Commodities

Project Stages

Stock Exchange

Register to access content

If you already have an account please log in.

By registering my information with the Beacon Events I recognise that I may receive information and updates around other related mining and mining investment events managed by Beacon Events.

The content you are trying to access is for registered users only

Click here to register your account.

NOTE: You will need to register with the same email address that you used when registering for the event to receive access.

Already have an account? Click here to log in.

The content you are trying to access is for authorised users only

NOTE: You will need to have registered with the same email address that you used when registering for the event to receive access.

Please use a different account to access this content.

This is the second of five articles on the forecasts, and opinions, from Mining Beacon's 5,000 registered delegates at its eight conferences during 2019 in Hong Kong, New York, Helsinki, Vancouver, Brisbane, Melbourne and two in London.

Mining Beacon regularly polls the views of delegates at its conferences, and because of their level of seniority and expertise (not least from regularly attending expert presentations) these opinions have significant value. 

The polled delegate opinions have been divided into five categories: commodities, countries, companies, technology and mining generally. In this summary, we look at the poll results on questions related to national activity and regional-investment trends.

Country Consensus

At the Mines and Money Asia conference in Hong Kong during April 2019, delegates were asked for their opinion of the most exciting target countries for mining investment in South East Asia. The top choices in a multiple-choice poll were Indonesia and Myanmar, each with a 25% share of the total (fully 44% of the respondees mentioned these countries), and Thailand (13% of the total votes).

The same delegates were asked about the most exciting countries in Central and North Asia, with Mongolia getting fully 57% of the total votes cast (80% of those polled listed the country in their ranking). Kazakhstan was the only other country to register significant support, scoring 29% of the total (being mentioned by 40% of those polled).

Poll results captured on-site at Mines and Money Asia 2019

The biggest risk facing the Asian mining industry were seen by MM Asia delegates as the social and environmental licence to operate (35% of the total votes cast), security of tenure (30%) and operational issues (20%).

The same set of questions were amongst those asked of delegates at Energy Mines and Money in Brisbane during June 2019. Delegates voted almost exactly the same way as those in Hong Kong; with Indonesia and Myanmar again topping the poll for SE Asia countries, and Mongolia and Kazakhstan getting the nod for Central and North Asia.

Delegates at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne during October 2019 were asked their opinion of the single most prospective mining country in Latin America. Peru secured 35% of the vote, with Chile getting 27%, Ecuador 19% and Brazil 15%.

There were no relevant 'geographic' poll questions at MM New York (in May 2019), Mines and Technology (MT) Helsinki (also May 2019), MT Vancouver (June 2019) or the two conferences in London during November 2019. 

The Takeaway: The popularity of Peru and Chile in Latin America, Mongolia and Kazakhstan in C&N Asia, and Indonesia in SE Asia, come as no surprise. The votes for Myanmar, however, were not expected given the ongoing political problems in the country. More generally, the difficulty for the global exploration sector is, of course, the shortage of finance. Overall exploration budgets fell 3% last year to US$9.8 billion, with the budget of junior companies dropping 10%. Moreover, the exploration expenditure was dominated last year, as usual, by Australia (where allocated expenditure rose 15% to a 17-year high of US$1.5 billion), Canada (down 9% to US$1.31 billion) and the USA (up 11% to US$0.94 billion). These three countries accounted for over 38% of the global total in 2019, leaving sparse pickings for everyone else. 

Do you agree with the opinion of our delegates in 2019? Comment below to let us know what you think about the polling results.

More from this author

1 June 2023

Mines and Money Connect Melbourne 2023 agenda at a glance

Below you will find the agenda, a snapshot of the key topics.

20 May 2023

MINES AND MONEY CONNECT MELBOURNE

The Mines and Money event series returns to Melbourne in June

20 April 2023

Mines and Money Connect London 2023 Showguide

Showguide

7 March 2023

Sterling list of Thought Leaders to Speak at Mines and Money Connect

Mines and Money is pleased to present a strong list of renowned thought leaders

22 February 2023

Mines and Money Miami 2023 Showguide

Mines and Money is the leading international event series for capital raising and mining investment.

9 December 2022

Mines and Money Heads to Miami

Europe’s leading mining event, Mines and Money, is coming to North America from 23 – 24 February 2023

11 November 2022

THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS MINING AWARDS IN EUROPE ANNOUNCES ESG SHORT-LIST

Resourcing Tomorrow is excited to announce the short-listed nominees for

17 September 2022

Rio Tinto's CEO Confirmed the Most Prestigious Mining Awards in London

Mines and Money Awards for Outstanding Achievement and Gala Dinner will take place at the Bloomsbury Big Top in London on December 1, 2022

6 August 2022

3 big opportunities in technology

Oleg Maksimov believes that automation, data, and advancements in drilling technology are key to innovating the mining industry.

4 August 2022

Sri Lanka is one of the best kept secrets for graphite mining

Bharat Parashar, CEO of Ceylon Graphite discusses their latest drill results, the current demand for graphite, and the benefits of Sri Lanka

Join us at one of our Upcoming Events