For the first time in its 17-year history, The RIU Explorers Conference has had to expand to a three-day event to meet the overwhelming demand from resource companies seeking to present and/or exhibit.
The conference – to be held from Tuesday 20th February to Thursday 22nd February at the Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle – will feature presentations from 58 resource companies exploring and/or mining for commodities ranging from precious metals (gold and silver), base metals (copper, nickel and zinc) through to the in-vogue energy metals (cobalt and lithium).
The event – which has always begun the resource conference year – will also feature over 70 exploration and mining companies, government bodies and mining services companies in the RIU Explorers Conference exhibition area.
Vertical Events Founder and Managing Director Stewart McDonald said the demand from companies to present and exhibit at the conference showed the exploration and mining sector was well and truly back in business.
The response by explorers and miners to present and exhibit and from delegates to attend the conference has been overwhelming, requiring Vertical Events to expand the conference by another day,” he said.
“We sold out of all presentation spots and exhibition booths with still two months to go before the conference started.
“This not only illustrates that the resources sector has rebounded, but also highlights the calibre of the 2018 program which includes the who’s who of the junior and mid-cap market CEO’s along with a bustling exhibition area.
“In this current market – with zinc and copper hitting decade high prices as well as significant interest in the energy metal space from the electric powered car revolution – junior through to midcap explorers and miners are now more than ever attracting an ever-growing group of brokers, fund managers and investors to hear about and gain an understanding of their companies and the sector.”
Meanwhile nominees for the 2018 Craig Oliver award – presented annually to an ‘all round’, small-to-mid cap Australian mining company which has excelled over the past 12 months – have been announced.
This year’s nominees include Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR), Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS), Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR), Syrah Resources (ASX: SYR) and Xanadu Mines (ASX:XAM).
The award is in memory of Craig Oliver who passed away on Saturday 16 June 2010 when the Sundance Resources plane he was on tragically crashed in the Congo with the loss of all people on board.
