Please email submissions for the speaker program to paul.corresponsal@gmail.com

For interest in exhibition stands and sponsorships to direccion@eme2.co

See coverage of previous years’ events here: https://www.financecolombia.com/search_gcse/?q=colombia+gold+summit+paul+harris

Finance Colombia: So, you gave a really interesting talk today. We’re at the CGS 2024 Colombia Gold Summit, put on every year by Paul Harris and his team. Now, FTI, you guys are known as one of the most important consultants across, I think, the globe, but I know certainly across the Americas. Now, you talked today about the politics of energy transition, and that’s an interesting thing because we go back and forth. There’s like a tug of war between the right and the left everywhere, even down here in Latin America, and specifically in Colombia.

At this mining event, there is a lot of consternation, and I’ve seen the same thing at petroleum events that I’ve attended, and there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding governmental policy and that kind of thing. So, tell me about, when you talk about the politics of energy transition, especially down here in Latin America, what tend to be some of the major obstacles that your corporate clients might come across?

Lucas Marsden: Sure. Well, I mean, it’s a topical time to be talking about this because we’re not just having Colombia Gold Symposium here; we have got COP16 happening in Cali, and we have roadblocks, we’ve had roadblocks across the country from the mining sector, and farmers that are protesting changes that are being made by the government, environmentally related. Some risks exist on all levels, right? From your macro political to your operational. And what I feel like our clients are currently worried about are being able to comply reputationally and legally with all the new encouraging sort of biodiversity carbon targets that are coming out, that are coming out this week, that came out yesterday on biodiversity credits.

How they can do well by that? Because these things can be made into, you know, black and white, simple concepts, but the actual reality of investing in Colombia and investing in a couple of projects in Colombia or biodiversity is incredibly complicated and involves the social element of getting communities inside, it involves local government, anti-bribery and making sure that you’re getting that political stability and getting things to stay.

Finance Colombia: You know, one of the things that you talked about that I think is very important is a lot of companies will do things…I look at heavy manufacturing, for example, and they’ll go, “Look, we’re 100% carbon neutral” or “We’re green,” and they’ll go and do things like purchase carbon credits, which, conceptually, may be a good idea, but there are some dangers there. We find that a lot of those programs are…not only are they not regulated, but not necessarily monitored. So maybe you could touch on that because you gave some interesting case examples of that today.

“So a lot of what we do in FTI is help companies. It’s not just about the investment.” – Lucas Marsden

Lucas Marsden: Yeah, definitely. I mean, first off, just on that point of claims of net zero and nature-positive, which is the kind of biodiversity equivalent, our team in the UK and Europe were advising companies to be very careful about how they’re using these terms, because a general consumer will think, “Oh, net zero, it doesn’t have an impact on the environment.”

No. You know, you’re impacting the environment, but you’re also doing things to benefit it. So, that term “nature-positive”, there have been talks at COP16 to try to change that, to try to change it to “net positive” and more nuanced terms, because no company can be nature-positive, right? So, I think first, there’s that terminology issue and the reputational thing. But you’d like me to talk a bit more about the actual projects that we’re seeing and tracing and investments that-

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. I mean, obviously, don’t give away any client secrets, but we’d really love to hear about some of the ways that companies engage with FTI to kind of navigate this landscape.

Lucas Marsden: Yeah, I mean, the great news is that Latin America is the main receiver of climate-related funds, and there’s a huge amount of money, and this week with COP16 even more money being pumped into some incredible projects in, say, for example in Colombia, in Antioquia, in Vichada, around the Amazon. Some really incredible things are being done. I actually had a talk with one of the ministers of Indigenous Relations in Chile, who was telling me, “Look, all this money is pumping in, but what’s actually happening on the ground? Like, we’re not seeing this on the ground. We’re already protecting the environment.”

Saying, you know, “We’ve invested 20 million, might be great for a sort of top-level headline.” But, when you’re thinking about it actually being implemented, these communities are already doing this; they’re already protecting the oceans, they’re already protecting the landscape. So a lot of what we do in FTI is help companies. It’s not just about the investment, it’s about how do you get in a room with these communities, how do you find out what they’re doing, how do you increase those efforts so we’re not starting from zero and we’re not going in there and making a mess of things, which, unfortunately, has happened.

Finance Colombia: You know, you kind of almost answered my next question for you, and you’ve been generous with your time, and that was: You see a lot of these initiatives that are launched at a global level, or these guys go over there, Davos, Switzerland, and come up with this initiative, and they come on the ground and it’s like, “We’re going to do this or that,” but they don’t have input at the conceptual level or the decision-making level, with the local communities on the ground. You know, I’ve talked to friends in the Wayuu community, for example, here in Colombia. And on one hand, with some companies, they have great relationships because the companies have been very…I guess not presumptuous, or, you know, like, “Look, let’s come and listen to you first before we go and do anything,” or say, “What do you need?”

