PDAC President: Critical Metals, Raising Capital Take Center Stage at Convention

Speaking at this year's Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, President Raymond Goldie shared his thoughts on the event as well as trends he's seeing in the Canadian mining industry.

While critical minerals were a key topic at this year's conference, Goldie said funding was also top of mind.

"We have to also bear in mind that a lot of our members — especially junior resource companies — are finding a great deal of difficulty in raising capital," he said. "That's probably the number two topic (at PDAC) — how do we raise money?"

At the moment, royalty companies and family offices are starting to step in where equity markets were before.

When asked about his background in the mining industry and with PDAC, Goldie said his biggest accomplishment with the organization came 35 years ago, when he helped bring the event to the Metro Toronto Convention Center.

"Thirty-five years ago the mining industry was not in very good shape. The premier company was Noranda, and the CEO of Noranda used to say, 'Well, these days I'm sleeping like a baby — every two hours I wake up and cry,'" he said.

With PDAC's membership numbers declining, Goldie and others brainstormed what to do.

"Someone had the bright idea that across the street from the Royal York, which is where we had always held our convention since 1932 — across the street there was this building being created called the Metro Toronto Convention Center," Goldie explained. While the convention center was initially considered too big for PDAC, ultimately the organization made the decision to go international and it expanded to fit the new space.

"What I see here today at the convention is the realization of a 35 year old dream," Goldie said.

Looking forward to PDAC's future, he noted that under its strategic plan the organization has three purposes: giving its members access to capital, access to land and access to skills.

"The future of the PDAC I see as very much addressing those three key areas," he said. "Both access to land and skilled people (involve) forming stronger relationships with Indigenous people. They live there. They're our natural allies, so we want to work with them in realizing the blessings that we have in that part of the world."

Watch the interview for more from Goldie on the resource sector. You can also click here for our PDAC playlist.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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