What is PDAC?

The PDAC International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange is held over four days in Toronto, Canada in early March every year. It’s put on by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada and is considered one of the largest mining and exploration trade shows in the world — in recent years, over 20,000 attendees representing more than 100 countries have been present.

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada started in 1932 and now has over 9,000 members, including mineral prospectors, mine developers, geoscientists, consultants, mining executives, students and other support fields. For full details, check out this detailed history put together by EG Thompson in 2002. One of the group’s main activities is networking, and that’s where the convention comes in.

The show

The PDAC convention is centered around the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the adjacent InterContinental Hotel and the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, where the convention was first held. Now, with over 1,000 exhibitors across the trade show and investors exchange, the convention takes most of the convention center’s 460,000 square feet.

The networking

And while the presentations, exhibits and events are the core of the week, many people will not spend much time in the convention center. Rather, they will be in meetings, discussing terms and making deals in board rooms around the city.

The Investing News Network has covered the PDAC convention since 2009. For some of that coverage, see the links below:

5 Top PDAC 2015 Video Interviews

PDAC 2015: Notes from the Floor

Get to Know INN Clients in Toronto at PDAC

PDAC: Juniors Pleasantly Surprised by PDAC Atmosphere

PDAC: Is China Buying Gold to Eliminate US Dollar as World Reserve Currency?

PDAC Speakers Take the Long View

Undervalued Junior Miners: Targets for M&A in 2012

PDAC 2010: The Bull Market is Back

PDAC 2009 – In the Midst of Crisis