In other cases, they’ve been in more contentious relationships where some company comes in with some initiative that doesn’t take into account the actual needs on the ground, or not just the needs, but the beliefs and the wishes of those local communities. So, what can companies do and what have you seen that has been successful when companies try to engage, and so not just be environmentally responsible, but also socially responsible, and treat those local communities as equal stakeholders and partners, versus looking at them as, like, little children or something like that?

Lucas Marsden: Yeah, definitely. And I think that is the key to what this COP has been about. It’s called the COP of the people. It’s this idea that you can’t remove the environment from the social aspect and that there are communities that are living there that are making their income, their livings, from living in this kind of highly biodiverse place. So, that’s why there’s been so much encouraging indigenous participation at COP16. The first thing you need to do is actually understand who you’re talking to.

The other side of the business that we have is FCPA investigations, Department of Justice investigations, corruption; when things go wrong, we have an investigative team that goes and finds out what’s happened. A lot of the times what has happened is that you’re speaking to the leader of the community, you think that they represent the wider community, and they say, “Right, there’ll be no problem. We’ll sign all the papers; just help me with the roof of my house over here, and it’ll be okay.” Right? So, make sure that you’re not falling into those traps, that you’re not just saying- It’s not as simple as saying, “Okay, this is the leader of the community.” Unfortunately. You’ve got to have a wider thing and find those good actors, find the ones that are really benefits in the community and make sure you identify that. So, a big part of what we do is stakeholder mapping identification to make sure that that panorama is clear.

Finance Colombia: We have two audiences at Finance Colombia. Basically, either multinational executives that have current or potential operations in Colombia, and then, of course, institutional investors. Now, for those executives, when is the ideal time to engage with FTI Consulting? When should they reach out? When should they look at the services that you offer, like you just mentioned? What kind of due diligence, and that kind of thing. What’s the ideal circumstance and, maybe, the ideal client profile?

Lucas Marsden: Well, we embed ourselves and exist on top of the current situation, right? I mean, you get some consultancies that will come in and just start things from scratch. These companies, they know what they’re doing, they have very good risk profiles, they’ve got good boots on the ground. And that’s the real key part: having boots on the ground. So, I’ve been talking to some investors from some banks that said they wouldn’t invest in climate initiatives unless they have a presence in that country, an office. Not necessarily a risk office, but an office, so at least they understand the culture of it, right? And when it’s getting to that point…I mean, what I said about FTI is as early as possible. Anytime that you need that help with the identification, with understanding the culture. If you’ve got a team on the ground, if you’ve got a risk team, brilliant. If you don’t, we can help from scratch. If you do, then we can sit on top of what already exists, do some kind of external and second opinion, right? And yeah, that’s what we said.

Finance Colombia: It’s like when a large company is going to have in-house counsel, but they also have the law firms that they partner with. They may have risk experts, but it’s leveraging your expertise, and especially global expertise, when you’re going into new markets, maybe where they haven’t operated. Well, Lucas, thanks. You’ve been great with your time and, even more importantly, great with your knowledge here at CGS, and I hope to see you again.

Lucas Marsden: Great. Thank you very much.

Click on the above image to see the video.

Finance Colombia: So I’m here with Sergio Guzmán. It’s always good to see you again, my friend. I think since the last time I saw you in person you were a bachelor, so I want to congratulate you on your recent marriage.

Sergio Guzmán: Thank you.

Finance Colombia: So that’s always a good thing. And we’re back here at CGS 2024, the Colombia Gold Summit, as originally known. Now, of course, it has expanded, and it covers copper, and it covers silver. A great event put on every year by Paul Harris and his organization. Sergio, we’re in a time right now where we are two years into the current administration, and I know that you are a specialist in political risk. And you got up, and you opened the session talking about the different challenges and the risk that we have. Now, we see that there are some concerning trends when it comes to crime and insecurity, but then we also have political uncertainty. Some other presenters talked about the growth and lack of growth in the sector.

Tell me about- if you could just briefly, within 30 seconds or so, recap the message that you gave this morning when it comes to the political risk for the mining sector.

Sergio Guzmán: Absolutely. Well, I think if we look at political risk in Colombia in general, it’s doing much better than the government’s antagonists expect.

And much worse than the government proposes. And so it’s somewhere in between. The truth is usually somewhere in between. Colombia is not a country that’s in an active coup d’état, but it’s also not a country that is a haven for investment and great opportunities. What is true, I think, is something that I’ve tried to get across: Colombia is not for the faint of heart. It’s a country that needs to be explored and analyzed meticulously and not just looked at from a surface level. So if people are interested in investing here, if people are serious about long-term opportunities here, they need to do their homework.

Finance Colombia: Let’s talk about this, and I don’t want people to panic or anything like that, but there has been an uptick in insecurity. We look at things in the north of Colombia, the Urabá region, also down around Tumaco and things like that. Have we seen a material effect on crime and insecurity when it comes to mining development?

