The world’s biggest mining financiers think investors have been...

The world’s biggest mining financiers think investors have been not paying enough attention to the quality of projects, but this is beginning to change.

This week, the big players are at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne.

One panel of speakers argued investors were looking to high-quality projects generally, and specifically to copper.

Campbell Olsen, CEO of Arete Partners, was one of the panel’s members. His firm takes a hands-on approach to its assets, arguing only structural and operational improvements create value.

“There are a lot of companies that have low-quality assets that don’t stack up that are still being promoted. And the investment industry is waking up to that,” he said.

“We concentrate on the high-end, with high-purity.”

Copper is hot

At first glance it may seem puzzling why investors would want copper projects, given prices are down 10 per cent in 2019 while other commodities such as gold and iron ore have witnessed solid growth.

But Jason Chang from EMR Capital said,”everyone is chasing good cooper, and we are seeing some exciting opportunities out there.”

One ASX small cap that has excited investors is Stavely Minerals (ASX:SVY), which made a 40 per cent copper hit in late September and spiked from under 25c to nearly $1.30 yesterday.

While it’s off its all time highs, neighbour Navarre Minerals (ASX:NML) is 57 per cent higher since the announcement. Two weeks after Stavely’s find it announced it was re-commencing exploration at its own project.