The 91st annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention started on Sunday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) and the event’s President Alex Christopher says this year’s showcase is using even more convention space than 2022.
The event will run between March 5-8 with over 1,100 exhibitors and a vast assortment of programming and presentations related to mineral exploration and the mining industry.
The largest pavilion at the event will be the Northern Ontario Mining Showcase (NOMS), which has received a $745,000 investment from The Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) for its setup at the convention centre this year.
Keynote talks will include “Commodities” by McKinsey & Company and “Mineral Outlook” by Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) (LON: RIO).
Canada, Peru and Brazil are the event’s official mining country sponsors this year and representatives from the European Union (EU) will also be present at booth #931.
Day 1 #PDAC2023 – that's a wrap! pic.twitter.com/B422JZDenu
— Jeanne C.Y. Liu (she/her) (@JeanneLiu) March 5, 2023
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The EU representatives will be there to help foster investment opportunities in the mining sector, promote state-of-the-art mining technologies developed by EU member countries and help secure reliable sources of raw materials for its supply chains.
Those representatives hope to help accomplish that goal by holding two sessions/presentations on Mar. 7 regarding investment opportunities in EU member countries and the latest technological developments in the mining sector there.
Other presentations at the four-day event will include Australia: Innovative mineral exploration and investment opportunities by the Australia Minerals and MinEx CRC on Monday; Argentina mining conference series: Business opportunities in gold, silver, copper, and lithium by Argentina Mining on Tuesday; and Innovative software solutions for stochastic modelling of mineral deposits and stochastic mine planning by KPI Mining Solutions, the McGill COSMO Laboratory and Geovariances on Wednesday.
The convention will also feature a Core Shack where attendees can view high-grade core samples from companies such as Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: GOLD) (TSX: ABX) and i80 Gold Corp. (TSX: IAU) (NYSE: IAUX).
There will be a series of Indigenous artists as well, including Hans Matthews of the Wahnapitae First Nation; Theresa Nelson, Chief of the Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek First Nation; and Crystal Semaganis.
Calibre Mining (TSX: CXB) is a Canadian gold producer that will be in attendance. The company will be giving a presentation about gold on Tuesday, Mar. 7 at 11:40 am eastern time (ET) during the Corporate Presentation Forum for Investors series.
Sponsors of this year’s event include Alamos Gold Inc. (TSX: AGI) (NYSE: AGI), Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (TSX: WPM) (NYSE: WPM) (LSE: WPM), Franco Nevada Corporation (TSX: FNV) (NYSE: FNV), B2Gold Corp.(TSX: BTO) (NYSE: BTG) (NSX: B2G) and Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) (TSX: NGT).
The CEO of the Toronto Stock Exchange Loui Anastasopoulos issued a statement on Friday about the upcoming event.
“We look forward to seeing the international mining community converge in Toronto and to once again engage with a full spectrum of stakeholders across this dynamic ecosystem, including companies from early-stage exploration to major producers, financial institutions and prospectors and investors seeking out new business opportunities,” said Anastasopoulos.
“Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange are proud, long-time supporters of PDAC – the world’s premier mining event.”
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Activists protest against the event
Not everyone approves of the event or what the mining industry does to the environment and a group of activists attended on Sunday to protest the negative consequences of mining on watersheds around the globe and its overall ecological impact.
The convention centre protestors’ banner reads #Wet’suwet’enStrong, referring to a First Nations group in central British Columbia known for environmental activism. The group was also involved in protesting against the Coastal GasLink pipeline last year.
The protests were organized by Toronto’s Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, a group focused on spreading awareness about the negligent practices of Canadian mining companies.
Breaking: Activists Disrupt the Flow of the World’s Largest Mining Convention to Say ‘Water is Life!’ —
Unfurling long rivers of fabric, activists blocked several sections of #PDAC2023 to call attention to the industry’s record of harming key watersheds globally. #DisruptPDAC pic.twitter.com/8oOE8bQv7o— Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN) (@mininginjustice) March 6, 2023
Other protestors from Nunavut, northern Ontario, Colombia and the Philippines also marched through the streets outside the MTCC.
A comprehensive schedule with a list of programming, exhibits, events, registration info and services available on-site at PDAC 2023 can be found here.
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