Sergio Guzmán: I think three things are going on at the same time. The first one is that insecurity in urban areas is getting worse. The perception of insecurity is also getting worse. In parallel, the government is trying to negotiate simultaneously with nine different armed organizations, right? And that’s led to a bilateral ceasefire and a relative cooling of some fighting between the government and these armed groups. And then the third, and I think you know, many of these armed organizations no longer depend exclusively on drugs as the principal source of income. Now, they’ve diversified their portfolio, so to speak. They have illegal mining, they have human smuggling, they have extortion, right?

And so Colombia’s violence is becoming more complex, much more interwoven into global illegal economies. And, of course, the mining sector can’t choose where it operates; it has to operate in the areas where there are resources. And so, in some of those areas, there are specific local dynamics of crime that need to be addressed or need to be mitigated. Then, there are also interwoven elements that correspond to these insurgent groups or criminal organizations and insurgencies that also need to be understood well. All in all, I think the perception of violence and the perception of crime are getting worse in Colombia. The capacity of some of these groups is improving, and the intent to target, you know, has remained unchanged. However, some of these bilateral ceasefires have created a relative calm in that we haven’t seen, you know, major kidnapping events, or major terrorist attacks against critical infrastructure, as there used to be back in the day. So I think, you know, it’s a mixed bag. It’s not as positive as the government would want it to sound, but it’s also not chaos.

Finance Colombia: You know, I’ve seen where companies have had success when they go in and work with the local people, not just rely on the politicians in Bogotá, but they’ve come in first and engaged with the local community to make sure that the populace is on their side. There’s a talk going on right now about how mining companies, big commercial mining companies, can work with artisanal miners rather than compete or have a conflict with them, but work kind of in the form of symbiosis.

What advice would you give to mining operators if they’re looking at maybe either taking on a project in Colombia or looking, obviously, with the long-term vision? What is the best strategy that you’ve seen work to mitigate the different types of risk, the political risk, the physical risk, and then, of course, the financial risk of their investment?

Sergio Guzmán: I think in your question, you sort of framed the answer as well. I think having a long-standing, positive and collaborative working relationship with local communities is the best security, both in social terms and security terms, that companies can have. If the local actors perceive that the company is 1) there to stay, 2) will help strengthen their economy, and 3) will not, you know, go away and leave them hanging when things get tough. Those are three elements that the local community will stand up for the company when things go south. And those are three elements that the company needs to work with a very, very intentional mindset from the very beginning of the exploration.

Finance Colombia: You are, in my universe, the foremost expert on risk, and you have your consultancy firm, I know that you have a founding partner, but Colombia Risk Analysis, how can people find out–I know that you have a website, and you have both kind of free summaries and then also more in-depth report. Give people an idea of how they can communicate or how they can find out more about Colombia Risk Analysis.

Sergio Guzmán: Absolutely. People can find out about Colombia Risk Analysis by going to our website, www.colombiariskanalysis.com. All our socials are @ColombiaRisk, and we offer both subscription services for the general person that wants to understand, to more bespoke conferences or reports that can be written according to whatever a client wants, both in English and Spanish. And I think that’s something that makes us unique in Colombia as well.

Finance Colombia: Sergio, it’s always great to talk to you.

Sergio Guzmán: Thank you so much, Loren.

Finance Colombia’s Executive Editor Loren Moss spent a few minutes with Mineros SA CFO Alan Wancier to discuss the company’s social commitments and unusual (for Colombia) mining techniques.

Finance Colombia: I’m here with Alan Wancier of Mineros. Mineros has been a long-time sponsor of the Colombia Gold Summit. We’re here at CGS 2024. You just gave a really interesting presentation talking about Mineros. Mineros is a mining company. I think, if I’m not mistaken, you guys are based right here in Medellín, right?

Click on the above image to view the video.

Alan Wancier: Yes, our headquarters are in Medellín. Yeah.

Finance Colombia: Yeah, but you’re on the TSX.

Alan Wancier: Yes, also.

Finance Colombia: Great, great. And so, you guys have an interesting model because a lot of the mines, the precious metals mines that I’ve seen here in Colombia are your traditional kind of deep tunnel mines, but you guys have diverse operations. You guys have here in the north of Antioquia an interesting alluvial mining operation. If you could touch a little bit on that.

Alan Wancier: Yeah, so, we have an alluvial operation in El Bagre, Antioquia. It’s called the Nechí Mine. We have roughly five bucket dredges, nine suction dredges, and another couple of Brazilian dredges. We mine the bank of the river. Not the river, per se, in a closed pond. We create a closed pond, water doesn’t mix with the river water. And our deposit is between 15 meters and 30 meters deep. We dredge the deposit, we do the beneficiation within the bucket dredges, and inside the bucket dredges, all gold is separated just by water and gravity.

