03 December 2019

Submitted by Irene Gosende-Seeney and Michael Sue, Rocks & Stocks Co-chairs

The topics at this year's annual Rocks & Stocks in Toronto were right off the front pages; Tailings and M&A.  The 6th annual edition of this professional development day was presented through the joint effort of Management & Economics Society and CIM Toronto. 

On October 22, 2019, eight industry professionals presented to a sold-out house about “Mining's Pressing Issues”.  Samantha Espley, CIM President-Elect, opened the day with a presentation on applying technology and innovation to manage mining risks.  

The theme of the morning session, "Mine Tailings: Liability or Opportunity?" was addressed in talks by Michael Julien, Karen Chovan, and Allan Cramm.  Emily Moore led an open-floor panel discussion with the three speakers and the audience.

Luncheon keynote speaker Rick McCreary, a seasoned mining executive and banker, shared observations on Canadian Mining Industry's role in the global mining community, the current state of the mining industry and his thoughts on how the industry will progress moving forward in the near future. 

"M&A - Acquire or Explore" was the topic for the afternoon and was addressed in talks by Gordon Bogden, Carmen Diges, and Jeff Swinoga.  Catherine Farrow led the open-floor panel discussion on this topic to close the day.

In addition to a full house of industry participants, Rocks & Stocks were pleased to have 32 students from universities across Ontario in attendance to gain a better understanding of the mining industry and its challenges as they become the next generation of mining professionals that will continue the Canadian Mining Industry's presence in the global market.

Special Thanks goes out to Ernst & Young for providing the venue and to our corporate sponsors: WGM, CIBC and Micon for supporting this wonderful event!