By Matthew Kennard, our man-on-the-ground at the mining industry’s annual jamboree in South Africa.

Welcome to the Mining Indaba 2010; I’ll be your guide through the biggest industry junket of the year taking place in sunny Cape Town over the next week.

My early impression is that the the swagger (or at least a carefree jaunt) is back in the step of the great and good of the mining industry. Investors are also back and interested, but I am not sure if it is going to be a ‘classic’ Indaba like 2007. And by that I mean the following:

(from the FT in 2007)

“Entertainment took the form of fashion shows showcasing gold and diamond jewellery on scantily clad models, always a hit with the mainly male Indaba crowd. One London mining analyst remarked at the Mirabaud party on Wednesday night that ‘booze and babes’ was the surefire recipe for a successful Indaba event.”

Anyway, it’s a cool $1,500 to register for the event and 3,500 of us will be milling around the Convention Center. There are a few highlights to look out for. I can’t work out if President Jacob Zuma is to make the keynote address. The official website says no. But there are media reports to the contrary.

I also want to see Kobus van der Wath who is Beijing-based founder of The Beijing Axis and will perorate on growing Chinese influence in Africa, a topic talked about endlessly but often opaquely. That happens on Tuesday.

One final thing, Featured Company Of The Day: I went down LSE-listed Central Rand Gold’s gold mine in Johannesburg yesterday. The company has been a bit of a disaster to date, although I’m assured this is about to change. It floated in 2007 with shares valued at £1.25, but three years on the price has totalled to 16p. The mine and surrounding sites were originally developed as early as the 19th century. Rand Gold say they will have all the “proof of concept” stuff done within the next six weeks, but quixotic promises might be the reason their shares fell off the cliff so quickly. Just saying. Anyway they are looking to do some fundraising in May so we’ll see.

That’s it from me for today, but rest assured I am trying to track down the mercurial  philanthropist-entrepreneur Frank Timis, also chief executive of African Minerals, for an interview.

Update: Frank’s not going to Indaba, according to his PR:

Hope you are well, you must be happy that you got down to Indaba. It is a lot of fun! Just wanted to let you know that I saw your note this morning. Frank Timis is not attending Indaba this year.

What a pity.

This entry was posted by FT Alphaville on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 8:14 and is filed under Capital markets, M&A, People. Tagged with Mining Indaba 2010. Edit this entry.