Finance Colombia: So that’s another thing I was going to ask you, because a lot of traditional mining operations need either cyanide or mercury, but you guys have a process that you use, I think a gravity-based process, that’s a lot more environmentally friendly.

Alan Wancier: Yes. We only use water and gravity, no chemicals, and the electricity for the dredges comes from our hydroelectric plants. So we have a very, let’s say, green gold. Our gold is very, very sustainable. And as we move upwards in the deposit or downstream in the river, we close the mine, we put a layer of soil, we plant again, and grass and forests grow again.

Finance Colombia: So, very environmentally responsible.

Alan Wancier: Yes, very environmentally responsible.

Finance Colombia: Now, that area of Colombia has also suffered from underinvestment and a lack of attention from the authorities. You also mentioned some of the things that, you know, you talked about the environmental responsibility that you guys have, but you also have some social programs and ways that you interact with the local economy up there, right?

Alan Wancier: Yes, we invest a lot in the local economy. We have a bee plantation, a bee…I’m not sure how you say it in English.

Finance Colombia: In Spanish.

Alan Wancier: An aviary…Beekeeping.

Finance Colombia: For a bird. Hatchery, a bird-

Alan Wancier: No, but for bees. Bees.

Finance Colombia: Oh, bees. Okay, apiculture.

Alan Wancier: Apiculture.

Finance Colombia: I forget the word for honey and bees. Yeah, there’s a word for it. I forget what it is in English [laughs].

Alan Wancier: We also have one of the biggest rubber plantations-

Finance Colombia: Oh, wow.

Alan Wancier: In the country. We also have some small projects, growing fish. And we also invest a lot in infrastructure.

Finance Colombia: Okay.

Alan Wancier: We invest a lot in the education; we have built bridges, we have built roads, and we invest a lot in the community, and we are very, very close to the community, and the community is very close to us for that reason.

Finance Colombia: I see, and that’s good. You know, I know that you guys have been good citizens. I’ve followed you all for some time, being here in Colombia. And I think one of the things also that you talked about, you know, our audience is made up of a lot of institutional investors, and it sounds like your shares are kind of trading at a bargain rate of discount, right now.

Alan Wancier: Yes, our shares, compared to our peers, are very cheap.

This is because, maybe several reasons. Probably the major reason is that we’ve been public in Colombia for 50 years.

Finance Colombia: Yeah.

Alan Wancier: Since the 1980s, give or take. But Colombia is a very illiquid market. We were the only gold mining company in the exchange. So, people and investors do not know how to value us in Colombia.

Finance Colombia: Right.

Alan Wancier: That’s why we did an IPO in Canada in 2021, with the idea that more people are going to know us and the idea for us to be better valued and to be able to do more business with other mining companies. In Canada, we started with a small float, only $25 million in the IPO.

But we’ve slowly been moving shares, or investors have been moving shares, from Colombia to Canada. And as more shares are moving in Canada, we get more liquidity in Canada and a better share price. As an example, last year in Canada, we were trading at 20,000 shares per day on average. Today, we’re trading 80,000 shares per average. So we have quadrupled the liquidity in Canada, and our strategy is to keep increasing that liquidity to maybe get a better rate or to get a re-rate in the future. Our stock has almost tripled since nine months ago, a year ago, for various reasons. Primarily because we have a new majority shareholder.

So those changes in shareholders have made a good positive impact in the Canadian and economic market. Also, of course, the price of gold has increased. That helps all gold mining companies. We have had very good results, and we hope to continue to have good results in the future. We also have had a bigger exposure to investors. We are going to every conference we can, and we are getting our name out.

Finance Colombia: I see that, and that’s important. You guys, I think that, one, when you bring in a majority shareholder, that’s a vote of confidence from the institutional capital markets. And it’s also, I think, important to point out that you guys are no startup. I think you guys are celebrating, like, your 50th anniversary.

Alan Wancier: We celebrated our 50th anniversary about a month ago, 3 weeks ago. Yes, we’re no startup, and we produce cash. We’re one of the few companies that actually makes cash and pays a dividend, and we pay a hefty dividend. Our current dividend yield is at 10%, and we have paid dividends for decades. We are probably an aristocrat dividend payer, probably compared to Agnico in terms of the number of years paying dividends consistently.

Finance Colombia: That’s unusual because a lot of the mining companies we see here in Colombia, not all of them, but a lot of them, are early-stage, still exploratory, juniors, things like that. But you guys are an established operation with a track record, and so I think that your move to TSX, your continued growth, and your responsibility as a company means that more investors are going to be inevitable, and I think that they are aware of you. So, thanks again for your time. Great presentation. And I think that mineros.com.co is how people can find out about it. And what’s the TSX symbol again?

Alan Wancier: MSA.

Finance Colombia: MSA.

Alan Wancier: MSA on the TSX.

Finance Colombia: Worth keeping a look-out.  I’m going to add that to my watch list, if not more, so thanks a lot.

