I was not there last year so I don't have a frame-of-reference. But attendance was 'light' according to some companies.

Brent Cook's presentation topic was "Turning Rocks into Money"

Cook talked about gold production being down 10% since 2000. Price of gold up nearly 350% since 2000. Gold discoveries are on a 20-year down trend. Nearly 1/3 of new discoveries are near operating mines. Avg grade is declining. Costs increasing across the board.

Cool said the key to junior investing is wealth creation through discovery. That is where money is being made - think ARU, Virginia Gold VGQ, MAG Silver, Canplats CPQ.

The 3 companies that he plugged during his presentation were

Kaminak (KAM) - he likes the management, good prospect generator company

Focus Venture (FCV) - new producer in Peru, fully cashed up, working on Nueva California property which has 'telescoped epithermal gold system'

and Miranda Gold (MAD) - small market cap $27M, with cash $9.2M, and a prospect generator in Nevada, currently working on 14 properties.

I also attended a breakout session which was a Brent Cook and Adrian Day tag team. In that venue, he plugged Kiska (KSK), Miranda (MAD), Altius (ALS), Sprott (SCP), and Lara. During Q&A Brent Cook noted that he likes SGR.