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From a provincial yearly meeting of 900 attendees in the 1930s, the yearly Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Conven- tion has grown into an international conference attracting tens of thousands of attendees from around the world.
PDAC executive director Ross Gallinger says the yearly four-day event has evolved into a convention, trade show and investors exchange in one and is now regarded as the world’s leading convention for mineral companies and organisations in mineral exploration.
Last year, more than 30 000 people attended the PDAC 2013 Convention, of which one-quarter were international delegates from 126 countries. Outside Canada, the largest number of attendees came from the US, Australia, Peru, Mexico and the UK.
“The convention is designed to help individuals and companies find creative answers to the challenges they face, as well as provide a wide breadth of education and networking opportunities,” he said in an interview ahead of the 2014 event.
This year, 530 mineral exploration companies are participating in the investors exchange and over 400 suppliers of services and products are exhibiting at the trade show.
“The opportunity for convention attendees to learn about the global mineral sector, while walking the aisles of the trade show floor is a phenomenal chance to learn about the technologies and trends that are shaping the industry,” says Gallinger.
The PDAC 2014 Convention also hosts 19 technical sessions, 60 core shack displays, 13 short courses and numerous other workshops.
Some of the highlights of this year’s convention include: A session on alternative financing sources for junior resources companies, which will provide an overview of the evolution of financing alternatives available to resource and exploration companies, discussing innovative forms of capital funding that have recently emerged; a session on commodities and market outlook and a session on working with the Brazil, Russia, India and China (Bric) bloc of countries, examining how Bric countries and emerging markets are influencing the world’s mining industry.
This year is also the first time that the PDAC Convention has a country sponsor, with Peru taking the honours. “From copper and zinc to gold, the country is a growing leader in the mining industry. Peru has a long-standing presence at the PDAC Convention and we are thrilled that they are our first mining country sponsor,” comments PDAC president Glenn Nolan.
Canada and Peru have a strong bilateral relationship. Canadian investment in Peru’s extractive sector alone is about $8-billion.