The Mines & Money conference ended last night with the awards dinner, which along with the various mining luminaries featured Australian comedian Vince Sorrenti. He's an amusing man, though we are unable to reproduce any of his jokes here.
As for the awards, Discovery of the Year went to Panoramic Resources for its Savannah North copper-nickel project. The project development award for the greatest progress in developing a new mine or expanding an existing project was won by Fortescue Metals for its Solomon Hub project. Deal of the Year also went to Fortescue for its Iron Bridge project. Mining Country of the Year, which is awarded to the country that has shown the greatest improvement in policies towards mineral investors, went to Australia.
This year's Mining Personality of the Year, which is awarded to the individual who has made the greatest contribution to the development of the mining industry in Asia-Pacific, went to Alexander Molyneux, chairman of Azarga Resources, a private uranium development company he founded. Earlier this year, Azarga announced a merger with Powertech Uranium, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, to create Azarga Uranium.
The annual carnival, the Hong Kong Sevens, has arrived, bringing the usual disruption - traffic congestion, an inability to get a drink at your usual pub and strange and unpredictable behaviour from oddly dressed people.