cBy Myriam Robin From Financial Review

Analysts, fund managers, deal-makers and mining executives from the four corners of globe – including the Cayman Islands, naturally – flew into Kalgoorlie over the weekend for the famously boozy three-day mining extravaganza that is the 27th annual Diggers & Dealers conference.

It’s the first shindig since the mining forum changed owners. Though it remains a family affair. Chairman Nick Giorgetta’s daughter Sharon and her husband Myles Ertzen purchased the conference from Kate Stokes, the widow of founder Geoffrey, last year.

Ticket sales of 2300 (and counting) have beat even last year’s bumper attendance, which had been the best since the height of the mining boom in 2012. Though for the regulars, the festivities will feature a touch of sadness, given the sudden death of long-time organiser John Langford in July.

Diggers & Dealers has grown tremendously over the years first Stokes then Langford managed it, and the 50 or so official speaking spots are highly sought-after. But they’re not the only way to make a splash.

Back in 2012, Excelsior Gold hired a purple stretch Hummer, emblazoned with its corporate logo, to ferry people around Kalgoorlie. Its share price doubled in the six months that followed, but has since tumbled to well below pre-Hummer levels.

In 2016, another gold producer, Bill Beament’s Northern Star Resources, hit upon the idea of serving analysts, investors and the media a seafood barbecue in the cavities of one of its mines the day before the festival kicked off. Lobster was served with a choice of Veuve or Moet. Northern Star’s share price is a good third higher now, so we think it did the trick!

And then, last year, New Century Resources found itself without a booth, but figured a kebab stand would do just as well. So corporate director Tolga Kumovo spent the night manning the shish kebab, handing out free sustenance to delegates happy to browse the company’s presentation slides. A month later, New Century was up 72 per cent to a level it has mostly held since.

Of course, the less creative can always shout rounds at the Palace Hotel, the well-lubricated scene of many a mining deal.

Not that everyone wants that kind of attention. The West Australian reports professional services firm EY, already dealing with some measure of scandal about its response to sexual harassment allegations, has decided to relocate its networking function away from the Palace to avoid it being marred by the presence of skimpies, the barely-dressed female barmaids that are a mainstay of Kalgoorie’s nightlife. It’s a matter of some dispute whether the day-time event would necessarily have had any, but the Palace undeniably has a certain rough-and-tumble reputation it seems EY figured it could do without.

IMAGES:

Kalgoorlie’s Palace Hotel, the site of the first Diggers & Dealers and still the scene of much of the action. Philip Gostelow

Diggers & Dealers chairman Nick Giorgetta at the 2015 forum. Ryan Stuart

For more on this story go to: https://www.afr.com/brand/rear-window/its-still-booming-in-the-west-as-diggers–dealers-kicks-off-20180805-h13kol