Precious Metals, Diamonds and Gems Investment Summit

Two events in one - a summit on the gold, silver and platinum group metals and then the diamonds and gemstone sectors.

Key speakers will discuss their opinions as to whether gold and silver prices can continue rising and what about PGM prices?

The ethical issues surrounding the production of diamonds and coloured stones will be appraised along side their investment potential.

Photos

Delegates networked over morning and afternoon coffee, lunch and dinner in the Ironmongers' Hall in the heart of London's historic financial district.

Main Programme

Wednesday, 6 Apr 2011
Banqueting Hall
Time Activity
08:30-09:30 Registration & Coffee
Session 1 Gold
Moderator: Emma Nicholson - Intrepid Financial
9:30-10:00 Investing in gold equities
Tim Weir - Wessex Asset Management
10:00-10:25 Global gold overview
Greg Kay - Intierra Resource Intelligence
10:25-10:50 Precious metals mining in Canada
Brian Parrott - Canadian High Commission
10:50-11:20 Coffee & Networking
Moderator: Miranda Werstiuk - IBK Capital
11:20-11:45 Exploring Quebec for gold
Brad Kitchen - Eagle Hill Exploration
11:45-12:10 Re-opening a famous Montana gold mine
Murray Nye - RX Exploration
Session 2 Platinum
12:10-12:35 The platinum jewellery market in China
Rupen Raithatha - Johnson Matthey
12:35-1:45 Networking Lunch
Session 3 Diamonds and Gemstones
Moderator: George Osborne - SaaSXtra Exploration
1:45-2:10 New demand and open markets in diamonds
Andrew Bone - De Beers
2:10-2:35 Coloured gems outlook
David Hargreaves - Fairtrade Gems
2:35-3:00 Update on the Kimberley Process
Elly Harrowell - Global Witness
3:00-6:00 Cocktails & Networking

Videos

Leading international speakers updated London's financial community on the sector, the outlook for key commodities, and the state of the funding market for mining companies.

Presentations

Presentations provide delegates with indepth information to base their investment decisions on.

Speakers' Bios

  • Emma Nicholson

    Emma Nicholson is a consultant to Intrepid Financial and is responsible for expamding their Corporate Development activity. Emma has worked for major PR companies including JCPR Edelman and Ketchum where she created strategies for a wide variety of blue-chip clients such as Shell, Mars and Starbucks. Emma's career includes MM&K where she worked on the CEX Partnerships; a fund established for MBOs in the manufacturing sector. Emma is a graduate of City University Business School and holds a BSc in Management and Systems Science.

  • Tim Weir

    Tim Weir is CEO and Investment Director of Wessex Asset Management, a UK-based equity long-short hedge fund manager. Wessex launched an Asia Pacific fund in 2000, a global natural resources fund in 2004 and a gold fund in 2007. Prior to co-founding Wessex Tim was head of equity investment at Swiss Bank Corporation institutional fund management in London, where he managed SBC's award-winning GoldPortfolio, Director of European Equities at NatWest Investment Management, and a director of Geoffrey Morley and Partners. He has a 1st class Honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from The Queen's College, Oxford.

  • Brian Parrott

    Brian Parrott currently Minister-Counsellor and Senior Trade Commissioner at the Canadian High Commission in London, responsible for promoting Canada's commercial interests in the UK. Brian has extensive experience in international commerce, policy analysis related to economic development, trade promotion and investment attraction activities. Prior to coming to London he worked in Ottawa supporting Canada's investment objectives. Brian has served in Seattle, Washington and Tokyo as Senior Trade Commissioner and Counsellor Commercial. Brian has also worked in the private sector on energy development projects both in Canada and internationally.

  • Greg Kay

    Greg Kay the Commercial Director for Intierra. Intierra provides the world's most trusted, complete and up-to-date global mineral resources database. began working for Intierra in 2009 after previously working in funds management for major Australian banks for 8 years. Prior to that Greg worked in Military Intelligence for the Australian Defense Force. Greg has a Post Graduate degree in Communication and Information Systems through the University of New South Wales, and has a MBA from Curtin University of Technology.

  • Miranda Werstiuk

    Ms. Werstiuk has been with IBK Capital since 1994. With 17 years corporate finance and investment banking experience in the natural resources sector, Ms. Werstiuk takes an active role in financial advisory assignments for mining clients, working with junior exploration companies such as Eagle Hill Exploration - exploring and developing the Windfall Lake gold property in Quebec; and, Antioquia Gold Inc. - developing gold projects in Colombia. Recently, her efforts have been directed to marketing and selling of private placement financings, with a value of over $165 million to date. She has also undertaken advisory work for clients active in the renewable energy/fuel, biotechnology and software sectors.

