Convention energy high as PDAC attendees return to Toronto
The annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention celebrated its 90th year, returning to its 3 day in-person format in Toronto. While numbers were lower than usual, the energy and enthusiasm were high on the Trade Show and Investors Exchange floors with over 17,000 people in attendance.
acQuire welcomed the return to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the opportunity to reconnect with our customers, partners and wider mineral exploration industry. Here’s our highlights from the convention:
Environmental, social and governance initiatives front of mind
ESG factors dominated much of the discussion at this year’s PDAC, with many conversations about equity, diversity and inclusion, critical minerals and sustainability. Teck Resources’ vice president of sustainable development discussed how mines of the future will continue to need technology to be able to meet the rising demand for critical minerals for decarbonisation, while minimising their impact on the environment.
The global mining industry faces the unique challenge of producing more metals to support decarbonization, while reducing its carbon emissions. Currently the sector is responsible for 4-7% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, according to McKinsey.
Supporting this focus, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources who spoke at the convention’s Opening Ceremonies, released a discussion paper informing Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy.
“Critical minerals offer an enormous economic opportunity for Canada as the world transitions to a green and digital economy. Our government is committed to making Canada a world leader in critical minerals, from exploration to recycling,” says Wilkinson.
During a discussion panel featuring guest speakers from several exploration companies, the speakers explained the resource sector needs to focus on decarbonising the mineral extraction process, particularly when it comes to critical and battery minerals which are going to become more and more in demand.
Uncertainty leads to mixed market sentiment
The overall market outlook featured concerns about rising inflation, a potential recession and economic policy. Many commodity prices are currently elevated due to supply chain difficulties, war and rising demand, and stock market bearishness has led to investor confidence being low and increased risk of aversion.
Junior explorers are facing issues such as reduced access to capital and land, while majors, finding new deposits is crucial. However, as has been a continued theme for some time, it is becoming increasingly complex to mine ore reserves and find larger deposits.
New technology showcased
After a two year gap since the last in-person PDAC, companies across the trade show were eager to showcase the latest developments in their products developed for the mining industry. Software companies highlighted new products and functionality, while other companies were showcasing the continued advancements in drones, robotics, AI and machine learning.
The acQuire team were excited to showcase big changes across acQuire’s product suite with powerful information management solutions for companies working with geoscientific data. Since the last in-person PDAC, acQuire had launched GIM Suite 5 for geological data management and its new addition for environmental data management, EnviroSys 9. PDAC provided the perfect opportunity for customers and the mineral exploration industry to see the new software features and capabilities in action at the acQuire booth.
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