This year’s Diggers & Dealers was as good as gold as 2,450 delegates descended on Kalgoorlie for mining’s biggest industry event.

Gold Road Resources’ cocktail event on Sunday evening welcomed delegates to Kalgoorlie.

GIG and Deloitte’s breakfast panel (L-R), Deloitte Risk Advisory Principal Dr Leeora Black, Saracen Mineral Holdings MD Raleigh Finlayson, GIG Vice Chairperson and Goldfields VP: Legal & Compliance Kelly Carter, and retired Australian Army Lieutenant General David Morrison AO.

GIG and Deloitte’s annual breakfast event drew a 140-strong crowd to explore the image of mining.

(L-R) Gold Industry Group Director and Gold Fields VP Legal and Compliance Kelly Carter, Gold Industry Group Executive Officer Rebecca Johnston, Saracen Mineral Holdings Managing Director Raleigh Finlayson, with Gold Industry Group Chairman and Perth Mint CEO Richard Hayes.

Northern Star Resources team accepting their 2019 Deal of the Year award.

Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard OM AC was a hit, gold shone throughout the three-day program with GIG Directors Andrea Maxey and Stuart Tonkin taking to the stage, a focus on the image of mining created much discussion at our popular breakfast event with Deloitte, and Northern Star Resources claimed Dealer of the Year.

Here are some of the Gold Industry Group (GIG)'s highlights from the 28th year of the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum.

IN MEMBER NEWS

GOLD EVENTS

Held under the stars in the Museum of the Goldfields’ courtyard on Sunday 4 August, the cocktail party hosted by Gold Road Resources saw delegates come together for the opportunity to network and celebrate the opening night of Diggers & Dealers 2019.

The GIG held it’s annual breakfast, in conjunction with Deloitte, in the WA School of Mines Graduate Hall on Tuesday 6 August. This year’s panel included Saracen Mineral Holdings Managing Director Raleigh Finlayson, Gold Industry Group Director and Gold Fields Vice President: Legal and Compliance Kelly Carter, Deloitte Risk Advisory Principal Dr Leeora Black, and retired Australian Army Lieutenant General David Morrison AO.

Discussing the outcome of Deloitte’s 2018 research, which noted the image of mining as one of the biggest challenges the industry is facing, the speakers considered the necessary future talent and skills, mining’s ability to build and commit to community relationships, and the industry’s social license to operate.

The questions kept coming from the crowd as the panel explored the importance of transparency, the stories we tell, owning our stories and leveraging the collective.

Read the coverage of David’s military advice in the Kalgoorlie Miner and discover how the conversation can change by downloading Deloitte’s Mining: What Story Are We Telling report.

That night, Women in Mining WA (WIMWA) and the WA School of Mines Alumni (WASMA) held their annual Sundowner, where incoming WASM Director and WIMWA founder Sabina Shugg spoke of the step change required in mining and WASMA President Raleigh Finlayson announced Saracen’s commitment of $600k to WASM activities including school mining camps in Kalgoorlie that have seen a significant uptake in enrollments.

GOLD BACKS NETBALL

Gold Industry Group Chairman and Perth Mint CEO Richard Hayes’ welcome address during the GIG and Deloitte breakfast event addressed some of the highlights of the GIG’s year to date, including it’s major projects and national expansion.

The foremost mention was GIG’s record partnership with netball in Western Australia, that will see the sport and wider communities reap numerous benefits over the coming three years.

Three months in, the partnership has already delivered much benefit. Coinciding with Diggers & Dealers week Netball WA announced the GIG’s naming rights of WA’s home of netball, now the Gold Netball Centre.

As the first principal partner of Netball WA, elite partner of West Coast Fever and premier partner of Shooting Stars, the GIG look forward to supporting a number of new community projects to assist the 230,000 players and the families whilst driving awareness and encouraging new participants.

GOLD APP EXPANDS

Using the Mining Forum as a soft launch, the GIG announced it’s free Heart of Gold Australia app would soon expand to include over 30+ gold tourism experiences from around the nation. Existing tours, attractions and historic landmarks will join the app’s Perth and Kalgoorlie #heartofgold Discovery Trails and Goldfields Drive Trail to further educate and excite the wider Australian public on the importance and beauty of gold. The GIG encouraged delegates to continue to drive the #heartofgold brand and utilise the new #experiencegold hashtag where relevant to gold tourism.

The tourism experiences will become available to view from Monday 19 August 2019. Download the free Heart of Gold Australia app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

GOLDEN DEAL

Northern Star Resources Limited were well deserved winners of the 2019 Deal of the Year Award at the WesTrac Gala Dinner, for their acquisition of the Pogo Gold Mine located 145 km southeast of Fairbanks in Alaska USA.

Legendary prospector Mark Creasy took home the GJ Stokes Memorial Award, reporter Barry Fitzgerald claimed the Media Award, Samuel La Macchia’s leadership was recognised with the Ray Finalyson Medal and Bellevue Gold received the Best Emerging Company Award, proudly sponsored by The Perth Mint.

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