Gold as well as copper returned to the spotlight at last week’s Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie in a perennial event globally renowned natural resources investor Rick Rule says is “all about raising money”.
Speaking exclusively to Mining.com.au Executive Producer Shae Russell, Rick Rule says gold returning to centre-stage last week is the forum simply getting back to its roots.
He happens to believe Diggers was probably “more rational” this year to be talking about gold “where there’s a good outlook, talking about copper where I think there’s a great outlook” but the market is soft.
In 2023, the focus was squarely on battery metals such as lithium and other critical minerals, as well as Western Australia’s enviable position to take the lead in developing industries that will help the transition to net zero.
“Diggers & Dealers – if you’re an exhibitor or if you’re a speaker, it’s all about raising money. And Diggers & Dealers took a holiday from copper and gold and went into lithium and rare earths and a bunch of stuff, nickel (last year),” Rule explains.
“There were a bunch of topics at Diggers & Dealers that were easier to raise money around (in 2023). Those themes have disappointed, and in some cases, disappointed mightily so the theme comes back to raising money. I mean, with copper and gold I think that’s really what you’re seeing. I think it’s important to note too that gold is always going to be a good sub theme in Western Australia.
‘You know, it truly was a gold-centric conference because the whole town – well it ran on beer sales at the Palace, and other than that, it ran on gold‘
“When I first started attending Diggers & Dealers … they produced about a million ounces of gold in town in Kalgoorlie. You know, it truly was a gold-centric conference because the whole town – well it ran on beer sales at the Palace, and other than that, it ran on gold.
“But I think the renewed focus on gold and copper has to do with the fact that in the Australian market, you can still raise money around gold and copper. And there is at least more hope among the punters around gold and copper than there is, as an example, nickel or PGMs, or heaven forbid, lithium.”
Rule, who is a uranium bull, also relays his views on Prime Minister hopeful Peter Dutton whisking into Diggers last week in an exercise of ‘fission’ for votes in Western Australia.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Dutton was reiterating his views and spruiking nuclear power generation in Australia and the role Western Australia plays in uranium mining and exploration.
When Mining.com.au asked how the Liberal Party will begin to fix the confusing and convoluted uranium mining policies across the different states and territories he was unequivocal.
“If we look at what’s happening across the world in relation to uranium demand, of the top 20 economies in the world, Australia is the only one that doesn’t have or hasn’t signed up to nuclear power,” Dutton said.
“So, all of that tells you that there’s going to be an insatiable demand for uranium. We know that the United States, France, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, now Australia, many other countries are using a nuclear propulsion system for their submarines.
“So, the demand is there, why would we be doing ourselves out of an export opportunity? Why would we be stopping ourselves from earning additional income for our country, creating extra jobs? We can do that through opening up uranium exports. We can help take WA to the next level. We can help in South Australia and in the Northern Territory. I just don’t understand the government’s reluctance here.”
Rule says Dutton’s visit and comments on uranium was less about trying to win over the crowd – “I think he was sucking for campaign contribution.”
“You know, if they were trying to win over the crowd, they would have had skimpies cheering ‘Uranium, uranium, uranium’. I remember a provincial politician in British Columbia coming and delivering a red meat speech to a mining crowd and he wasn’t trying to convince anybody. There was a campaign coming up and he was trying to fill the till. He was, in fact, an unpaid exhibitor, if you think about it.”
The legendary investor goes on and explains how Australian uranium policy “has always amused me”, noting the infamous ‘three-mine policy’ as an example of his amusement.
In 1984, under Prime Minister Bob Hawke, the federal Labor Government introduced the ‘three-mine policy’ regarding uranium. The policy confined Australia’s uranium mining activities to the three sites already operational – Ranger, Nabarlek, and Olympic Dam with a moratorium on new mines opening.
In 2008, Western Australia opened the door to allow uranium mining but the state government implemented a ‘no uranium’ condition on future mining leases. Projects granted state ministerial approval by the former government will be allowed to progress.
Yet there is a condition issued in which no future mining leases will be issued. Permitting is allowed but for only four previously approved projects to proceed in WA.
Adding to the confusion, the Western Australian Government prefers there’s no uranium mining in the state, which also prohibits uranium exports through its ports. Future production instead will be shipped via Darwin or Adelaide.
Currently, exploration and mining are only permitted in South Australia, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania. Uranium exploration is allowed in Queensland and New South Wales – but mining the metal is not.
Nuclear-powered electricity production is currently prohibited in Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998.
The convoluted policy has meant uranium is the only mineral subject to varying policies in different states and territories. Rule concludes by saying the idea there is opposition to the carbon-free nature of baseload power from uranium is “astonishing”.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: File
