There will only be a small number of Australian companies flying the flag at this year’s event.

Uranium plays Peninsula Energy and A-Cap Resources, as well as niobium hopeful Cradle Resources, are the three Australian companies to speak at Indaba this year.

Those companies, plus Cardinal Resources, Gryphon Minerals, Peak Resources, Kibaran Resources and Brisbane-based AIM hopeful IronRidge Resources are listed as having booths.

As MiningNews.net reported after last year’s conference, many mining companies feel that service providers have taken over. Suppliers now dominate the exhibition space with actual mining and exploration companies few and far between.

One miner said Indaba had lost its relevance on the global conference circuit, while others can’t justify the hefty travel, accommodation and attendance costs in the current market, favouring Perth’s Africa Down Under conference in September instead.

The criticism that Indaba has become a trade show is evident in the speaker line-up.

Australian-listed service providers Thiess, Macmahon Holdings and Orica are listed as presenters, something not seen in previous years, while suppliers will dominate the exhibition hall once again.

But even if Australian companies with African projects aren’t presenting or exhibiting, they will still be in Cape Town, albeit some with slimmed down representation.

GMP Securities’ invitation-only Mining Jamboree, which starts tomorrow near Cape Town, will feature presentations from majors not speaking at Indaba like Goldcorp and Franco-Nevada.

There are also a large amount of Australian companies speaking: Resolute Mining, Mineral Deposits, Perseus Mining, Equatorial Resources, Triton Minerals, Base Resources, Tiger Resources, Regal Resources and Cradle, as well as Perth-based, Toronto-listed Sarama Resources.

As well as the Jamboree, there is also a newcomer in Cape Town this year.

On Monday, 121 Mining Investment Cape Town will kick off with an inaugural two-day event.

The event is only open to investors and mining companies and is designed to provide “an exclusive forum away from the hustle and bustle”

Australian companies Bannerman Resources, Namibian Copper, Deep Yellow, Kibaran and Cardinal are slated to speak.

Mining Indaba is also holding an Investment Discovery Forum on Sunday and Monday which will be limited to 300 investors.

The forum has been expanded over two days for the first time, perhaps to counter the competitor events and address some of the criticism around the main conference.

ASX-listed Lemur Resources, Middle Island Resources and A-Cap are on the line-up.

So the evidence strongly suggests companies are still making the trip to Cape Town in February, though many go for the meetings and networking opportunities around Indaba, eliminating the need to fork out for a delegate pass.

A spokeswoman for Indaba told affiliated publication MiningNews.net that the event was on track to host 7000 delegates, down on 2013’s record of 7800 but still a respectable number.

One planned attendee suggested the negative sentiment around the number of delegates was misplaced given the expected turnout.

But attendances in general are expected to be lower due to the Ebola outbreak and the associated travel restrictions.

Foreign citizens arriving from Ebola-affected countries Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are not permitted to enter South Africa and many airlines have suspended routes in and out of those nations.

Market conditions and Ebola have also limited the number of site visits with fewer companies taking investors, analysts and journalists to projects this year.

If invitations are anything to go by, there are set to be fewer functions and events around Cape Town as well.

This year’s keynote is former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He founded the Africa Governance Initiative in 2008, which works with African governments to improve regulation and investment oversight.

As usual, the conference will also feature speeches from Ivanhoe Mines founder Robert Friedland, AngloGold Ashanti CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan and Rio Tinto Diamonds & Minerals CEO Alan Davies.

There has been a noticeable uptick in announcements this week from Africa-focused companies.

Regal has announced a funding deal and resource upgrade, Peak and Walkabout Resources secured funds, Cradle released metallurgical results and there have been exploration

updates from Kibaran, Cardinal, Triton, Metals of Africa, Burey Gold and Birimian Gold.