PDAC: “Hanging Tough" in Toronto

This year’s Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto will be somewhat different than the ones that occurred earlier in the decade. For one, the exploration markets are entering their third straight year of declining budgets and financing struggles, and there are few promising predictions for improvement in 2015. E&MJ’s November issue reported a ‘25% drop in the major’s exploration budget total in 2014’, while ‘the juniors’ total exploration budget fell 29% year-over-year.’ Is the world out of the mineral exploration business? How will this affect the conference? Let’s address this question with a question: Is the world out of the mineral exploration business? Absolutely not. The world needs mining and minerals and the commodities and raw materials they produce. One anonymous quote I like to use from time-to-time is ‘If you can’t grow it, you have to mine it.’ The show will go on, albeit a little more subdued than at the height of the global commodities super-cycle back in 2010-2012. And what about the junior companies? Sure, they have taken a hit and most are hanging tough through this industry recession, but they still account for about 32% of the overall global exploration budget, according to E&MJ. Juniors are resourceful, determined and tough to the core. They will be around, and they will be in force at this year’s conference. Best practices and cutting edge technologies are needed to achieve efficient operations. One thing that all exploration companies can likely agree with is that in tough times one must operate “lean and mean”, and by “mean” I mean “efficient.” Best practices and cutting edge technologies are needed to achieve efficient operations, both in the field doing exploration work and at any point in the mining process. Field portable instruments in particular can help operations improve their efficiency by gathering critical process information that can be used for immediate decision making. Another old saying, ‘time is money,’ is very applicable here. To illustrate, let’s compare handheld XRF instruments with a digital camera. The digital camera can take almost an unlimited number of photos, which saves film development costs. Similarly, field portable instruments can take an unlimited number of analyses as compared to the traditional lab approach. While not designed to replace the lab, this additional sample density created from portable field analyses allows for a refined picture of what is occurring in the process. Imagine a digital camera; the more pixels supplied, the sharper the picture. One thing is certain for PDAC 2015: Miners, prospectors, geologists, geochemists and the like will be there and on the lookout for technologies which can make them more efficient in these uncertain times. If you’re going to be there, make sure you stop by our booth (#0504) and let me know your thoughts on the outlook for mining. Show Details: PDAC 2015 Booth #0504 March 1-4, 2015 Metro Toronto Convention Centre Toronto, Canada