Site visits
There seemed to be a higher number of site visits than in the past couple of years, with Sirius Resources, AngloGold Ashanti/Independence Group, Doray Minerals, Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources, Western Areas, Saracen Mineral Holdings and Sandfire Resources all hosting analysts and media.
Sirius managing director Mark Bennett had an unfortunate accident on the media trip to Nova by walking into the wing of the plane, resulting in a nasty cut across his nose.
He was asked several times on Sunday night who had hit him and rather than admit what really happened, he devised a more interesting comeback: “You should see the other guy!”
News
The conference kicked off on a sombre note with one minute silence for Buxton Resources managing director Anthony Maslin, who lost his three children in the MH17 disaster.
There were a large number of companies releasing news on Monday morning to coincide with presentations, including Northern Star, Western Areas, Gryphon Minerals and Orbis Gold.
Gold Road created a lot of buzz with its 3.9 million ounce maiden Gruyere resource, with shares rising 15% on the day.
Overall, journalists in attendance found there were less stories around.
Last year the media focused on Goldfields consolidation with Barrick Gold and Alacer Gold having assets up for sale, but that process seems to be complete.
Northern Star boss Bill Beament said his company’s buying spree had probably spurred other companies on to approach the majors.
“I don’t think there’s much for sale to be honest,” he told media on the sidelines of the conference.
“Barrick has obviously done what they wanted to do and Newmont – I don’t think anyone is going to get Tanami off them.”
Instead, the attention turned to Atlas Iron amid speculation the company was a prime takeover target.
The chatter pushed Atlas’ shares up by more than 9% on Monday.
Managing director Ken Brinsden denied Atlas was for sale, but said the company constituted “really good value”
“I didn’t use the analogy during the presentation but there is a really clear proxy for value, in my mind, with Atlas and our undeveloped Pilbara projects and it arises from the recent Baosteel/Aurizon bid for Aquila,” he said at a press conference following his Diggers presentation.
“My argument would be that when you look at that valuation there is implied significant unrealised valuation in Atlas as a result of our undeveloped Pilbara assets.”
Gold companies used the conference to launch the Heart of Gold campaign to create public awareness around the contribution of gold to the Western Australian economy.
Silver Lake Resources MD Les Davis told MNN he was due to meet with Premier Colin Barnett this morning to discuss the issue.
Mood
Most delegates felt the mood was very positive, despite another tough year for the industry.
“In general we felt Diggers was a bit quieter this year but there was more quality there,” GMP Securities analyst Duncan Hughes said in a post-Diggers note.
“Rather than the usual array of PAs and IR people manning the booths, more CEOs were available thus enabling more detailed and meaningful discussion.
“There were also a lot more quality fund managers at the conference this year.”
One analyst told MNN was a higher number of overseas investors there and it certainly seemed like there was more “money” around.
Lion Selection Group’s Hedley Widdup told MNN that there was a number of senior figures who had returned to the conference after an absence.
“I lost count of how many people I bumped into who fit the bill of being very senior and high profile (sit on several boards of good sized companies, or are senior representatives of good sized banks or investment houses) and had not been in Kal for four or five years,” he said.
Booths
Despite numbers being down by around 100 on last year to 1900 delegates, there was still a lot of foot traffic around the exhibition.
Renaissance Minerals seemed to draw a crowd on the first day, while Northern Star’s booth was constantly busy and many noted that base metals companies seemed to attract a lot of interest.
Talga Resources MD Mark Thompson noted on Twitter that there were no graphite companies with booths at Diggers, with nickel, gold and iron ore continuing to dominate.
There weren’t too many good freebies or novelties around the booths but Western Areas’ Spotted Quoll stuffed animals were a surprise hit.
The company had nearly run out of quolls by Monday lunchtime and several were seen poking out of bags later that night.
Parties
Monday was the busiest night for events, with a number of dinners and parties held around town, including Deloitte, Macquarie, EY and Northern Star.
Atlas also held a cocktail function for journalists upstairs at the Palace Hotel.
Conversation was casual and Brinsden even let slip that his go-to karaoke tune was “Beautiful Stranger” by Madonna.
Perhaps next year’s media function should be a karaoke night?
Everyone eventually moved downstairs to the Northern Star party, where a jovial Beament said a few words and pledged that the company’s next goal was to “knock Newcrest off its perch”
It was Silver Lake and MacPherson Resources’ turn to host party-goers on Tuesday night.
Kalgoorlie businessman and MacPhersons director Ashok Parekh told the crowd that after last year keeping a glass of champagne in his fridge pending a Coalition federal election victory, this year, the glass was “half full”
As usual, Parekh flew in skimpies from the Gold Coast to man the bar at the Palace, which he owns.
MNN was told that it was the presence of skimpies that kept investment bank Goldman Sachs away from Diggers this year.
Crowds were noticeably down at the main drinking holes, the Palace and the Exchange, but taxi drivers reported business right up until the break of dawn.
It was surprising and amusing to be called a “pussy” by one cabbie for retiring at a more respectable 2:30am.
This writer (and many others) ended up with a case of “Palace throat”, a husky rasp that can only be cured by staying away from the Kalgoorlie establishment.
Until next year.
