The last 12 months have thrown up many interesting challenges and opportunities for those in the resources sector. Themes of M&A activity, regulatory shifts and the gold bull market dominated conversations at the recent 2025 RIU Explorers Conference.
Discover the five pivotal trends emerging from the conference that are likely to impact the resources sector moving forward.
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1. Gold shoots to growth
In our wrap-up of last year’s RIU Conference, we identified “gold shoots” as a key theme of the event, with the industry having a positive outlook on gold prices at the time. 12 months on, and it is fair to say that those gold shoots have transformed into significant growth for the gold sector, which once again stood out at this year’s conference as the commodity space to be in.
It was apparent that investors maintain a highly optimistic outlook on gold, despite some questioning whether the gold price can continue to increase in the manner that it has. Nevertheless, a plethora of early-stage explorers have sought to pivot their project interests into the gold arena, which underscores continued positive sentiment for the favoured precious metal.
2. JORC 2.0
Conference delegates were interested in draft updates to the JORC Code, which propose amendments to the mechanics of mineral reporting in Australia. Those key changes include improving disclosure surrounding ‘reasonable prospects’, the introduction of obligations for the disclosure of material risks and threats in relation to mineral reporting results, additional changes designed to improve transparency and disclosure by competent persons, as well as ESG considerations.
Hamilton Locke Partner Deanna Carpenter gave conference delegates an insightful overview of the key changes being proposed to the JORC Code, many of which, if adopted, will materially impact many of the companies present, given their prevalent exposure to early-stage exploration where mineral reporting is occurring on a much more regular basis.
3. Silver linings
More often in the shadows of gold, silver soaked up some well-deserved attention amongst delegates this year. As gold has surged, so has silver, its price up over 40% in the last 12 months, and a space which explorers and producers alike are demonstrating a renewed interest in. Of particular interest was Andean Silver’s presentation, in which the company showcased the opportunity for silver in a market where demand for the precious metal far outweighs supply. Whilst commodities like lithium and nickel continue to struggle, it will be interesting to observe whether silver draws broader investor support over the next year.
4. Legislative impacts on the sector
The soaring cost of cultural heritage surveys, continued government delays to crucial Mining Act amendments linked to Native Title and the threat of increased payments on the renewal of granted mining leases are causing genuine concern and frustration at the management and board level. Whilst exploration and mining companies understand the importance of maintaining strong relationships with their Native Title stakeholders, uncertainty around these issues, and the delays and increased costs, are threatening the certainty and stable environment in the mining industry that has, for a long time, brought capital to Western Australia, underpinned generations of new mining projects and made Western Australia a Tier-1 mining jurisdiction.
5. Consolidation continues
We also identified consolidation and increased M&A activity as a theme of last year’s conference, and it was one that continued to attract a significant level of discussion amongst delegates this year. Many junior explorers are still cash strapped, with the challenging equity capital market conditions in the last 12-18 months not making life easy. Given this, there is continued appetite for larger players to target M&A opportunities at premium discounts, whilst junior explorers also seek transactional opportunities which afford them greater flexibility without necessarily diluting a large proportion of their equity. We expect continued strong M&A activity in 2025 as companies grapple with uncertain commodity prices, difficult capital markets and an increasingly geopolitically unstable global environment.
This year, we have again retained our place as the exclusive legal sponsor of the RIU Conference – a tradition we’re proud to keep alive year after year. The RIU 2025 Explorers Conference has laid bare the challenges and growth opportunities within the resources sector. Amidst these dynamics, we remain committed to steering clients through this evolving terrain.
For more information, please contact Michael Boyce.
