And just like that, Diggers & Dealers 2024 came to end and – with it – three days and four nights of conversations about gold deals and lithium handouts.
When Diggers chairman Jim Walker brought down the curtains on action in the Goldfields Arts Centre just before 4pm, the more than 2500 delegates at this event had witnessed 66 company presentations over three days.
It was a lot to digest. Some would say too much.
Fittingly, it was last night’s awards ceremony at Diggers’ concluding WesTrac Gala Dinner that best told the story of this year’s talkfest – the Digger award when to a low-profile gold miner while the Dealer was a lithium company that orchestrated a sale before lithium prices tanked.
More on that in a minute.
Day 3 kicked off with a focus on flirtations, whether over coffee or something stronger, between Mark Zeptner’s Ramelius Resources (ASX: RMS) and rickshaw proponent Simon Lawson’s Spartan Resources (ASX: SPR). It remains unclear who is on top.
In the middle of the day came the now-familiar political interlude.
WA Mines Minister David Michael made his first appearance at the event, rounding out what arguably was the most political Diggers ever.
It was good to hear the Minister tell a gathered press pack that supportive feedback from gold miners had played a role in the Government’s long-awaited decision – announced on Tuesday – to keep The Perth Mint in public hands.
There were no signs of Government support for the struggling lithium sector, with a fairly clear “no” from the Minister to questions whether royalty relief was on the table.
This as Arcadium Lithium (ASX: LTM) flagged the closure of the Mt Cattlin mine, near Ravensthorpe, in what would be not only the latest lithium casualty but another blow to the Goldfields-Esperance jobs market.
But Michael did volunteer that he checked commodity prices every morning, something he said he had never envisaged doing.
The Minister therefore was aware that gold yesterday was trading around $3668 an ounce while silver was worth $41.70/oz.
It is easy to forget that this time last year the precious metals were at then-historic highs – gold around $2967/oz and silver at $36/oz – but completely overshadowed by the lithium hype.
Put another way, the Mint had a collection of gold and silver bars in its display at Booth 79 over the past three days that, on yesterday’s prices, were worth a combined $767,880. The stash would have been worth “only” $624,036 this time last year.
No wonder two armed security guards were on duty at all times though they also had to protect the Mint’s stash of gold chocolate bars – 900 were dished out this year, a huge step-up on last year.
In the small marquee, meanwhile, the good people at the BASF-sponsored fruit juice stand were squeezing the last of 750kg of oranges, 620kg apples and 550kg carrots.
Vitamins are always in hot demand though delegates also again turned to the Aggreko coffee stands, which ground 200kg of coffee beans and warmed up 800 litres of milk.
Coffee was needed to sit through the last session of presentations, which included the back-to-back pairing of Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) and Global Lithium (ASX: GL1).
And there is more than lithium – and the really bad time in the cycle – that combines these two stories.
First came Paul Brown, new CEO of Core. Having joined Core following a rather short stint as CEO of Hastings Technology Metals’ (ASX: HAS), Brown said his focus was to ensure Core’s mothballed Finniss lithium project in the Northern Territory remained ready for a quick start-up once lithium prices recovered.
“We are ideally positioned for a quick start-up if lithium recovers”, Brown told the audience, also highlighting the quality of the “well-built” mine and plant.
Even before joining Core, Brown would have had a fair knowledge of Finniss. While Brown ran Mineral Resources’ (ASX: MIN) lithium business – think Mt Marion and Wodgina – MinRes’ contracting arm CSI was awarded the crushing contract at Finniss.
Yesterday was Core’s third successive presentation at Diggers – and Brown the third company leader to represent the company. Turbulent times in the Territory.
Following Brown’s presentation, Global’s newly promoted executive chairman Ron Mitchell took to the stage and continued the talk about being able to jump-start when lithium conditions improve.
“Being ready for the rebound is exactly what we are here for,” Mitchell said as he highlighted the development program for Global’s Manna project 100km east of Kalgoorlie.
Mitchell also pointed to Global’s supportive investor base, which includes substantial shareholder MinRes. It’s a small world.
Time for a drink – which is exactly what we all did once the queue of gala dinner attendees, again stretching almost to Coolgardie, made its way into the marquee for the Diggers night of nights.
For the uninitiated, the Diggers awards are held in high regard by the industry they salute. Every conference, of course, has its awards and there is no shortage of awards that can be purchased.
But Diggers does stand out.
And as expected, gold and lithium stood out.
The Digger of the Year went to Emerald Resources (ASX: EMR), an under-the-radar Cambodian gold producer that has had a stellar few years. But, as boss Morgan Hart acknowledged in his acceptance speech, “we wouldn’t be here if not for the high gold price”. You got to be in it to win it.
The Dealer of the year went to Azure Minerals, nowadays owned jointly by Argentinian lithium giant SQM and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting following a $1.7 billion takeover completed earlier this year – before lithium really tanked.
No one was clear on why SQM’s table, in a very prominent position in the second row, remained empty all night.
The award to Azure reminded Diggers veterans of 2008 when Kerry Harmanis was recognised for selling his Jubilee Nickel to Xstrata for a top-of-the-cycle $3.1 billion.
WA1 Resources (ASX: WA1) was judged Best Emerging Company and will now have to try to avoid the pitfalls that regularly befall past winners of this category.
The Ray Finlayson Award for Leadership and Academic Excellence went to WA School of Mines mining engineering honours student Shayera Allen while the media award went to Rachel Pupazzoni, a senior national business reporter and presenter with the ABC.
The final – and most celebrated – gong was the GJ Stokes Memorial Award, named in honour of Diggers founder Geoffrey Stokes.
The winner was Michael Erickson, the former long-time AngloGold Ashanti senior executive.
His citation focused on almost four decades in mining and the time Erickson spent advocating for a better industry – including eight years as a director of the Minerals Council of Australia and nine years as an advisory board member of the Chamber of Minerals & Energy of WA.
“Michael is especially noted for his unwavering dedication to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace,” the citation added, something everyone in the marquee last night loudly agreed with. Congratulations to a well-deserved gold medallist.
And with that, the party started and continued until well after the Kalgoorlie Pizza Bar ran out of pizza – and kebabs, chips and crab sticks.
Before we blink too often, Diggers & Dealers 2025 will be upon us.
And here are a few predictions about stories that could emerge before we meet again in Kalgoorlie-Boulder next August:
- Greatland Gold will be digesting its blockbuster acquisition – Telfer and 70% of Havieron;
- Rio Tinto will have sold its Winu copper deposit in the Paterson Region to an ASX-listed base metals player;
- Northern Minerals will have started construction of its Browns Range heavy rare earths project; and
- IGO will change its name
Only time will tell.
