Christmas is approaching, and thoughts turn to the London Mining Week, of which the Mines and Money show at Islington used to be the highlight.
Update since publication
UPDATE
Since publishing the article below, I have now received acceptance to attend the show!
Whether it was down to this article I don;t know, but it is interesting that I submitted my application at exactly the same time as my friend, and he received his acceptance within hours, mine has taken many weeks!
Anyway, good that they have relented, I hope they allow everyone with an interest in mining into the show, a fully inclusive show is a vibrant show, and the mining sector needs all the friends it can get at the moment!
PDAC is a great show because it invites all comers, Mines and Money hopefully has learned this, and will become the major European mining event.
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As a regular attendee at the London Mines and Money show, and a long term investor in mining companies, I was incredibly disappointed to be told last year that to attend my home mining show, I would have to pay a £1,400 admission fee!
Needless to say I politely declined their kind and generous invitation to pay the equivalent of a weeks trip to Toronto to attend the PDAC, which is by far and away the world’s biggest and best mining show!
In particular I was disappointed because originally the show was for institutional professionals, but after an email inquiry from myself, private and retail investors were allowed to attend the show. In those days the staff listened and engaged with people, now they refuse to reply to lucid emails and hide behind a veil of secrecy.
The end result is that companies that pay to attend expecting to meet investors are being denied access to some investors, and you have to ask the question why?
The show is devaluing itself, whereas all the other shows around the world welcome investors with open arms, particularly now! yet London deters investor attendance! Well done chaps!
I sincerely doubt any investor asked to pay the £1,400 will actually pay it, and so fewer people will attend and therefore there will be fewer opportunities for the participating companies to engage with and meet potential investors in their stock.
I personally attend shows in various countries each year, and am made very welcome everywhere, except my home city, and they won’t give me a reason, what a farce!
Quite what Mines and Money think they are gaining from alienating London based investors is beyond me, anyone holding stock in any of the participating companies, especially those from overseas, should email those companies and request a meeting outside, due to their exclusion from the show.
Perhaps once this is more widely known, Mines and Money may make their show fully inclusive, and restore it to its former glory?
But I won’t be holding my breath……….