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PDAC e-News and
Activities, March 26, 2004, No. 15
PDAC’s 2004
convention broke all records
The PDAC’s 2004 convention will go down in the association’s history
as the biggest and most successful yet, surpassing even the halcyon
days of 1996. A record 9,200 delegates, exhibitors, and guests
gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the four-day
meeting.
Many came from outside Canada, representing 85 countries
in all. The international flavour of the event was reflected in the
technical program which included sessions on China and India, and
technical papers from Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa
and Argentina.
Rising commodity prices and a booming junior mining sector
ensured a busy and exuberant atmosphere in the Investors Exchange
where 331 companies occupied 352 booths.
The Trade Show received special emphasis this year. On
Tuesday afternoon, the convention program was suspended so delegates
could have time to visit the 297 companies and organizations
exhibiting in the 454 booths there. And, for the first time, a daily
Innovation Forum allowed exhibitors to demonstrate a wide range of
new technologies from airborne gravity gradiometry to web site
content.
The 32 companies exhibiting in the Core Shack, located
just outside the halls where the technical sessions took place,
enjoyed a steady flow of visitors throughout the four days.
Keynote speakers included Thomas Homer-Dixon, director of
the Centre for the Study of Peace and Conflict and associate
professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Political
Science. Homer-Dixon spoke about the difficulties that our society
is encountering because our social ingenuity is lagging behind our
technical ingenuity. This is the thesis of his award-winning book,
The Ingenuity Gap.
Sir Sam Jonah, CEO of Ashanti Goldfields Company Ltd., gave
the keynote address at the Wednesday PDAC-CIM joint luncheon. Sir
Sam refuted the image of Africa as one of unrest, disease and
corruption and cited statistics to show that mining in Africa
compares well to the record of other continents. For example, in the
past eight years six new mines have been developed and opened across
Africa, compared to four in Australia and two in South America.
Toronto Mayor David Miller came to extend the city’s
greetings to PDAC delegates. He called attention to Toronto’s place
as the mine finance capital of the world, and welcomed the $12
million impact the four-day convention has on the city’s economy. He
noted that all delegates should feel at home in Toronto, whose
diverse population represents virtually every country in the world.
The convention was given good press coverage by the 75
media representatives attending the event.
As always, social events were a significant part of the
program, starting with an opening reception on Sunday evening, March
7. The following evening, the PDAC’s annual awards were presented at
the Awards Banquet. On Tuesday evening delegates kicked up their
heels at the traditional Mining Night, a party with beer and a band,
and the convention wrapped up with a Wrap Party, Moroccan style, on
Wednesday night.
Many thanks to sponsors, exhibitors, volunteers,
delegates, suppliers, and staff for their contributions to the great
success of PDAC Convention 2004.
Federal budget includes one-year extension of “super”
flow-through program
In a news release issued on Tuesday, March 23, President Bill Mercer
applauded Finance Minister Ralph Goodale’s announcement earlier that
day that the Investment Tax Credit for Exploration in Canada (ITCE)
would be extended by one year. The ITCE or “super” flow-through
program was due to expire at the end of 2004. The ‘buy period’ for
investors will now close December 31, 2005, and the expenditure
deadline for companies becomes December 31, 2006.
The PDAC estimates the ITCE program has helped raise more
than $750 million for flow-through financed grassroots mineral
exploration in Canada to the end of December 2003 and has resulted
in an average of almost two discoveries per month since the
program’s introduction in October 2000.
Click here for a full
copy of the news release.
Having problems complying with insider trading
electronic filing requirements?
The new rules and regulations governing electronic filing by insider
traders of stock trades, the granting and expiry of options,
flow-through share purchases, warrants, etc., appear to be creating
problems. The PDAC’s Securities Committee is attempting to assess
the extent of these problems to determine whether a lobbying effort
is called for or whether information sessions are warranted. If you
or your colleagues have encountered any difficulties in this area,
would you please document them and send them to
David Comba, before April 5. The committee will be meeting on April 6 to discuss
a possible strategy.
Click here for more details.
Breakfast with the media – Making your news fit for
television
As part of its 2004 Breakfast Series, Canada NewsWire is hosting two
programs that may be of interest to PDAC members. The first will be
held on March 31 in Vancouver with the B.C. Securities Commission
and is entitled
Making sense of the complex world of evolving
regulation. Registration and breakfast are complimentary, but you
must register at
http://bmail.newswire.ca/beuw/shared/cnx/breakfast-van2.html.
The second program, Breakfast with the Media, will be held
in Toronto at the TSX Broadcast Centre on April 8. Kim Parlee,
anchor of Report on Business TV’s The Close, will talk about the
role of media in business and the ins and outs of on-air business
journalism. She will also provide tips to help companies and their
key executives become newsworthy. Again registration and breakfast
are free, but you must register at
http://www.newswire.ca/breakfast/index.html?EventID=88.
Free
web access to Data Metallogenica
The sponsors of AMIRA International’s Data
Metallogenica project have kindly agreed to allow free access to all
data on the website until April 5. The PDAC is one of the supporters
of Data Metallogenica, the world’s newest, most comprehensive and
representative repository of mineral deposit data which has been
developed as a not-for-profit enterprise for the benefit of the
global mineral industry and its associated educational institutions.
For more details,
click here.
Survey on diamond
exploration
The Diamond Exploration Working Group, a subcommittee of the
National Diamond Strategy Steering Committee, is asking PDAC members
to complete a survey on diamond exploration. The objective of the
survey is to identify key issues that have an impact on diamond
exploration across Canada. The survey is being undertaken on a
jurisdictional basis in order to distinguish both regional and
national priorities. The survey results will be used at a
multi-stakeholder workshop on diamond exploration in Canada to be
hosted in Winnipeg in late April/early May. The workshop will
develop recommendations for consideration as part of the National
Diamond Strategy. For more information and to complete the survey,
please go to
http://www.gov.mb.ca/itm/mrd/diamond_survey.html.
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