The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention is the world’s largest annual gathering of the mineral industry. This year’s event hosted over 25,000 attendees which included fund managers, analysts, newsletter writers, European money managers and retail investors.  Zimtu Capital participated in the convention’s Investors Exchange with a double booth where we invited some of our core holdings to join us.

The traffic to the booth remained steady throughout the show and was complimented by our good location, next to Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXv: CCE) and across from Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSXv: MMS).  As an exhibitor at this busy show, we had more opportunities than ever before to meet with the large crowd of industry professionals.

People Talking Critical Metals
On the 3rd day of PDAC, Zimtu Capital hosted the Critical Metals Emergency Summit. This invitation-only event examined the current and future markets for rare earth elements and other critical metals, and discussed the stance of governments, the financial community and exploration companies to the current scarcity of supply.  John Kaiser (Kaiser Online Research), David Diamond (US Department of Energy, Critical Metals Task Force) and Jim Sims (Molycorp) all gave lively talks from their respective positions in the industry. 

The networking reception that followed the presentations allowed attendees to interact directly with the rare earth element experts.   Here are some pictures:

Find the entire set of pictures on Flickr. 

A Piece of History on Display
A feature “draw” at this year’s event was undoubtedly the Phoenix 1, one of the three rescue capsules built to retrieve the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground last year.  The 21-inch wide, bullet-shaped capsule, stopped many attendees in their tracks and brought to life the dramatic lifesaving operation.  This was the first time that any of the three capsules have been on display in North America.  

We’re in the Book
The official brochure for PDAC 2011 included an interview with Zimtu Capital director Ryan Fletcher who discussed the Company’s business model, activities in 2010 and plans for 2011.  Over 20,000 copies of the publication were distributed to attendees.  Click Here to view the interview.

Looking forward to PDAC 2012 and seeing you there.