Once again Diggers and Dealers is done and dusted and all that is left to do is shake off the hangover, process all the information that has spewed out and look forward to next year’s event. This year Diggers nearly didn’t go ahead but the owners took a leap of faith and pencilled in the October dates and then worked their butts off to ensure it happened. Congratulations to the organisers for bringing together a wonderful three days of presentations, displays and functions.
For me a couple of the outstanding presentations were from Mincor and De Grey who outlined really exciting projects that they are involved in. They are two companies that people should keep an eye on as the projects advance. That is not to say that all the other presentations weren’t good. Quite the contrary as the quality of the presentations this year was high.
This year the forum seemed to have an extra buzz about it as people are very bullish on the mining sector at the moment. The locals in Kalgoorlie Boulder are expressing more confidence in the sector as well and town is really humming at the moment. There are many projects in the pipeline that the local council is working hard on and this is on the back of Lynas starting construction of their processing plant on the outskirts of the city. If they all come to fruition Kalgoorlie and surrounds is in for a huge lift.
At the end of every Diggers they have a gala night and awards are presented in different categories. The winners of this year’s awards are:
The prestigious GJ Stokes Memorial Award went to Ms Gina Rinehart. The award is in honour of Geoffrey Stokes who started the forum in 1992, with 150 delegates. Sadly, Geoffrey passed away in 1997 at an early age but his legacy lives on and also recognised in the naming of the award. As an aside, on Thursday morning after Diggers, the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder laid a plaque in Hannan Street outside the Palace Hotel, the original home of Diggers, as part of their Walk of Fame program.
Ms Rinehart is the first women to receive the award, which is made to someone who has made an exceptional lifetime contribution to the mining industry. Ms Rinehart took over the Hancock company in the same year Diggers started and has steered the company to be the behemoth it is now. Her astute business acumen has seen her increase her privately owned assets immensely but has also allowed her to do successful joint venture projects that have increased the value of the company.
Another of the awards, Dealer of the Year, seemed to be a no brainer and was not a surprise when dual winners, Raleigh Finlayson’s Saracen Mineral and Bill Beament’s Northern Star, were announced. This comes off the back of their respective companies each buying 50% of the famous Kalgoorlie Superpit within a month of each other earlier this year. The purchase was a great boon to the local community and has instilled new confidence in the sector in the region. Add to that their yet to be approved $16B merger and these companies have really set the pace in 2020. They are both young and energetic, which augers well for the new merged company.
Ramelius Resources took out the Digger of the Year award after announcing a 420% increase in net profit. This came from its operations in the mid-west around Mt Magnet, the Vivien Project near Agnew and in the Westonia Green belt, the Edna May mine. Producing 230,00koz last financial year it was a great year for the diggers.
Exciting explorer De Grey Mining won the emerging company award for its work in the Pilbara and the discovery of the Hemi project.
Other awards were presented to Dominic Piper in the media category and Georgia Kerr who was presented with the Ray Finlayson prize for Leadership and Academic Excellence.
Congratulations to all the award winners and a big thanks to Myles Ertzen, Sharon Giorgetta and their team at Diggers for once again putting on a great forum and showcasing the great city of Kalgoorlie Boulder.