    Ms. Werstiuk is currently a member of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, Women in Mining–Toronto Branch, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Petroleum and the York Technology Initiative. She has also been an active volunteer, mentor and Peer Group Leader for the Canadian Diabetes Association for over a decade. Since 2006, she has been a judge at the IBK Capital-Ivey Business Plan Competition, Canada's premiere student business plan competition.

    Ms. Werstiuk is a graduate of Queen's University (BScH – Biology (1990)) and of McMaster University (BAH – Anthropology (1992)). She completed the Queen's University E-Business Program in April 2000, and more recently courses in Finance and Accounting.

  • Rupen Raithatha

    For the past three years Rupen has worked as a PGM (platinum group metals) analyst for Johnson Matthey, a precious metals refiner and fabricator. During this time he has followed developments in the 'investment' sector, an area of demand that has become particularly challenging, as well as increasingly important, with the advent of physically-backed ETFs in recent years. More recently, he has added the Chinese platinum jewellery market to his areas of responsibility. Rupen contributes to Johnson Matthey's respected biannual industry review, the Platinum Book, and is also responsible for long-term demand-side forecasting.

    Rupen holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Economics and Government from the University of Manchester, as well as a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of Warwick.

  • Brad Kitchen

    Brad Kitchen has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Eagle Hill since its inception in 2006 and is also the President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Yankee Hat Minerals Ltd, another TSX-V listed issuer. Brad has been the President of PBK Financial Engineering since April, 1997, a company that offers corporate finance consulting to small-cap corporations.

    In addition to his current and past roles with multiple TSX Venture Exchange issuers, Brad also served as Vice President of CIBC World Markets (formerly CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Inc.) and TD Securities Inc. for more than eleven years. Brad received his Masters of Business Administration from McGill University in June, 1987. He received his Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia in January, 1985.

  • Murray Nye

    Murray Nye is the CEO of RX Exploration. Murray R. Nye is the founding director and principal of Venbanc Investment Management Group, an investment and merchant bank located in Winnipeg, Manitoba since 1994. He is a Director and former Chief Executive Officer of ATSI Communications Inc. and serves as a Director of Green River Resources.

  • George Osborne

    George qualified as an accountant with Robson Rhodes, now part of Grant Thornton and spent many formative years in audit and information systems. As a consultant with Capgemini and Robson Rhodes he has extensive experience in areas as diverse as derivatives trading in the City of London to the third sector in the UK, and more recently as a finance director he adds the mineral exploration and mining sector to his wide experience. George is a firm believer that more intelligent use of better technology is the way successful organisations will differentiate themselves in the future. With this driving passion George is now managing director of SaaSXtra Exploration Services bringing unique tools, training, support and interim management to the exploration and mining sector.

  • Andy Bone

    Andrew Bone is Director of International Relations at De Beers. He started with De Beers as a diamond valuer and subsequently worked in various other departments within the company's Rough Diamond Division, including overseas secondments in South Africa and Belgium. Later, he became an overseas buyer, managing buying offices, mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following a year in the Sales Department, he joined Marketing Liaison and Corporate Communications where contributed to the establishment of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. He went on to develop the concept of the Diamond Development Initiative with the NGOs Partnership Africa Canada and Global Witness. Andy is also a director of the World Diamond Council and the Diamond Development Initiative, and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster's Business School.

  • David Hargreaves

    David Hargreaves is CEO of his family company Fair Trade Gemstones Ltd, which specialises in the ethical sourcing and marketing of gemstones worldwide. David has over forty years of senior experience in the mining industry. After qualifying in coal mining he worked in the iron ore mines in Canada before diversifying into other bulk minerals including bauxite. He was Head of Research for stockbrokers James Capel in London and voted Mining Analyst of the year on three successive occasions. Since forming his own metals broking and research company in 1977, he has successfully promoted and been a director of several public companies. He currently writes "The Week in Mining", an incisive review of world mining events, for stockbrokers X Cap. He is a Chartered Mining Engineer, Fellow of the Geological Society and the Institute of Mining, Minerals and Materials, and a Member of the Royal Institution. He is a representative to the House of Commons Select Committee on Strategically Important Metals.

  • Elly Harrowell

    Elly Harrowell is a campaigner with Global Witness who works with the Kimberley Process to ensure the ethical sourcing of diamonds. Global Witness was the first organisation that sought to break the links between the exploitation of natural resources and conflict and corruption. Over the years their investigations and powerful lobbying skills have been a catalyst for most of the major international mechanisms and initiatives that have been established to address these issues including the Kimberley Process and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).