Bruce Whitfield:
We?re going back to the big mining indaba in Cape Town, where David McKay now joins us. David it must be fairly exciting. Day Two of the Big Indaba and the gold price is down $20 an ounce. That must be getting a few feathers ruffled?

David McKay:
Yes, it is. It certainly is showing itself in the selling of the South African gold stocks. The reason seems to be that Greenspan has directly linked the gold price strength to various political instabilities, and commenting on this there was a speech by Gerald Holden, he?s the MD of Barclays. He made the observation that he thought there?d be some improvement in the political situation of the various world players, and the gold price would right size to about $350, which is a massive decline from where it is now.

Bruce Whitfield:
So, some concerns around the gold price, certainly. After the famous chat between Ian Cockerill and Bernard Swanepoel yesterday, who else have you seen talking at the indaba?

David McKay:
It?s great, all my victims are here, and they?re having discussions and they can?t get away. We saw the Rand Merchant Bank talking with Renova, which is a Russian company, which we know is very keen to invest in South Africa, but is going about it in a very quiet manner. So whenever we do see them, it?s interesting to see who they are talking to.

We?ve seen the guys from DRDGold talking to Neil Froneman from SXR Uranium One. We?ve seen DRDGold talking with officials from Nasdaq. We are making a massive journalistic step to assume that that?s going to be a full listing for DRDGold on that thing. We?ve seen the [Chiso] guys talking to Matt Banks. We even saw Chippy Shaik.

Bruce Whitfield:
Chippy Shaik was there as well?

David McKay:
He was lurking outside the hotel, talking to various people. The mines must get working on that one.

Bruce Whitfield:
The "Who?s Who" most certainly. What about the Democratic Republic of Congo? The DRC is a big issue being raised in lots of speeches, apparently.

David McKay:
Yes, absolutely, they had a breakfast this morning. They catered for 60 people. 150 people turned up. I?m sure there would have been more people if they could have got them. There?s huge interest in this region of Africa at the moment. What mining industrialists are doing is they?re looking at areas like Ghana, which were considered a bit off the map about five or six years ago. I?m saying, it looks pretty stable now. They?re saying, ?What is the next Ghana??

Now, the DRC has its democratic elections in March. And there?s a real sense of if you get in now, just before the place properly stabilises, you can probably get your value, in terms of developing mines. Bruce, there?s massive interest in the DRC. It?s a very rich area from a mineral point of view: copper, cobalt, diamonds and gold, and all kinds of companies are getting in.

Bruce Whitfield:
And also it?s not just a story about the DRC and Ghana, but most of the countries that are being spoken about at this particular indaba are actually outside South Africa. Even though we are hosting the event, we?re playing a very small role in it.

David McKay:
That is a very interesting point indeed. I must say, there are 40 presenting companies at the conference. Six of them are South African. You?ve got to wonder if that?s because a lot of money is going north of the border. Is that because international companies are looking at the regulatory environment in South Africa, and deciding it?s not for them?

If I may say, the minister is not helping, the minister of mines. She was 40 minutes late for her presentation yesterday. She offered no apology. She didn?t turn up for her presentation that was scheduled today.

Bruce Whitfield:
Not great form, is it? Does that sort of stuff rile the mining industry?

David McKay:
It?s just about message, and I really do think we?ve got something to offer. But we?ve had the Nigerians Mines Minister here, and she?s been talking up a storm about the various things that they want to do. It?s just food for thought from a South African perspective.

Bruce Whitfield:
Perhaps a missed opportunity? David McKay, thank you very much indeed, the mining writer at Finweek, and the editor of miningmax.com.