A miner, an auto executive and a tech investor walk into a bar…
And this week in downtown Toronto, at least, there’s a good chance they’ll make a deal. In its 92nd year, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada’s annual convention has become a hot ticket for a whole new crowd.
“Until two and a half months ago, we had exactly zero deal flow coming in from the mining community … Something happened in the last three months,” said tech investor John Ruffolo, founder and managing partner of Maverix Private Equity, on a panel discussing artificial intelligence in mining. “I could see us for the first time actually making investments in the sector.”
Ruffolo said AI has the potential to make mining more productive and sustainable at a time where the world has a “thirst” for many of these minerals. Theo Yameogo, EY Americas and Canada mining and metals leader, said interest from other industries also reflects the “new play” in the mining industry: talks directly with the end users of metals, like battery makers Northvolt and Volkswagen.
“We’re talking about how some execs from Ford will be at the EY cocktail party tonight. And that didn’t happen before.”
That may come as a surprise to some, since many automakers have slowed their EV plans in recent months. But many at the conference seemed confident there will be a long-term market for EVs.
“You can imagine the risk of taking your brand, doing something new, unusual—maybe something unexpected for the core F-150 buyer—and then making that work. But the Lightning has been one of the most successful product launches that we’ve had,” said Ford’s chief government affairs officer Christopher Smith in a speech at the event.
“Normally you wouldn’t see a Ford here at this convention,” he said. “We’re here as a source of demand as a customer for many of the folks here in this room.”
Here are three trends from the floor of the 30,000-strong annual gathering, and the conversations that spilled out into the nearby bars and restaurants:
Tired: Nickel traders. Wired: Lithium traders. The mood around battery metals was mixed. Indonesian nickel is flooding the market, depressing the metal’s prices.
But lithium, which Yameogo noted is more explicitly tied to the battery market, seemed to stoke optimism among attendees. Shares of Frontier Lithium, for example, were up almost 47 per cent in the five days ending March 6, after it announced an investment from Mitsubishi.
The budget looms: The April 16 federal budget is expected to include details on an Indigenous loan guarantee program that would help Indigenous investors participate in major projects. Kimberly Lavoie, assistant deputy minister at Natural Resources Canada, said in a panel discussion that the government aims to ensure “Indigenous businesses have the opportunity to get the best bang for their buck.”
Trade alliances solidifying: In perhaps the biggest news of PDAC week, SRG Mining called off its $16.9-million investment from a Chinese investor after Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne told a Globe and Mail reporter at the conference that he would not let companies circumvent rules requiring national security reviews of foreign critical-mineral investors.
Still, plenty of trade discussions were forging ahead with Canada’s close trade partners like the U.K.
“We need to be working with other like-minded countries to make sure those supply chains are resilient,” said David Prodger, British deputy high commissioner to Canada, in an interview on the sidelines.
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Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of John Ruffolo’s name.
