Forget the AFL Gather Round in Adelaide – in four months’ time the real gather happens when premiership contenders, fans and hangers-on meet up in Western Australia’s gold capital to celebrate what is most exciting and lucrative about hard-rock mining.
In coming weeks, the organisers of the annual Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum will publish the speaker line-up for the three-day talk fest, taking place in Kalgoorlie-Boulder from August 5 to 7.
And a bit like the AFL competition’s ability to turn last season’s rooster into this campaign’s feather duster, the speaker line-up at Diggers & Dealers will again serve as a fascinating insight into the commodities – and promoters – that are in vogue.
Just cast your mind back to last year’s Diggers & Dealers award winners – the Dealer, Digger and Emerging Company gongs all went to lithium stocks.
How quickly sentiment changes.
When Diggers & Dealers released the first edition of its 2023 Gather Round program in May last year, the 60 companies that were due to present to a 2000-strong audience of investors, peers, advisers, media and stakeholders comprised:
- 29 gold stocks (or about 48 per cent of the total);
- 8 nickel stocks (13 per cent);
- 10 lithium stocks (17 per cent);
- 5 copper stocks (8 per cent);
- 6 rare earths stocks (10 per cent); and
- 2 uranium stocks (3 per cent).
Interest in the program make-up for this year’s Diggers & Dealers is therefore strong.
It is all but guaranteed that the number of lithium and nickel stocks will have dropped off. In fact, are there still eight ASX-listed, not-in-administration nickel stocks?
While nickel is the feather duster of 2024 – closely followed by lithium even if some spodumene concentrate producers remain profitable – gold players such as market leader Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) and Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR) are enjoying record prices for their precious metal.
And are there some green shoots suggesting a recovery in lithium in time for August’s Gather Round?
The rare earths sector – think Arafura Rare Earths (ASX: ARU) and the left-field exploration success St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) – is enjoying more favourable sentiment while copper has its fans – yet surprisingly few ASX-listed players to support. Maybe it is time for Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR) to resume its patronage of Gather Round Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
But the leading contender for this year’s commodities minor premiership must be uranium, even if the hype will be difficult to sustain when investor focus switches to development potential. Still, there is significant value to be had from a gaggle of exciting explorers such as Energy Metals (ASX: EME).
Expect this year, too, to hear from some fresh faces as a result of the corporate activity across the mining sector, not least driven by consolidation – think gold – and emergency surgery – in nickel and lithium as well as in lead and some of the smaller, higher-cost iron ore producers.
As producers who featured so prominently on last year’s Diggers & Dealers program are consigned to the chapter of past glories, expect increased focus by investors on unearthing the next generation of miners. Maybe it is time for players like VRX Silica (ASX: VRX), Magnetite Mines (ASX: MGT), Accelerate Resources (ASX: AX8) and Dreadnought Resources (ASX: DRE) to pick up a few more kicks.
As more than three decades of Diggers & Dealers have taught all, a lot can happen in the world of commodities from one Gather Round to the next.
