City to come back to life in October with multitude of events including Diggers, Race Round, PGA and more lined up

The annual Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum has been locked in for October, with organisers tipping a strong showing of delegates even if Australia’s borders remain closed.

One of Australia’s premier mining conferences that typically draws visitors to Kalgoorlie-Boulder from across Australia and abroad, organisers were left scrambling to postpone the event after the coronavirus pandemic took a stranglehold in mid-March.

The committee then made the decision to postpone the three-day conference until October 12.

Forum president Jim Walker yesterday told the Kalgoorlie Miner with the State Government’s scrapping of restrictions on gatherings expected on July 18, it meant the committee was expecting a strong showing of Australian delegates.

It means the first half of October is shaping up as the moment that Kalgoorlie-Boulder comes to life with a bang, with other major events also on track for mid-spring.

The annual race round that draws punters from across the State and is dubbed Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s biggest party will culminate on October 1 with the Hannans Handicap and the Kalgoorlie Cup two days later.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club chief executive Stephen Young told the Kalgoorlie Miner two weeks ago that the event would be going ahead regardless, but with the easing of COVID restrictions, it looks like the event will not be hampered by any limitations.

The four-day WA PGA Championship at the Kalgoorlie Golf Course will then tee off on October 7, after being brought forward by a day to avoid a clash with Diggers with Dealers.

Diggers and Dealers organisers yesterday said they would release the line-up of the 53 companies confirmed to present at the conference next month. The two marquees are also fully subscribed, with 154 companies planning to showcase their projects, products and services.

Mr Walker said the forum was “looking very good” and would likely attract a solid cohort of Australian mining executives

“As you can understand none of us are too sure what’s going to happen with our international visitors at the moment but we will take that as it comes and as we get closer we’ll understand what’s happening,” he said.

“We’re preparing ourselves for the worst but hoping for the best.

“The percentage of international is a small part of the numbers.

“But what we will be doing is we are working out ways in which we can stream it to international visitors so they still don’t miss out so they can either see it online or watch it later because they are important to us for the longer term.”

Mr Walker said even if Australia’s borders remained closed, he anticipated the numbers would be “pretty much close to the same or a little bit less” than the 2450 delegates at last year’s conference.

He said he was “confident the borders will be open by then”.

“We do have a setback with Victoria but no doubt with the work going on there we’ve got time to get that sorted out between now and then,” he said.

Mr Walker said he believed the conference would retain its popularity despite the pandemic because telephones and video conferencing could not replace face-to-face conversations in business.

“I know in my case being locked up doing four or five video conferences a day, I find they are great but there is nothing better than actually sitting down and having a cup of coffee or a quiet chat,” he said.

“A lot of discussions happen after hours not just during the conference.

“People just seeing each other and bumping into each other, that’s what builds relationships and that’s what the business is really about.”

Mr Walker said with the mining sector in good shape and commodity prices strong, he felt there would be an upbeat mood at the conference.

He said Kalgoorlie-Boulder was “by far” the best venue for the forum.

“Diggers and Dealers wouldn’t be the same without Kalgoorlie,” Mr Walker said.