hans Umlauff, who will outline why the giant company remains as bullish as ever on gold.
The line-up of speakers in half-hour slots from 8am to 5pm or 6pm each day includes a mix of junior resource companies, along with multinationals such as Gold Fields, Placer Dome, Barrick Gold, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd and AngloGold Ashanti.
3 Day Program is scheduled (between drinks) as follows:
Programme Monday 26 July 2004 | Tuesday 27 July | Wednesday 28 July
Monday 26 July 07:30 Registration commences in the Sponsors' Marquee 09:00 Official Opening - Brian Hurley, Forum Chairman 09:05 Address by Dr Roy Woodall AO 09:30 Gold Fields Limited - Craig Nelsen, Executive Vice President: Exploration for Gold Fields Limited and President & CEO: Gold Fields Exploration, Inc 10:00 Resolute Mining Limited - Peter Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer 10:30 Adamus Resources Limited - Hamish Halliday, Managing Director 11:00 MORNING TEA 11:30 Placer Dome Inc. - Geoff Handley, Executive Vice-President, Strategic Development 12:00 Kagara Zinc Limited - Kim Robinson, Executive Chairman 12:30 The Balloch Group - Howard Balloch, President 01:00 LUNCH BREAK 02:00 Newcrest Mining Limited - Peter Reeve, General Manager Corporate Affairs 02:30 Independence Group NL - Christopher Bonwick, Managing Director 03:00 Equigold NL - Glyn Evans, Executive Director 03:30 AFTERNOON TEA 04:00 Portman Limited - Barry Eldridge, Managing Director 04:30 Giants Reef Mining Limited - Joe Ariti, CEO & Managing Director 05:00 Reliance Mining Limited - Paul Chapman, Managing Director 05:30 - 08:30 THE 'PLACER DOME INC. COCKTAIL PARTY' commences in the Sponsors' Marquee
Tuesday 27 July 08:30 Newmont Mining Corporation - Hans Umlauff, Group Executive Operations Support & Development 09:00 Jubilee Mines NL - Kerry Harmanis, Executive Chairman 09:30 Agincourt Resources Limited - Tim Sugden, Managing Director 10:00 MORNING TEA 10:30 Troy Resources NL - John L.C. Jones, Executive Chairman 11:00 LionOre Mining International Ltd - Mark Ashley, Managing Director 11:30 Siberia Mining Corporation Limited - Andrew Forrest, Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer 12:00 LUNCH BREAK 01:00 Barrick Gold of Australia Limited - David Tucker, General Manager Business Development and Public Affairs 01:30 De Grey Mining Ltd - Denis O'Meara, Managing Director 02:00 Mincor Resources NL - David Moore, Managing Director 02:30 Oceana Gold Limited - Len Jubber, Chief Operating Officer 03:00 AFTERNOON TEA 03:30 Perilya Ltd - Tim Clifton, Managing Director 04:00 Herald Resources Limited - Terry Allen, Chairman and CEO, Michael Wright, Executive Director 04:30 Harmony Gold (Australia) Pty Limited -Ted Grobicki, Executive Director - Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited 05:30 - 08:30 THE 'GOLD FIELDS LIMITED TRADITIONAL BASH' commences at the Palace Hotel
Wednesday 28 July 08:30 Ivanhoe Mines Ltd - Robert Friedland, Chairman and President 09:00 Consolidated Minerals Ltd - Michael Kiernan, Managing Director 09:30 Reed Resources Ltd - Christopher Reed, Executive Director Finance and Ian Junk, Director 10:00 Australian Stock Exchange Limited - Brendan O'Hara, State Manager 10:10 MORNING TEA 10:40 Croesus Mining NL - Michael Ivey, Managing Director & CEO 11:10 Crescent Gold Limited - Andrew Haythorpe, Executive Director 11:40 Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd - Steve Reid, Managing Director and CEO 12:10 LUNCH BREAK 01:10 Kimberley Diamond Company - Miles Kennedy, Executive Chairman 01:40 Australian Mines Limited - Barry Cahill, Managing Director 02:10 AngloGold Ashanti Ltd - Peter Rowe, General Manager AngloGold Ashanti Australia and Charles Carter, Vice President Investor Relations - US 02:40 AFTERNOON TEA 03:10 Sino Gold Limited - Jake Klein, President and CEO 03:40 Sally Malay Mining Limited - Peter Harold, Managing Director 04:10 Sons of Gwalia Ltd - John Leevers, Managing Director and CEO 06:30 - mid-night THE 'WESTRAC GALA DINNER' commences in the Sponsors' Marquee 10:00 Bus Departs Dinner Venue for Airport to catch QF1099. Delegates catching this flight are to have their luggage at the Venue (secure storage will be arranged).
ASX Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)