The urgency around critical minerals has renewed interest in the global mining sector, but the industry needs to improve its reputation in order to take full advantage, the head of the world’s largest producer of iron ore told a mining conference in Toronto Sunday. “For me, this is one of the fundamental issues that we have to be able to address,” Gustavo Pimenta, chief executive of Brazil-headquartered Vale SA, said in a keynote speech to kick off the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention. “This is going to have an enormous impact even on valuation, but more than that, on our licence to operate.” Pimenta said limited though growing valuations in the mining industry are “completely disproportional” to the outsized economic impact the sector has, noting that the combined market capitalization of the world’s 300 largest mining companies is less than that of Nvidia Corp. What exactly is driving that disconnect may be up for debate, but Pimenta said a “fundamental element” can’t be ignored, referencing a GlobeScan report that showed mining is viewed as one of the least responsible industries globally. “We get criticized as miners many times because we just export what we produce, and we give the rights to the state, but the communities around us don’t benefit,” Pimenta said. “We have to show that they benefit.” PDAC is an annual events that draws thousands of exploration and mining professionals, investors and government officials from around the world to discuss trends, innovations, and outlooks for the sector. This year, interest is particularly high, due to the strong run in precious metal prices and deepening interest in critical minerals. Later in the day, the conference heard from experts about exploration and demand trends for copper and gold , among other metals. Constrained supply and tailwinds from China’s push to become an “electro-state” has caused a “real acceleration” in copper prices since last year, said Colin Hamilton, vice president of market research and economic analysis at Teck Resources Ltd. Hamilton said the company that runs China’s state electricity grid, the world’s largest copper consumer, is planning to increase investment by 40 per cent over the next five years. “A decade ago, China was more or less in parallel with the rest of the world. Now China is surging ahead in terms of that electricity share, and it’s going to continue,” he said. “In a world where artificial intelligence is arguably the next geopolitical battleground, you want a resilient energy grid.” After gold notched its best year in more than four decades in 2025, it’s no surprise that the yellow metal is a popular topic at this year’s convention. Joseph Cavatoni, a senior market strategist and head of public policy at the World Gold Council, said over the last year and a half, Asia has been the biggest driver of prices due to the introduction of mainstream investment in the region, more family offices and higher institutional demand. “They’re engaged, they’re involved, and they’re moving the price, amongst the other components, like central banks in the emerging markets,” said Cavatoni. Many countries don’t consider gold a critical mineral, but it is “financially critical ” for both investors and the nations producing it, said Kevin Murphy, director of metals and mining research at S&P Global Energy. When it comes to exploration, Murphy said the mining industry never fully recovered from the burst of investment that peaked in 2012 and later slumped after cyclical commodity prices went down and investors deemed the sector too risky. “I would hope that $5,000-per-ounce gold attracts investment,” he said. “It is definitely doing so right now, but it is still very difficult for a lot of commodities.” Murphy said gold continues to be the “backbone” of the exploration industry and accounts for about half of all exploration spending. “But I always want to point out that we should never be pulling money out from the other commodities,” he said. “We should be adding money in.” PDAC continues on Monday, when the federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Tim Hodgson, is expected to deliver a keynote and make multiple announcements. Gold to take centre stage at PDAC, with some predicting prices will hit $10,000Ontario tops all Canadian jurisdictions in mine industry investment appeal • Email: jswitzer@postmedia.com