(Kitco News) - After years of being ignored, the mining sector is seeing a resurgence of interest as a record number of people attended the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) hosted its annual convention.
Organizers said, in a press release on Wednesday, that 32,155 participants from around the world converged on Toronto, Canada, marking the highest attendance in the event’s 94-year history.
The annual conference brought together mining executives, investors, government officials, Indigenous leaders and students for four days of networking, investment discussions and industry programming at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
“There was a clear sense of energy throughout the convention,” said PDAC President Karen Rees. “Strong commodity markets are contributing to optimism across the sector. At the same time, governments and the public are recognizing more clearly how essential minerals are to economic growth, electrification, defence and modern technologies.”
This year’s event also set a new record for its trade show, featuring more than 1,300 exhibitors, making it the largest exhibition footprint in the conference’s history.
While PDAC saw record attendance this year, some analysts note that sentiment at the conference was still relatively subdued. Some analysts said that although capital is flowing into the sector, many generalist and retail investors remain hesitant to jump into the market.
In a panel discussion at the conference, Nawojka Wachowiak, portfolio manager at Ninepoint, said that she suspects investors are still gathering information before jumping into the sector.
Some analysts said that because of the gains mining equities and broader indexes have made in the last 12 months, generalists are afraid that they are buying at the top. However, the consensus among most market professionals is that there is still plenty of room for prices to move higher.
The consensus among analysts is that the mining sector is well off the bottom after more than a decade-long bear market, but is still nowhere near the top.
“Yes, investors who were sitting on the sidelines missed the first $2,000 or $3,000 move in gold, but they don’t have to miss the next $3,000 because that is coming,” said Byron King, Editor at Paradigm Press Group. “Even with the momentum, we have seen gold miners are still underowned. There is still a lot of lift in the market.”
Erik Wetterling, founder of the Hedgeless Horseman, said that he expects it's only a matter of time before generalist invests jump back into the market.
“At these prices, we should expect to see a wall of worry, but it won’t take much to get over that,” he said.
