This year’s PDAC was a great opportunity to connect with the mining & exploration industry, government, investors and more.  For the Canadian Securities Exchange it was particularly eventful because in addition to having a very busy booth at the Investor’s Exchange,  our team was also involved in keynote addresses, panels, networking events (including the parties!) and interviews.

The PDAC has continued to be the conference where mining and exploration companies and investors (big and small) converge to talk about the state of the industry, raise capital and talk about what’s coming next.

With so much going on, there’s no shortage of things to reflect on, however here is a sample of what we got up to at the convention and our thoughts on what the remainder of 2014 holds for the industry.

CSE Booth & Investor Exchange

Our booth was a hub of activity over the course of the conference.  Representatives from the CSE team were available at the booth to answer questions about the many exciting developments underway and for those who simply wanted to learn more about us.  We were also joined by some of our listed issuers at the booth including Augustine Ventures (WAW), Copper Reef Mining (CZC), Newlox Gold (LUX), Tartisan Resources (TTC), Excalibur Resources (XBR) and BacTech Environmental (BAC).

Click here for a full gallery of images from the show floor.

Our conference swag also brought in curious passers by who were interested in getting their “shine on” with our CSE-branded screen wipes and shoe shiners.

Convention Activities

There were lots of exciting conversations, sessions and activities outside of the exhibition hall that we participated in. Here are some of the highlights:

Mining Outlook Luncheon

One of the first big events was the sold-out mining outlook luncheon. Deputy Chairman of the CSE, Ned Goodman, was the keynote speaker at this session and he provided the audience with an entertaining and thoughtful perspective of the current state of the global economy with a particular focus on currency and gold.  We’ve pulled together an interesting selection of tweets from folks in the audience at the presentation.

An Exchange with the Exchanges

CSE’s CEO Richard Carleton participated in the panel discussion on the role that stock exchanges can play in assisting mining (and in particular junior mining) and exploration companies in navigating the current capital raising crisis. Joining Richard on the panel was Eddie Grieve of the Australian Stock Exchange, Francis Stenning of Bolsa de Valores de Lima, Peru and John McCoach of the TSX Venture Exchange.

At this event Richard outlined some important points about what exchanges can do and what other stakeholder partners can do in order to help companies adapt to the new market realities. On the exchange side, the CSE is lowering the cash and operational burden for companies to maintain a public listing and making it easier for trading desks to access market data.

Examples of  the impact of disclosure policy on companies was also highlighted. The Australian Stock Exchange was shown as an example of an exchange that confronted the issue of regulatory burden and the success and challenges it experienced as a result.

One very interesting point that came up was the idea of regulatory-driven restrictions on the kinds of investments that could be recommended to individuals based on their age. Richard Carleton aptly framed what he found troublesome about this when he pointed out that by restricting the age that certain products could be recommended to individuals, people such as Ned Goodman would be steered away from investing in equities.

Networking Lunch/Make the Switch Seminar

A packed house attended the networking lunch co-sponsored by the CSE, MNP LLP and Chitiz Pathak LLP. Attendees were treated to lunch as well as some food for thought as several CSE-listed companies presented a brief snapshot of their company story. A hats off goes to CSE Senior VP Robert Cook for being able to keep everyone on course during the presentations.

CEO Richard Carleton also provided some brief highlights on the recent performance of the exchange and on the exciting forthcoming developments at the CSE – including further progress with getting more online brokerages to provide online trading and real-time data to their clients.

After the networking lunch, the CSE provided a quick overview of what was involved in transitioning to listing on the CSE, including details on timing and the steps required.  For more information on the process, click here.

Click here for a full gallery from the event.

Ned Goodman on BNN

For those who know Ned Goodman, he is not one to beat around the bush. The electric interview between him and Howard Green of BNN’s Headline was a great snapshot of Ned’s views on gold and on what it takes to successfully run and manage mining companies. Click the following link to access this interview.

Overall Impressions

The PDAC, especially this year, exemplified the resilient spirit of the mining industry. When faced with adversity, the industry is working creatively to adapt to the current market and the CSE, with its advocacy efforts and solutions for industry partners, is proud to be a part of that solution.

With the number of deals, announcements and meetings that took place at the PDAC, 2014 looks to be an exciting year ahead for the industry and most certainly for the CSE and our partners. We’re grateful for the connections we have made and look forward to building off the positive momentum from PDAC.