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f e b r u a r y / m a r c h 2 0 1 6 www.resourceworld.com 23 BMO to host Florida mining financing conference B MO Capital Markets will host its 25th annual Global Metals & Mining Conference in Florida this year, drawing hundreds of leading players from across the industry spectrum. The event is invitation only and takes place at the oceanfront Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, Florida (between Fort Lauderdale and Miami) February 28 – March 3, 2016. The program includes company presentation sessions throughout, along with one-on-one meetings between companies and investors, in meeting rooms specifically set aside for the conference. The conference agenda is primarily geared toward institutional investors. "In recent years, as you might imagine, as interest in the mining sector grew, we incorporated debt investors as well," said Egizio Bianchini, Vice-Chair BMO Capital Markets and co-head of the Metals and Mining Investment banking coverage group. "We expect some 60 or 70 debt inves- tors (people that buy debt) to attend this year. In addition, there are also many pri- vate equity investors and sovereign wealth funds as well." The conference has earned numerous nods at the American Business Awards, including golds for the innovative confer- ence app that BMO built in-house to help companies and investors make the most of their time at the conference. For Bianchini, formerly a securities ana- lyst covering precious and base metals, the conference has evolved over the past three decades, reflecting changes in the indus- try as a whole and along with changes at BMO's mining practice. "Our footprint has been growing for the past 10 to 15 years," said Bianchini, pointing at a group that now has between 60 and 70 people working on mining globally with offices in New York, Melbourne, Vancouver, Toronto, Montréal, Beijing and Rio de Janeiro. "When I joined, in the last 'nuclear winter' we had before the current one in mining, there were only four of us." Unlike other conferences, the BMO conference has no booths, and companies attend by invitation only. "The conference is set up to facilitate discussions between debt or equity investors and mining com- panies," said Bianchini. "There is great range in the size of the companies partici- pating – junior explorers right up to giants like Rio Tinto." There will be a presentation schedule along with one-on-one meetings. Last year there were over a thousand company and investor attendees from 28 countries around the world. A total of 253 compa- nies participated with a total market cap of approximately US $736 billion. The result was over 3,900 one-on-one meetings between mining company officials and financiers. Bianchini noted that at the peak of the last mining cycle the conference was han- dling some 5,300 one-on-one meetings and, at the present time, anticipates over 4,000. He noted that the conference is about allowing the world's top mining investors to meet with companies they are investing in or considering as an investment. "A great variety of mineral commodi- ties will be represented," said Bianchini. "There will be large institutional investors that are clients of the distribution part of BMO's practice and companies that inves- tors would be interested in seeing. There is no entry fee – only personal travel and accommodation. We hold this conference as a service to our investors." n INVESTmENT Moving rapidly toward production and earnings with a world recognized partner goldenarrowresources.com 604-687-1828 1-800-901-0058 TSX: GRG OTC: GARWF