Earlier this week the MiningIR team dropped into the 121 mining investment conference at County Hall in London. Its an iconic venue, overlooking Westminster and the Thames and it was an iconic event that will be talked about for some time to come.
The format of the conference is unusual in that the presentations are not the highlight. The 130 or so companies represented had individual private booths and were fully booked with top class investor meetings. the atmosphere was positive, which hasn’t been felt in London for some time. Money was on the move and announcements thick and fast.
One company told us that around 50% of their ownership came directly from meetings at last year’s event…!
Our top pick from the event is unfortunately a non-specific tie. We just couldn’t decide…
1a: AIM listed minerals exploration company IronRidge Resources. The company closed a £5.4m placement while at the show which surrounded them with a lot of buzz and talk. IRR have a diversified portfolio of gold, lithium, bauxite, titanium and iron ore in frontier regions of Africa and Australia. Definitely one to watch!
1b: Cypress Development Corp. You know there’s a soft spot for REEs in our camp and Cypress are holding a treasure trove of volcanic ash hosted lanthanides, add to that their primary lithium project and friendly board and you’ve ticked enough boxes for me.
It was a competitive week in the battery metal space with a large amount of cobalt and lithium plays jumping on each other’s feet. Nemaska Lithium were showing off their massive fundraising and a few new private (but not for long) gems were uncovered in Nevada and Australia (more to come on those).
The gold space was positive, Southern Gold grabbed attention with one of the first Korean mines to be showcased in the west and Mawson Resources made a splash by launching their new project in Oregon.
We’ll be partnering with 121 again in Cape Town in February and we can’t wait.
Before that, we’ll see you next week at Mines & Money! Our video and media crews will be on the ground keeping you up to date. Stay tuned!
Conference review by Liam Hardy for MiningIR. MiningIR.com hosts a variety of articles from a range of sources, our content, while interesting, should not be considered as formal financial advice. Always seek professional guidance and consult a range of sources before investing.