Diggers & Dealers is an annual mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 conference

Convention (meeting)

A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...

 held in Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. First held in 1992, the next conference will be from 1 to 3 August 2011, at The Goldfields Arts Centre. It is "Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

's premier international mining conference".

History

The annual conference was initiated by Geoffrey J. Stokes in 1992, when the first edition, consisting of 150 delegates was held, but has since expanded to over 2,000 delegates annually. Despite the conference having somewhat outgrown Kalgoorlie, a move to one of Australia's capital cities has not been considered. Former chairman Brian Hurley once described the outing as something of a "religious retreat", an attribute, he thinks, it would lose if it was to move to a capital city.

2009

The 2009 edition of the conference came in the wake of the global financial crisis, with 12,000 jobs having been lost in the Australian mining industry in the previous eight months. Despite this, Western Australian mining recovered much better than most, and the general mood was "upbeat", unlike in the previous year.

2010

The event, usually non-political and mining orientated, was overshadowed in 2010 by the upcoming Australian federal elections, held less than three weeks later. It was dominated by discussion about the unpopular Mineral Resource Rent Tax, MRRT, newly introduced by the Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

/Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard

Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...

 government, which was seen as disadvantaging the smaller mining companies and favouring the larger ones like Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto Group

The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...

, Xstrata

Xstrata

Xstrata plc is a global mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is a major producer of coal , copper, nickel, primary vanadium and zinc and the world's largest producer of ferrochrome...

 and BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...

. The conferences chairman, Barry Eldridge, predicted the political backlash for the government already before the conference.

The 2010 conference was attended by 2,200 delegates. The conference stretches Kalgoorlie's abilities to accommodate all delegates to the extreme. Rooms are often booked out two years in advance, with nightly rates rising by 150% during the conference. Local residents are encouraged to rent out their houses during the event and leave town. A three-bedroom house can fetch several thousand dollars for three days.

In 2010, the three-day program consisted of presentations by major and minor mining companies, especially gold miners. In 2010, AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation.AngloGold Ashanti Limited is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents...

, through CEO Mark Cutifani

Mark Cutifani

Mark Cutifani is an Australian businessman and the current CEO and a director of South African gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti, a position he has held since October 2007....

, Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America...

, through Gary Halverson, President Asia Pacific and Fortescue Metals Group

Fortescue Metals Group

Fortescue Metals Group is an Australian iron ore mining company. The company has holdings of more than 87,000 km² in the Pilbara region of Western Australia making it the largest tenement holder in the state. It is listed as FMG on the Australian Securities Exchange .In 2008, the group loaded...

, represented by CEO Andrew Forrest

Andrew Forrest

Andrew Forrest also known by his nickname "Twiggy", is a Western Australian mining entrepreneur, former chief executive officer, non-executive chairman, and the major shareholder of Fortescue Metals Group...

, were some of the major presenters.

Another outcome of the 2010 conference was the recognition that mining had to lift its profile nationally and to advertise better its record on "job creation, relations with indigenous people and its environmental record".

Fees

As of 2010, a premium three-day pass as a delegate to the conference costs A$ 1,750, while a one-day pass is A$ 750.

Awards

Annually, the conference hands out a number of awards for achievements in the mining industry. Since 1997, the G.J. Stokes Memorial Award, the Digger Award and the Dealer Award are awarded. In 2003, a Media Award was added and in 2007, a Best Emerging Company award. Former award winners include Joseph Gutnick

Joseph Gutnick

Joseph Isaac Gutnick is an Australian businessman and mining industry entrepreneur. He is also an ordained rabbi and is well known for his philanthropy in the Jewish world.-Business holdings:Among Gutnick's business holdings:...

 (1997), the only individual to win the Digger Award, and Robert Champion de Crespigny

Robert Champion de Crespigny

Robert James Champion de Crespigny, AC is an Australian businessman.-Early life and education:Champion de Crespigny was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.-Accounting:Upon completing his studies, he...

, former CEO of Normandy Mining

Normandy Mining

Normandy Mining was an Australian mining company which predominantly mined gold. Normandy was, during much of the late 20th century, Australia's largest gold miner....

.