This will be quick report, as I have to be out again tonight.
Conference much busier than last year, better energy, higher quality juniors in attendance. Prodigy had a good booth and people there were rather upbeat. I met the new VP Tom Pollock, who is genuine, a true geologist type. I liked the meeting. Kimberly and Brian there, Brian bubbling over with energy.
Brian gave a quick 8 minute session talk, which is a prelude to tomorrow. Don't know for sure I'll be there tomorrow, depending on commitments. He did a suitable intro and then it was mostly about Magino, a bit about Milestone. Expect a Magino resource estimate in a month and a half or less, and a PEA by April (so I'll budget May/June if things are late) - the PEA can be done so quickly only because they're building on the one they had. Then permits, govt, first nations, environment, all that.
The project will require a heap leach which would be new in Ontario and I put it to them that topographic relief will be hard to come by to run the heap leach, but Brian is confident that those problems can be overcome. The ore body is shaped somewhat like a tall drinking glass tilted at a very small angle, so the pit sides will be extremely steep, e.g. 50 degrees. However, he felt that in strong granite, slumping would be a minimal problem and the strip ratio quite workable, as pay dirt would commence right from the top.
Not having my notes in front of me, I believe that he expected a pre-feasibility by the Fall - or was that a feasibility? Certainly the resource estimate will bump the ounces up a good bit.
It has been a very long and difficult ride for me, so I tend to remain in somewhat a sanguine posture. There is no denying though that the company is in a different place in putting out a PEA and preparing for mining, so no surprise that the Prodigy people are so upbeat.
Also visited a bunch of other booths of course and good lectures by Kaiser, the Coffin brothers and the no. 2 Sprott guy. Overall take is that the metals have more to run, although the Venture is due for a pullback correction given that it's been straight up since July. The selection of metals will broaden to re-include industrial metals, and the speakers all felt that the juniors would finally get some attention. Chinese mine production appears set to fall, leading to a shortfall to be compounded by the resumption of western demand - e.g. western copper consumption is more than 30% lower than the peak in 2006. Emerging markets e.g. Brazil were expected to tighten, dampening stocks there. I had read recently on zerohedge.com about the U.S. individual states preparing for bankruptcy for the first time in history, but didn't get to ask that question, about the impact of that.
Hope that helps / cedar
