Noosa Mining and Exploration Investor Conference expected to attract 1000 attendees

ABOUT 1000 mining types will descend on Noosa in July for the 8th annual Noosa Mining and Exploration Investor Conference, dubbed the “Diggers and Dealers of the East.”

Noosa Mining and Exploration Investor Conference kicks off in July.

NOOSA BOUND

NOOSA in winter is a glorious place. Just ask the expected 1000 mining types set to descend on the tourist town next month for the 8th annual Noosa Mining and Exploration Investor Conference, dubbed the “Diggers and Dealers of the East”.

Organiser Phil Dickinson tells your diarist that the record attendance at the conference, to be held from July 18-20, reflects a resurging resources sector with an expected $230 billion in mining and energy exports this year.

“We started the conference in 2011 when the resources sector was starting to dip,” says Dickinson. “Now we are riding it back up again.”

Dickinson says the conference, like its famous “Diggers and Dealers” counterpart in Kalgoorlie, has become a place to do deals as well as providing a chance for mining execs to unwind.

“Noosa is a great place in winter,” says Dickinson. “Some of the attendees will have a surf in the morning before turning up for the conference. You can’t do that in Kalgoorlie.”

Dickinson says a highlight is the dinner at the surf club on Thursday night where people really let their hair down. “I really don’t know what goes on as I just see the damage the next day when people turn up for the sessions. There are a lot of bleary eyes.”

STOCK PICKS

DICKINSON will announce the winner of the James McCullough Stockpicker of the Year Award on the last day of the conference. Named after our late City Beat colleague, the award is given to the person who picks the three resources stocks that have performed the best over the year.

McCullough was a regular attendee at the conference and died just before the 2014 event. The prize is a bottle of Monkey Shoulder whiskey.

case closed

VIRYAN Collins-Rubie, the wife of fallen childcare mogul Eddy Groves, has dropped an unusual defamation lawsuit against The Courier-Mail.

It wasn’t over a published story but rather some questions one of your diarist’s colleagues asked several people, about whether she was involved in a Brisbane childcare outfit. She was seeking $250,000 in damages.

For the record, the 15-childcare centre Green Leaves group confirmed neither Collins-Rubie nor Groves have had any involvement in the company.

What piqued our colleague’s interest was the fact that company and land records show several people attached to Green Leaves had property or business ties to Groves or Collins-Rubie.

For instance, one Green Leaves director Glenn Ryan had been a director with Collins-Rubie on a private superannuation company, and with Groves on another superannuation company. He never responded to The Courier-Mail.

Another Green Leaves director was Grant Cadee, who was a director of a private family company that was trustee for a trust.

And that trust bought a Nevada property for $US2 million ($A2.6 million) from another private company half-owned by Groves in 2008.

Cadee also did not respond to The Courier-Mail.

The Courier-Mail defended the action, rejecting Collins-Rubie’s allegations that the questions amounted to libel.