Battery metals buzz underpins Diggers & Dealers

Diggers & Dealers 2023 kicks off in Australia's 'unofficial capital of mining' with a solid turnout and all eyes on the state's burgeoning critical minerals sector.

Attendance for this year's Kalgoorlie-hosted forum is believed to be in the order of 2,600 delegates, a fraction lower than the sell-out year of 2,700 for 2022. 

Chairman Jim Walker kept things local by thanking Kalgoorlie's departing mayor John Bowler and making note of the better weather that's set to befall this year's forum. 

Diggers & Dealers was last year cut short by a burst of particuarly bad weather on the final day of the conference. 

In addition, Mr Walker paid tribute to mining veterans Ian Burston AO and Peter Bradford, who both passed away this year. 

Keynote speaker, economist Dr Linda Yueh, spoke to what she coined a 'green industrial revolution', citing data out of the US that predicted demand for critical minerals would surge by as much as 600 per cent in the next decade or so. 

On the political front, this year's forum comes against the backdrop of the state government’s reported decision to backflip on the rollout of its contentious cultural heritage laws amid general concern in WA’s business community regarding its implementation.

The backpedal has been criticised by PKKP Abriginal Corporation, with chairman Terry Drage at the weekend saying the group feels betrayed and uncertain how to proceed.

The state government is yet to confirm whether the reported blackflip on the laws will proceed. 

In the broader market, new research from Deloitte showed that the market capitalisation of WA listed companies lifted 21 per cent to $363 billion for FY23, with Liontown Resources, Pilbara Minerals and De Grey Mining enjoying the biggest growth in value during the period.

This year’s Diggers lineup includes a cohort of budding battery metals miners, headlined by lithium posterchild Pilbara Minerals.

Despite the burgeoning growth in new commodities, there is plenty happening on the local gold front, with many on the hunt for assets to feed growth aspirations.

Speaking to media at the weekend Northern Star chief executive Stuart Tonkin - who runs Western Australia’s biggest goldminer - seemed relaxed about the commodity’s place as a mainstay.

Northern Star will in the next six months start work on a major upgrade to its existing Super Pit processing plant at the cost of about $1.5 billion.

Meanwhile, lengthy build processes and inflationary pressures have driven many miners to buy processing infrastructure as opposed to commit to building their own.