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: paul.corresponsal@gmail.com. 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.

Networking opportunities will be available through lunches and a cocktail event, sponsored by ALS Global. Further details about the speakers, including bios and LinkedIn profiles, are available on the event website at CGS Colombia 2024.

The event can also be followed on social media:
LinkedIn and Instagram: @CGSEventos
Twitter: @CGSCopperGold
YouTube: @CGSEvents

Geology Short Course at CGS Colombia 2024

CGS Colombia 2024 will include a geology short course titled “Introduction to the Mineral Deposits of Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador,” led by Dr. Stewart Redwood. For more information, contact paul.corresponsal@gmail.com.

Special Rate at Intercontinental Medellín

A special rate has been arranged for attendees at the Intercontinental Medellín. To access this rate, email the code “VJ0 DEMANDA EVENTO CGS COLOMBIA” to reservas@movichhotels.com or yulieth.grisales@movichhotels.com.

The two discuss recent trouble at Zijin Continental Gold’s Buriticá mine and the Petro Administration’s response (or lack thereof). Some positive developments at Collective Mining’s new project near Supía, Caldas, the potential for copper and rare earth metals mining in the country, including Auxico’s new processing facility in Colombia.

The two also discuss other Colombia developments, including Aris Mining’s Marmato project, AngloGold’s copper project, Outcrop Silver & Gold, the political situation at Colombia’s Ministry of Mines & Energy, and a few more developments.

See you at Colombia Gold Summit this November 7-8 in Medellín!

• Finance Colombia: https://www.financecolombia.com/
• Finance Colombia free subscriptions https://fcsubscribe.com
• CGS Events: Colombia, México, Ecuador, newsletter https://cgsorg.com/
• Colombia’s Ministry of Mines & Energy https://www.minenergia.gov.co/en/
• Zijin Continental Gold https://www.continentalgold.com/en/
• Collective Mining LTD (TSX-V: CNL |OTCQX: CNLMF) https://www.collectivemining.com/
• Auxico Resources (CSE: AUAG | OTCQB: AUXIF) https://www.auxicoresources.com/
• Outcrop Silver & Gold (TSX.V: OCG | OTCQX: OCGSF | DB: MRG1) https://outcropsilverandgold.com/

Finance Colombia executive editor Loren Moss caught up with a busy Paul Harris for an update on preparations for this year’s event, slated for November 8-9 at the Medellín Hotel Intercontinental. Moss will be a speaker at this year’s event covering mining technology investment, and major sponsors include GlobeXplore Drilling & Analytics, OilRed/Chevron, ALS, and Cordoba Minerals. Women In Mining Colombia and the Viva Air Foundation are supporting the Women In Mining Initiative.

Finance Colombia: I have always known your publication as Colombia Gold Letter. I know that you have been expanding. Now, you are doing more and more in Ecuador, and we want to talk about that and understand the broader scope that you have now. But then it is good to see that the Colombia Gold Symposium continues to grow. I noticed that you changed the venue, it is now going to be in the Hotel Intercontinental which I think provides more space for exhibits and meetings, but the event has always been full, so, tell me about what precipitated the change of venue and tell me about how the scope may be evolving or changing.

Paul Harris: Absolutely. This year will be our 7th event and it’s every year in November; and a couple of years ago because of our success, because we were every year selling out, we were becoming constrained by the size of the venue. Previously, we were in the San Fernando Plaza, so we were planning on shifting the event to the Hotel Intercontinental here in Medellin because it is a much bigger hotel, it has got a much bigger conference space and that plan was derailed a little bit by COVID.

Obviously, in 2020, we did a virtual event because of lockdown and people could not travel and then in 2021, last year when things started opening up, we were not certain to what extent, and how quickly things will open up, to what extent people would want to travel and things of that nature. So, last year we held it in the Marriott Hotel, which is a really good venue and it was a great event, but it is a venue that is very size restricted. So, this year we are going to hold it at the Hotel Intercontinental which is a good conference facility where we can have 400 or 500 people, we can have a much bigger exhibition space and so that is really the plan.

It is going to be a two-day event, again, this has been every year, and a big focus on the projects. It is now called CGS Medellin because as you mentioned earlier this year in June with did our first event in Quito (CGS Quito) and so CGS Medellin focuses on the gold projects in Colombia and hopefully the broader region as well. One of the key things this year, would be the discussing the change in government we will be discussing how government is relating to the mining sector and how it’s looking to develop the mining sector obviously, change things of that nature, so promising to be a very exciting, a very important event this year.

Finance Colombia: What your sense is as far as the optimism or pessimism or uncertainty from the mining sector with regards to what the policies might be with the new administration?

 Paul Harris: Well, that’s a very big question and there are a lot of unknowns, yet. You have mentioned a few things. Gustavo Petro has named a Mining and Energy minister and it is someone, a mining engineer that has generally been seen as a positive in as much as presumably he has an understanding of the sector, some of its issues and its potential as well. Gustavo Petro has spoken out, as you mentioned, against the oil and gas sector, he has stated categorically that there is not going to be fracking on his watch, and he wants Colombia to be less dependent on the oil and gas and coal sector for income generation.

