North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

With base metal prices bouncing back and liquidity returning to the financial markets, a feeling of optimism filled the Westin Bayshore Hotel during the 2010 Mineral Exploration Roundup in Vancouver, B.C.

The four-day-long event provided a forum for geologists to swap stories about their 2009 exploits, miners and investors to get together to fund new exploits, suppliers to show off their latest wares, geology students to seek out prospective employers and some 5,800 old and new friends to share a beer and catch up on the past year's events.

The theme of the mining conference, "Going for the gold (and everything else)," was appropriate, not only because gold was the metal of choice for most explorers in 2009, but also because Vancouver was gearing up to host the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The Roundup, which normally takes place during the last week of January, was moved up a week in anticipation of the upcoming global athletic competition.

Teck Resources Ltd., the patron sponsor of the 2010 Mineral Exploration Roundup, also provided all the metal used in making medals for the Winter Games.

White Gold fever

The Yukon Territory was the topic of much of the buzz around the halls of the 2010 Roundup, spurred by the discoveries made at Underworld Resources Ltd.'s White Gold project and the resulting rush to the Yukon's Dawson Range.

According to an estimate released by Underworld in conjunction with the conference, the Golden Saddle deposit on the White Gold property contains 1 million ounces of gold in the indicated resource category, a milestone reached after only two seasons of drilling.

The exciting finds at White Gold resulted in nearly 30 companies descending on the region, staking more than 8,000 new claims and making deals on land packages in the area.

Shawn Ryan, a self-taught prospector from Dawson City who discovered the White Gold property, won the H.H. "Spud" Huestis Award, the Roundup's annual tribute to individuals who demonstrate excellence in prospecting and mineral exploration.

Ryan is recognized for combining his ability to apply modern mineral exploration methods and techniques with "old-fashioned boot and hammer slogging" to make mineral discoveries.

The team that built Yukon's only currently operating hardrock mine also received accolades during the awards event.

Stephen Quin and Bruce McLeod won the E.A. Scholz Award for excellence in mine development. Quin and McLeod were acknowledged for their leadership in advancing the Minto copper-gold-silver mine in Yukon to production.

A financier with ties to the Yukon, Channing Buckland, won the Murray Pezim Award for perseverance and success in financing mineral exploration. His more than 45 years of exploration financing led to the successful development of the Faro Mine in the Yukon, Hemlo gold projects in Ontario and the Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories.

Rounding out this year's awards' roster was Barbara Scott Smith, who won the Hugo Dummett Diamond Award for excellence in diamond exploration and development; Mark Rebagliati, the Colin Spence Award for global exploration excellence; and Judi L'Orsa, the Robert R. Hedley Award, for excellence in social and environmental responsibility.

Top-level speakers

Former Canadian Prime Minister, Right Hon. Jean Chrétien, was the keynote speaker at the dinner gala and awards ceremony. British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell also attended the event and congratulated the award winners.

Eliciting a standing ovation, Chrétien closed with, "The Olympics will be great; B.C. is great; Canada is great! Vive le Canada!"

The Roundup luncheons featured remarks by mining executives Peter Barnes, president and CEO of Silver Wheaton Corp., and Charles Jeannes, president and CEO of Goldcorp Inc.

Jeannes stressed the importance of growth to a company like Goldcorp, the second-largest gold producing company on the planet. To this end he said the producers depend on exploration companies to discover new projects.

"Keep working. Keep looking. Keep drilling and when you find something, give us a call," Jeannes prodded.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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• Phone: (907) 726-1095
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