Paul Harris Talks About The Impact and Growth of CGS, Colombia’s Premier Precious Metals Mining Event

CGS, also known as Colombia Gold Summit, is the most important mining event in Colombia focused specifically on precious metals exploration and mining, primarily gold. The event takes place every year in Medellín and has also expanded to now include similar versions in Ecuador and México. The annual event, put on by Paul Harris and his team, is especially attractive because it features both financial and technical content, bringing together the investors, speculators, operators, and geologists from across the industry into one place.

CGS also highlights corporate responsibility, with not just token representation, but environmental, social, and governance issues woven throughout the agenda. One area of longstanding emphasis has been the participation of women in mining at all levels from labor to management and board representation.

Finance Colombia publisher Loren Moss was able to catch a moment with a very busy Paul Harris during CGS 2024 to talk about the event’s impact, relevance, and success for Colombia, Latin America, and the mining sector.

Finance Colombia: I’m here with Paul Harris at CGS 2024. Paul, I’ve been attending your events now I think for almost 10 years. They continue to be the most important precious metal mining events in Colombia; but you’ve also expanded now and you cover Ecuador, Mexico and different countries. Tell me, what has been the key to your success for you and your whole team? I know it’s not just you, of course, but Colombia Gold Letter, your publication, and then also your events team.

Paul Harris: Well first off Loren, thank you very much for the kind words. But I think a big part of it is the fact that I’ve been in the sector, in and around the sector for 28 years, and over that period of time I’ve got to have a certain level of understanding about the gold sector, about the silver sector, about the copper sector…and that fed into the programming of the events. You know, identifying good speakers, both in terms of the content and their ability to communicate, because at the end of the day, part of it is—let’s say, entertainment as well. Identifying good speakers, talking on good subjects; picking subjects that are important, or emotive, that are relevant. There’s no fluff in our program, and I think that’s one of the key things.

Finance Colombia: I agree. And one of the things, I learned so much…I mean, it’s funny because I remember when I first started attending, and now I listen and I can understand about half of the things that the geologists are talking about. I understand…I have an investment background, so I understand that side a little bit more. But you get, you know, a lot of events are like, industry parties, or, you know, strictly sales-focused, but there’s so much educational content. A lot of years there are geologists that come in and give classes and things like that. But then, even, you also have a good mix of—And tell me about the importance of this: You have people on the investment side, but then also on the technical side, and I think it’s the only event that I’ve seen that really balances both of those.

“They said to me every year they get contracts here.” – Paul Harris

Paul Harris: Well, I think there’s a couple of things there, with the programming. I put things in the program that I want to know. I’ve got a background as a journalist and analyst, as you know, so I’ve programmed things that I want to find out, questions I want answered, so I tend to find people to do that, and I think that resonates with the audience. Because through that you get that balance of things focused more on the investment side of things, things focused on the technical side of things, because all the communities and environment as well, all of these things are necessary for a successful project. I have questions I want answered on all of those aspects, and so that’s a key part of the program and I think that’s a key reason people attend the event.

Finance Colombia: And another thing that I’ve seen is: I’ve seen you have a lot of support from sponsors. I think it speaks to the value of the event to see the same sponsors year after year. We see people like HD, JC Portal, and I’ve gotten to know some of these people really just kind of through your events. Caterpillar, for example, their local people, and then, of course, the different mining companies: Continental now Zijin, Collective, and Aris, and some of the other ones. Have you gotten feedback as to the value that this event brings to the different sponsors and participants that you have?

Paul Harris: Absolutely. A lot of the sponsors we have that have come year after year, one of the reasons they keep coming year after year—and a great example would be MPX Geophysics, which is now Xcalibur Geophysics; they said to me every year they get contracts here.

They meet with the exploration teams, they talk about what the exploration teams are doing, what their work plan is for the next 12, 18 months. They always go away with a contract, come away with a contract. I’m sure that’s the case for some of our other supply companies that are here, that have participated in the commercial exhibit and sponsor the event.

Finance Colombia: We are in an uncertain time right now in Colombia when it comes to political risk. I mean, it could be a lot worse, it’s not as bad as some other countries in the neighborhood. But still, I’ve noticed that it’s even more important, and I see that not just people on the investment side but on the operational side, they want to come and hear about what’s happening. Sergio Guzmán spoke yesterday, he’s always really good. And I think that it’s been a conduit for information-gathering. Not just learning, but really in staying up to date with the legislative environment, right?

Paul Harris: Well, I think the mining sector is a long-term business. The mining sector manages risk every day, the mining sector is very good at managing risk. People just want to know what the risks are and have clarity on the risks there are. The worst thing for investors is uncertainty.

Investors can manage risk. They can price in risk, but they need to know what the risks are. That’s why we always start the event with an overview, looking at country risk aspects, market risk aspects. And as you mentioned, Sergio from Colombia Risk Analysis does a very good job in breaking that down, telling people what are things to watch out for, and as I’ve mentioned, he’s very entertaining, so he really enables his messages to get across and penetrate very well.

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. As for people who want to subscribe to your publication, which is, as far as I know, the premiere English-language publication focused on gold and precious metals in the Andes, or for people who want to find out about future events, what are the best ways to communicate with you and your organization?

Paul Harris: The simplest and easiest way is probably to email me directly: [email protected]. And we can add you to the mailing list of the monthly Substack, and receive our other publications and announcements.

Finance Colombia: Great. Thanks a lot, it’s a privilege to always be here with you.

Paul Harris: Thank you very much. Appreciate your support, Loren.