PDAC, 2019

I attended the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto again last weekend.

It was very well attended, in spite of a new $25 charge for access to the Investor's Exchange, where hundreds of companies have set up booths hoping to rile and beguile investors with their "grande histoire de jour!"  

This new charge did cause some consternation. I did witness the outrage of two little old ladies, who argued with the reception staff, to no effect.  They finally refused to pay, and left the convention.  I watched as they got into their Rolls Royce Phantoms, and headed back to the Bridal Path to take their morning constitution.

The convention was very well attended.  The companies I chatted with mostly had cash in the bank ready to deploy.  It may be that these companies have not been this well off since before the Great Recession.

I found what I was looking for in less than 30 minutes - companies with money; an active drilling program; near known gold finds; with a reasonable number of shares outstanding.  I will do searches of the officers and directors before I buy to make sure they have not had securities exchange convictions, and off we go!

There was less hilarity this time around.  

I did visit one company that advised me that they were just putting permits in place to start mining, and they should be ready to go very soon.  That was in 2009.  They are still peddling the same story.  Good luck with that.

Do you remember this company from my blog on PDAC, 2018?...

"Another told a tale of the $20 Million that lenders were lining up to give him for a mill to process Cobalt - they were just comparing terms. He had previously built a mill, and one should be up and running in less than a year.  

All good, but then he mentioned that for the first three years the mill would process Gold-bearing ore from Quebec until the debt to build the mill had been paid off.  

WTF?

Why build a mill to process Cobalt if you immediately use it to process Gold for three years? Hmm...maybe you're not ready to mine Cobalt? 

And if many lenders just can't wait to lend $20 Million for this rock solid investment...well...why haven't they lent the money yet?" 

I visited them again this year.  I was advised that they were off to China this month to meet investors who may want to build them a plant to process all that lovely Cobalt!  Of course, there was no mention of the $20 Million they mentioned the year before, or anything else I noted from last year.  

I asked them if they had any money? The answer..."None....that's not how this work." I didn't buy.

All in all, I thought the PDAC was a great success.

Better than the PDAC itself was the opportunity to catch up with friends and my many cousins at dinners and lunches across the city.  A good time was had by all, and everyone seemed to be doing well....a true blessing indeed.