One of the leading advocates for the Canadian mining industry is preparing to step down from his role as executive director of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.
Tony Andrews will retire after the PDAC’s annual convention, which gets under way in Toronto on Sunday.
“I’m contemplating some new challenges,’’ said Andrews, who has led the association’s efforts in the area of corporate social responsibility and government relations. But he said he is in no hurry to decide on what to do next.
It will be the 24th consecutive convention for the Toronto-based geologist who has seen some very significant changes in the last two decades.
When he joined the PDAC in 1987 the association was viewed as merely an Ontario organization and the annual prospectors’ convention was a window on exploration in Canada, attended by roughly 4,000 delegates.
This year, a record 23,000 registrants from 125 countries are expected to mix and mingle in the trade show halls, a reflection of how Canadian mining has expanded its reach to become a truly global industry.
PDAC 2011 will play host to 60 official delegations and government officials from Afghanistan, Chile, India, Mongolia and Brazil.
Andrews said what is now the world’s biggest mining show has grown so quickly that there isn’t enough space in the Metro Convention Centre to accommodate the number of people and exhibitors who want to participate.
“We aren’t planning to move because there isn’t another venue in Toronto that could accommodate us,’’ Andrews said.
But if much has changed in the industry, there are many things that remain the same.
As usual, the attendees are attracted by the opportunity to check out new mineral discoveries and get a sense of what’s happening exploration-wise not only in Canada but in just about every corner of the globe.
“What they come for is networking, information, and education on the myriad of topics that are presented,’’ Andrews said, adding that the focus this year will be on Africa and Canada.
The opportunity to do deals remains a major draw.
“The deal making happens everywhere,’’ Andrews said. “I have seen it in the lineups for registration. I have seen it at head table receptions. You put these people together like this and deals are going to happen at every level.’’
A major talking point this year will be soaring iron ore prices and the imminent launch of Black Iron Inc., a Toronto-based company which is gearing up to go public in a bid to fund the Shymanivske iron ore deposit in the Ukraine.
“Black Iron is expected to come out of the starting gate with a $200 million market cap,’’ said Nick Tintor, President and CEO of Southern Andes Energy Inc. (TSX: V.SUR, Stock Forum).
But the often boisterous convention isn’t just about deals. This year again, it will spotlight some of the bigger issues facing the mining industry and investors at large.
They include environment concerns and the need for companies to focus on corporate social responsibility.
“The world has changed a lot,’’ said Andrews. “Twenty years ago it was all environment. Now the focus is on community engagement, human rights, and making sure that you are sensitive to community needs,’’ he said.
In keeping with tradition, high profile speakers have been lined up to discuss the issues that are uppermost in the minds of investors.
On Monday, Sprott Asset Management Founder Eric Sprott will give a luncheon speech titled “Investment Survival in a Meltdown,’’ On Tuesday it will be the turn of Donald Coxe, a Strategy Advisor with BMO Financial Group to lead a panel discussion on commodity consumption in China.
On Wednesday, “Climate Change and associated environmental and economic costs will be the topic of a discussion lead by Lawrence Solomon. A columnist with the National Post, Solomon is also the founder and managing director of Energy Probe Research Foundation.
There will be prizes too.
Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne will receive a special achievement award for directing the rescue of 33 miners from the San Jose mine last year. In keeping with that theme, the Pheonix 1 mine rescue capsule will be on display at the convention.
Yukon prospector Shawn Ryan has won the Prospector of the Year Award for his gold discoveries in the Yukon Territories. “He did some beautiful geological and prospecting work on placer gold and found the source,’’ said Andrews.
In 2004, Ryan identified the anomaly that led Underworld Resources to its White Gold deposit and the subsequent $138 million takeover by Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX: T.K, Stock Forum).
This year, the Viola R. MacMillan Award for mine development goes to Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX: T.AEM, Stock Forum) and (NYSE: AEM, Stock Forum).
Aside from celebrating achievement, the convention is also a venue for parties.
As usual the beer and wine will be flowing at dozens of company hospitality suites in Toronto’s Royal York Hotel and elsewhere.
All of that activity makes the 4-day convention a major money spinner which is expected to pump about $45 million into the local economy, said Saley Lawton, the PDAC’s communications director. (Lawton is also set to retire after PDAC 2011).
Accounting for 78% of the association’s annual revenue, Andrews said the convention is the engine that drives advocacy work on behalf of the industry and many programs such as the focus on corporate responsibility.
Meanwhile, as convention organizers gear up for a record year, they are already preparing for 2012.
“Basically it’s a year-long process,’’ Andrews said.
After stepping down from the executive director in about three months from now, he plans to continue to do advocacy work on behalf of the mining industry.
PDAC sources said the association has yet to select a successor.