Wrap up – Diggers & Dealers 2011 Conference

Some of the highlights of the just wrapped up Diggers and Dealers Mining Conference Held  in the gold-prospecting hub of Kalgoorlie, Western australia from 01 Aug- 03 August 2011.

Diggers & Dealers Conference 2011- Highlights

For a forum that started with a dozen blokes in a pub in the West Australian mining town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Diggers and Dealers has morphed into the largest mining conference of its type in Australia and the third largest in the world.

The dealing and digging at Kalgoorlie WA

Iron ore company Gindalbie Metals’ has earned it the Dealer of the Year award at the Diggers and Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie due to managing  a clever relationship with Chinese steel maker Ansteel

The digger of the year was WA-based miner Independence group which has made major developments on their mines near Kambalda in the Goldfields.

Small miners complained  that the big miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Xstrata – will be able to manipulate the MRRT’s rules to claim depreciation of their existing multi-billion-dollar mining assets against their expected MRRT liability, and almost completely negate the effect of the tax on their profits.

Gold miner Ramelius Resources is cashed up and ready for acquisitions. Ramelius’ shares have jumped more than 300 per cent in 2010/11, from 39 cents.

The dealermaker award went to Ivanhoe Capital Corporation for its success in developing gold and coal projects in Mongolia and Queensland.

KEITH JONES, MANAGING PARTNER DELOITTE (WESTERN AUSTRALIA), on china’s growth

"The going out policy initiated by the Chinese government at the turn of the century resulted in a surge of direct Chinese investment, up from $500 million in 2000 to $59 billion in 2010. While Australia remains one of the preferred destinations for Chinese investments, other regions such as Africa and Latin America have seen accelerated inflows of Chinese capital over the past three years."

Joseph Riggio, of Casimir Capital, says cashed up investors in New York, Boston and Chicago want to diversify out of the floundering US dollar and are increasingly looking to ASX listed miners to do that. He said "There’s a perception that Australian companies represent a better value than their Canadian counterparts because of their focus on cash flow,"