It is hard to believe we are halfway through 2023 already. I think some of the market volatility we have seen, higher metal prices, a focus on critical minerals, and renewed interest in mergers and acquisitions have kept a lot of us busy. And CIM has been busy too, most recently at the CIM Convention + Expo 2023 held in Montreal in May.

The theme of the conference was “Building trust to decarbonize the world.” That covers a lot of subject matter, but conference chair David Cataford, CEO of Champion Iron, and his team pulled it off brilliantly, with the support, as always, of our hardworking central office team.

I wanted to give a special shout out to Angelina Mehta, general manager, joint ventures at Rio Tinto Aluminium, who moderated both the opening plenary and general panel discussions on each of the next two days.

Moderating can be like herding fish, but Angelina did a great job in engaging excellent speakers and in weaving the “Building Trust” theme through all the discussions. I especially enjoyed the Wednesday panel discussion, which focused on the investment and financing needed to support decarbonization efforts and how governments must play an important role by having clear policies and tax regimes. The idea was thrown out that we can really strive to have a “Brand Canada” for the best ways to promote mining, including investment in critical minerals. It is fitting that that message should be shared from the CIM conference stage. CIM is the leader in sharing Canadian mining best practices around the world and promoting the importance of Brand Canada.

Celebrating success is a key tenet of CIM’s strategy. For the recipients at the Awards Gala, it was clear that being recognized by their peer group for their achievements was meaningful, especially since some of these awards carry the weight of history. For example, the A.O. Dufresne Exploration Achievement Award was instituted in 1977 in honour of Dr. A.O. Dufresne, who served as Quebec’s Deputy Minister of Mines from 1941 to 1960 and who oversaw the growth of the mining industry in the province. He was CIM’s first French Canadian president in 1950-51. Each year, we keep his legacy going by celebrating the winner of the eponymous award.

Another convention event that was special to me was the Women in Mining Reception. In 1898, when CIM was first formed, 23 men were named as its founders. CIM’s first female members were not admitted until 1953. Those first female members would be pleased with some of the progress since then, I think. At the reception, guest speaker Daniella Dimitrov, along with this year’s Julian Boldy Geological Society Service Award winner Theresa Nyabeze, showed how to energize a packed room and promoted a new mentorship program to help support students and younger professionals at the start of their mining industry careers.

So, there was much to celebrate. We finished the conference by singing Happy Birthday to David Cataford, and to all of us in recognition of CIM’s 125th birthday. Many happy returns.