After Albo’s victory with the Australian Labor Party retaining leadership in convincing fashion over the weekend, the aspiring resources sector descended upon Sydney for the 21st iteration of the RIU Sydney Resources Round-Up held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The event was rather timely for investors and brokers to gauge corporate attitudes and the lay of the land after the Federal election result and a bumpy April in the wake of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff saga. White Noise Communications was pleased to return as the media partner and water sponsor with some lucky punters taking home a handy “White Noise” refillable water bottle.

While gold has pulled back from the recent US$3,500 all-time high since the pause on U.S. tariffs, it’s still right up there and managed a 3.72% gain in AUD price (3.23% in USD) during the conference. Unsurprisingly, it was a dominant theme across the exhibiting companies. With their security detail in tow, ABC Refinery’s booth was a hot destination for photos with the 400oz gold bars on display, now worth around A$2.1 million each.

Gold wasn’t the only story in town though. These days it’s hard for a mineral to not be considered “Critical” and other key commodities like Tin, Copper, Uranium and even Titanium all have their own compelling supply/demand dynamics influencing prices, forecasts and policies alike. All were well represented at the conference and, with funding in place to drive exploration and development activities over the coming months, there is a sense of cautious optimism amongst investors.

The White Noise cocktail function co-hosted with Wilsons Advisory in the evening of day 2 was a stand-out event. A solid turnout of resource industry elite and aspiring up-and-comers alike had the opportunity to network with their peers behind closed doors in an intimate setting aside from the conference hustle and bustle. The array of drinks customary for a resources sector event helped the tongues wag with the afterparty spilling out into several of the usual Sydney nightlife venues.

Evidently, not everyone had a late night as the plenary was quite well attended in the first session on Day 3. Those present were treated to a keynote address by the Honourable Courtney Houssos MLC, the NSW Government’s Minister for Finance, Minister for Domestic Manufacturing and Government Procurement and Minister for Natural Resources, who was also later seen at the NSW Government booth and walking the exhibition area.

Pleasingly, attendance in the plenary remained high all the way through to the final session of the conference with the Companies presenting the graveyard shift enjoying an audience of around 150 investors.

The final talk of the day was the energetic Sean Russo from Noah’s Rule, who delivered a fast paced and captivating talk on how no one ever rings the bell at the top or bottom of a market. The conference wrapped up with the drawing of the winners of 3 gold ingots supplied by ABC Refinery. This may well have been a key factor in the late high attendance levels, given the winners had to be in the room to claim the ingots. Nevertheless, a gold ingot in today’s record high prices is worth the effort and it no doubt made the winners’ day.

Overall, it was very well attended by investors and brokers alike, walking the floor and listening diligently to the 90 odd presentations throughout the conference. The main exhibition area was a bustling hive of activity with plenty of networking, video interviews being filmed at company booths and the 1-on-1 meeting scheduler put to good use.

As always, another highly successful and smooth-running event by the Vertical Events team. As for the RIU Sydney Resources Round-Up itself…Happy 21^st!