The annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention and Trade Show – the largest international meeting of its type in the world, with attendance in recent years exceeding 26,000 delegates – will take place in Toronto this 1 – 4 March.

PDAC is an important platform for promoting Ireland as an attractive destination for investment in mineral exploration and mining, and for promoting Irish geoscience skills to a global audience. ‘Team Ireland’ has been present at the convention for 30 years; the Exploration and Mining Division of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, in collaboration with Geological Survey Ireland and Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, has operated a booth (#903) for the past 10 years which is focused on licencing, surveying and investment At this year’s PDAC there will be an ‘Industry and Innovation’ pavilion (booth #7115N) co-hosted by the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geoscience (iCRAG), Geoscience Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.

Irish companies have a long tradition of participating at the PDAC show and upwards of 12 GI companies will travel this March as well as a number of mineral exploration companies with projects in Ireland. Geological Survey Ireland and Enterprise Ireland will be hosting its morning business forum of project updates on Tuesday, 3 March, in Room 205D. Now in its fifth year, the forum will showcase Ireland’s mineral potential, mineral exploration projects, mining activity, geoscience service expertise, and an overview of Ireland’s policy landscape. You can download the agenda here.

Irish geoscience expertise is regularly highlighted at PDAC. This year Eoin McGrath, Head of Minerals at Geological Survey Ireland will present  ‘TELLUS: An Irish solution to a global resource problem’ on 2 March at 3:15pm in room 717.

Ireland joined the Inter Governmental Forum on Sustainable Mining in 2019 and will attend the IGF Forum on Saturday 29 February.

PDAC will be the third major minerals show of 2020 at which GI and its companies have participated. GI and iCRAG collaborated in exhibiting at January’s AME Roundup convention in Vancouver while the Mining INDABA conference took place in Cape Town. Ireland was well-represented at both shows; GI members who participated included Golder, CDE Global, SLR Consulting, Mincon, ERM, Aurum Exploration and Priority Drilling while GI worked closely with EI and the Embassies and Consulates of Ireland to deliver networking reception which attracted in-market networks and clients also.

Registration is preferred for the Ireland forum at PDAC, but not required. For more information and to register, contact jessica.allen@gsi.ie.