He has not really announced so much on the mining sector. By mining sector, we are talking here about hard rock mining, gold, copper, silver, things of that nature. That sector is a much smaller sector in Colombia than oil and gas. It is a sector that typically employs more people than the oil and gas sector does so, there could be a differentiation in his approach to the two sectors or sub-sectors because a lot of people are employed in the mining sector and he has positioned himself as a president for the people, one that is going to create opportunities, work towards greater equality and various different spheres.

So, from that point of view, one could imagine that he might embrace the mining sector because of his ability to create a lot of jobs in rural areas, areas that typically have not received a greater development or economic benefit traditionally being ignored by the central government out of Bogota. Your reference to the Vice-president, Francia, it perhaps could be instructive there way back in the early years of her life. I believe she was an artisanal miner in really a very basic form of panning gold, that kind of activity. So, that’s a huge activity in Colombia, tens of thousands of people earn their daily bread through that activity. So, one would expect the Petro administration to try and work to help that sector, to help perhaps formalize it, to help people working in that sector, create access to the financial system, provide access to health, to education things of that which historically they have not had access to.

It is unclear what the Petro administration will mean for more formal mining with larger companies. On the one hand, he could see them as put it in the same pocket as the oil and gas sector, see them as a, let’s say, the enemy; on the other hand, he could embrace them as a means of creating economic opportunities in rural areas and, time will tell.

Finance Colombia: I think that also it is easier to hold a commercial mining operation accountable, demand that they have things like environmental risk insurance, that they are paying their taxes, employing labor laws; I know that there’s been some innovations where some of the commercial mine operations actually working with artisanal miners say: “Hey, don’t go and get some cyanide and mercury and poison ýourself and your family trying to refine ore, just bring your ore to us and we will process it for you.” So, I think that that would be an incentive and also it is a way to keep artisanal miners from working with mafias and those types of organizations at the margins of the law so, he might be able to use, to leverage the commercial mining activity as a social lever with the with artisanal miners, no?

Paul Harris: Yes, absolutely. A lot of the formal mining companies and the exploration companies do have programs to work with artisanal miners, to help them with things such as improving their environmental performance, helping them get a better, fair price for their product, helping them with things like health and safety, helping formalize so they can get access to the financial system, legally trade the gold that they produce, get access to the Social Security service in Colombia and health and things like that. It really depends on the viewpoint or the attitude of the government, the incoming government takes

As I mentioned, on one hand, there is the view that mining is an activity run by foreign companies that are here to exploit us. On the other hand, another view is that because mining exploration companies are very embedded in rural communities where the state often does not reach, they do and can act as an anchor for the local economy generating prosperity, generating benefits, generating a local tax base so the local mayors actually have money to spend, to invest in different things.

I would say that speaking to somebody in the Ministry of Mining and Energy today, that had been going through the handover process with the incoming government, the comments I got is the process is going really well, they have been really engaged and really interested to get up to speed with things. So, for me that’s an indication that some of this momentum will carry across into the new administration. At the end of the day, let’s not forget that Gustavo Petro wants to invest more in health, he wants to invest more in education, wants to invest more in social opportunities, social equality all of these things cost money and the money has to come from somewhere and a lot of Colombia’s national budget, comes from resource exploration. So, it would seem to be shortsighted for the incoming administration to try to cut off [a revenue source that would] impact its ability to deliver its election promises

Finance Colombia: You know, this topic actually reminded me of something and that is you now have as part of the symposium, an awards ceremony for ESG, for Environmental Social and Governance and I almost forgot and I am glad that we kind of got into this topic because that is something that we want to highlight. Because you and I have both seen, when a mining company or even a petroleum company, when they have an accident or like what happened down there in Brazil with that dam, or when there is some kind of…when companies act bad or there is something wrong, it makes global news, it is all headlines on the other side of the world.

But when companies do things right, I look at the social inclusion, I look at the all women rescue team that went to the Mining Olympics a couple years ago, back I think with Continental (now Zijin Continental), I think about a lot of the different…I have seen things and you have too on the ground where I have seen some mines that go in and make a commitment to purchase goods and services from right there the local community. You know, there is bad news, there is a lot of good news and it is weird because the good news does not make the headlines, maybe my publication, maybe your publication but the broader, mass market publications that is not necessarily so. I think that the award ceremony that is given out at your event is something that is worth mentioning and worth paying attention to, if you could speak briefly on that.

“A very special recognition to the Continental Gold Women’s team, the first of its kind to participate in the National Mine Rescue Olympics and a champion of discipline, courage and bravery”. Silvana Habib Daza, President, The National Mining Agency (ANM).

