VRIC Day 2: Observations and Reflections
In this update I discuss what I saw and heard from VRIC's day 2. Overall sentiment seemed "bullish but room to grow".
tl;dr:
I took in day 2 of VRIC yesterday. Below is my trip report: Thoughts and reflections on the conference based on chatting with insiders, executives, and investors.
Introduction
So, yesterday (Jan. 22) I attended the second of two days for the free Vancouver Resource Investment Conference. I am heading over to day 2 of AME Roundup here shortly, but thought I should share my thoughts on VRIC before I go, as well as some photos of the day.
First off, the show is definitely designed to appeal to generalist investors. Lots of breakout rooms that covered introductory-level topics such as sports betting, crypto currencies, and basic investing advice took place consistently throughout the day. The headliners (Ross Beaty, Rick Rule) spoke to standing room only crowds. Some of the side stages were also full, but there were also some pretty empty rooms as well.
Frankly I rolled my eyes at some of the topics, but that’s just me and my own personal preferences. I was hoping for some more technical depth, but I suppose that’s Roundups roll (whereas PDAC is both VRIC and Roundup rolled into one effectively).
Yukon and the Tombstone Belt were the obvious darlings of this year’s show. For good reason, considering the dramatic success of Snowline Gold and Fireweed Metals this year. Snowline, Fireweed, Victoria Goldcorp, and Banyan Gold held the first 4 booths right at the entrance, with the big, branded Yukon pavilion right after.
Jamaica had a booth on the far side, but no other formal jurisdictional representation.
Notes from Attendance
Ross Beaty figures November of 2023 was the worst month for sector sentiment in recent memory.
Host and organiser Jay Martin mentioned he was glad to see standing room only at the keynote address, but the 500+ people in attendance still paled to the peak from 10 or so years ago where 3 separate stages of 1500 in attendance each was occurring.
Roughly half of the available space in the large hall was in use. Another indication maybe of “room to grow” for the next bull run.
The second day was slower, but the brokers showed up at 1:00 to quite a bit of buzz.
CEOs were uniformly positive (versus PDAC last year where talking to some was like being at a funeral). There were actual investors here looking to spend money, versus people trying to sell land claims and drill rigs.
Just observationally, I think precious metals executives were more bullish than base/battery metals but that is based on a small sample size of 15-20 companies.
One executive mentioned that it is difficult to judge sector sentiment at these events. The “tell” he looks for the bottom is when insiders like him start buying other companies and not just their own.
There was a deal room for well-heeled investors to host “speed dating” meetings with companies. It was maybe 1/3 full the full time, but deals were indeed being done - I sat down with a German fellow who sat through 10 hours of meetings over the two days and he and I had a nice 40 minute chat about the sector and companies he was looking at.
Uranium representation was way, way up from PDAC 2023 - unsurprisingly considering the massive run it has been on of late.
REE and Lithium representation was way down from PDAC, if that’s indicative of shifting sentiment.
There were lots of executives on the floor, even if they didn’t have a booth.
VRIC gents were a little dismissive of Roundup. Bit of a sibling rivalry vibe.
Insiders I spoke to said this was the best year since a year or two before COVID. “You could have rolled a can down the hall” in previous years.
Purple crushed velvet suit guy was the clear fashion winner of the day.
The more technical/science-y aspect wasn’t as obvious as PDAC. Fewer companies brought core and there was no core shack (again, that seems to be Roundup’s domain). That being said, a couple Lithium explorers brought along some core.
Benton Resources had some absolutely gorgeous 17% Cu core, while Archer Exploration had a nice collection of what nickel mineralisation looks like in various forms. See images below.
Conclusion
That’s it from me. I’m an hour late to Roundup already! Ultimately I can’t stress enough the value of going to these things if you are able. You can get direct information from executives in a way you simply don’t have access to if you aren’t here. Name another industry where you can walk up to as many CEOs as you want to in a single day and ask them pointed and direct questions. This industry fundamentally is one of individuals - who do you trust to protect and use your capital effectively? To invest in this sector without speaking to executives is to neuter your due diligence process. And they are never more accessible than at conferences like this. That’s it from me for now.
As always, thanks for reading. Look for my AME thoughts tomorrow.
-Matthew from JRI