Paul Harris: Absolutely. You know, I fully agree with you there. Companies generally have their ESG programs; they do various different things depending upon the needs of the local area. They work more from the things that they do with the environment, restoring environments or planting trees, you know that does get attention, the things they do: the women in mining initiative, employing women, training women, that that tends to get some attention as well, but last year we launched the CGS Economic Development Awards because in addition to creating jobs and putting money to social programs, a lot of companies help or leverage their own expertise to help foster the development of local businesses [and entrepreneurship] if you like, in the areas where they operate. They can bring their expertise, they can bring distribution, they could be bringing seed capital, all these things to help local people to develop their own businesses, and not be fully completely dependent on the mining project.

This was very successful, the winning company last year was Royal Road Minerals, and their project is basically like an incubator or venture capital company providing seed capital for local companies to start up and to get going. And it’s been very successful and this was something that I thought it was fantastic, more people need to know about it, other companies perhaps need to replicate this. So, the idea of the award was to give recognition and to show the industry in general that there are many different ways they can be a positive actor and create positive benefits over and beyond having a mining project and creating jobs and generating taxes.

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. I am familiar with Royal Road. They run, a good operation. Now, for those that want to attend or perhaps participate as a sponsor, you always have a great exhibit and the event is attended by a who’s who of investment, operations and politics. You know, I met the Canadian—now the former Canadian ambassador at the event, all types of different dignitaries and things like that. I will put the link in the podcast notes but if you could share with us just what the website or links are, for those that want to contact you?

 Paul Harris: Absolutely. The website is www.colombiagold.co. My e-mail is paul.corresponsal@gmail.com More than happy to talk to anyone about participating, as a delegate, potentially participating on the speaker program or the commercial opportunities that you mentioned.

Over the seven years the event really has grown quite a lot of a momentum, each year which we typically have in the commercial exhibit the Colombian Government, whether it is the National Mining Agency and or the Colombian Geological Survey, they typically have a booth so they can engage and meet people. Last year, the past couple of years we had a delegation from Canada, a trade mission from Canada, this year looks like we are going to have in addition to the Canadians, we are talking, to a Chinese group wants to bring a mission in or a delegation in, and Sweden and also Australia as well. So, we really are going to have a very international focus this year

Finance Colombia: It is always top quality. I have it locked on my calendar every year. It is the most important event, especially when you talk about having a cross section, there are some other events that have got the cranes and the bulldozers and things like that, but this is really an event when you have people who are in operations, people who run ESG, you have mining executives and just as important, with us being Finance Colombia, you have the investment sector, you have people who are in intermediate finance, mezzanine and asset based finance I believe, some of the major private equity companies that focus on mining have been there, whether they are from Canada or as far away as Australia, I always learn something. You have the geologists that do the short course, I need to get in early, every year they’re sold out! I always want to attend that. So, I’m looking forward to it and I appreciate your time and it’s always, it’s great to talk to you and I think I still owe you a lunch so we will get together here soon

Paul Harris: Well I look forward to that. I appreciate the time to talk with you about this Loren. Thank you very much for your help. I look forward to seeing you do. The event is the 8th and 9th of November but I look forward to see you before then.

Next week, November 16-17, Colombia Gold Symposium will present a line-up of gold and copper companies providing project updates as well as panels and presentations on country risk aspects in Colombia and Ecuador, including presidential elections, and what they may mean for the sector. Colombia Gold Symposium will host cocktail receptions, a commercial hall with around 20 exhibitors, special one-day geology courses, among other activities.

Within the context of the symposium, Finance Colombia’s Executive Editor Loren Moss had the opportunity to talk to Paul Harris, organizer of The Colombian Gold Symposium and publisher of Colombia Gold Letter, the only publication exclusively focused on gold and copper mining across Colombia and Ecuador.

More information and tickets for the event can be found at ColombiaGold.co

Finance Colombia: Welcome back, Paul. Last year, Colombia Gold Symposium was a virtual event because of the pandemic. Now that we’re finally going back to an in-person format, what new things do you have in store for us this year?

Paul Harris: Thank you, Loren. We’re looking to do a few things differently this year. When we started the planning process at the beginning 2021, we were still uncertain about how the COVID-19 pandemic would play out and particularly how the government’s management of the pandemic would evolve. So we were initially working to get a much bigger hotel and expand the event, but we decided against that this year, instead we tried to be a bit more conservative. However, we did change the location to the Marriott Hotel in Medellín, because it’s recognized as a solid international brand. They take the safety of their international guests very seriously, with strong COVID management methods, but more than that, they’ve got an excellent conference space.

Paul Harris is publisher of Colombia Gold Letter and organizer of Colombia Gold Symposium

But the main thing, the continual thing this year will be the focus on projects. A lot of mining events focus on equipment but without projects there is nothing, everything else is moot. We’ve always focused on the projects, and we’ve got a very strong program this year around copper and gold in Colombia. Another new thing focuses on how inside the industry we understand that miners and explorers do a lot of good things with their communities. It’s becoming part of the DNA of many companies, but not all of that is broadly recognized. So we were thinking, how could we help showcase some of these efforts?

We came up with what we’re calling the Colombia Gold Symposium Economic Development Awards. What does that mean? Well, many companies work with their host communities to stimulate and develop other economic activity that doesn’t necessarily depend on mining. The idea behind that is to provide the community with economic alternatives for when the mine has eventually run its course and been depleted. We developed these awards with an international panel of judges to recognize these efforts. Five or six companies have submitted some of their projects to the panel for evaluation, and we’ll be including an award ceremony in the program, as well as giving the finalists five minutes to talk about their economic development projects.

“This will help us to hopefully open people’s eyes about the good work mining companies do. We want people to look beyond mining and see how many companies go the extra mile for their communities to try and help them along the development curve.”

For me, this is really, really exciting. This will help us to hopefully open people’s eyes about the good work mining companies do. We want people to look beyond mining and see how many companies go the extra mile for their communities to try and help them along the development curve.

Finance Colombia: I think you’re right. You and I have both seen cases where companies have done it the right way, there are other examples of companies doing it the wrong way. Colombia Gold Symposium will have speakers discussing this and many other issues. You always have good speakers, whether it’s political risk experts like Sergio Guzmán and environmental specialists like Brigitte Baptiste or big players in the industry like Ari Sussman. I’ve met some people that have come in as far away as Australia to attend your events, tell me about some of the speakers this year.

Paul Harris: We have delegates coming in from Peru, Chile, Brazil, as well as Canada. The travel situation with Australia is still very difficult, so unfortunately, we don’t really have Australians per se this time. But we do have representatives from Australian companies. We’re continuing another one of our traditions, which is a panel about the regulatory environment and other things around that. We have our regular Colombia law panel or mining regulation panel, as well as an Ecuador mining regulation panel. But we’re doing it slightly different this year, in the past these panels have been quite theoretical. This time, we’ll go through a more practical empirical approach. We’ll have people discussing regulatory issues who have the actual experience of dealing with them. We have a very complete program with a strong value proposition. We want to transfer that value to our speakers, our sponsors, and of course the delegates that join us.

Finance Colombia: I love attending your events. I know your events are always in November, but it seems like some other organizers are throwing everything in November as well this year. That’s disrupting the traditional event schedule. There’s ANDICOM, the big IT industry event in Cartagena, which is normally in June. There is usually no conflict between IT and the mining industry when it comes to these events. This year is different, there’s also the very important ACP Congress, which is the Colombian Petroleum Industry Association, having an in-person event in Bogotá. I also just got back from a major event up in Orlando. It seems like everybody has just now turned on the spigot and that’s good news, but for journalists like me it is complicated to be everywhere. For those who want to attend, how can they find more information?

Paul Harris: Of course, I think you’re right. Now that events can happen again, people have been keen to put them on. For us though, it’s a little bit different because as you mentioned, we’ve always put this together in November. Back in January, February, we started having people asking us, are you going to be putting on an event this year and will it be an in-person event? So obviously we’ve been able to answer yes to all of that. The event has become a calendar feature, and the response has been amazing, and people really do want to meet in person again.

That’s been the overwhelming takeaway. We’re very happy and proud to be, one of the choices for people in order to meet again like that. In our website Colombiagold.co, we included details about the program, including the speakers, geology courses and the economic development awards that I just mentioned. We have a section there showing the entries of the community programs of the finalists.

Finance Colombia: I know it’s going to be a great event. I’m not a mining expert, I’m not a gold expert, but every time I go, I come away feeling like I learned a bunch. This is a really important event; I’ve come across foreign ambassadors and people from the Colombian government there before. This is definitely an event that people need. They can even easily travel to Colombia, a country for which you don’t even need a COVID test to secure entry. I’m just thrilled to see that it continues to progress and grow. You and I will stay in touch, and I am already reserving my calendar for next year.

Paul Harris: That’s great news Loren, and just to go back to some of your comments. The Australian embassy has a delegation coming, the Canadian embassy is bringing in a trade mission from Ontario. We have the president of Colombia’s National Mining Association giving a keynote speech, and Colombia’s Deputy Mining Minister Sandra Sandoval giving a keynote on the second day, so yes, very high level. It’s going to be very interesting.

Finance Colombia: Great. I look forward to hearing about it and to report on the proceedings.

Paul Harris: Excellent. Thank you very much, Loren.

Photos: Loren Moss

The event is also launching its CGS Economic Development Awards to highlight innovative and impactful projects undertake to stimulate local economies. CGS2021 will provide unmatched networking opportunities with a commercial exhibit, lunches sponsored by Royal Road Minerals and cocktails sponsored by ALS and Cordoba Minerals. Visit ColombiaGold.co or email info@ColombiaGold.co for more information.