The closing speaker of PDAC 2009 Marc Faber, who publishes the monthly investment advisory Gloom Boom & Doom report, sent a sobering message to the mineral exploration and mining industry leaders at Wednesday’s Canadian Institute of Mining Luncheon.

“What you should all do is buy a farm and learn how to drive a tractor,” Faber told a chuckling audience. “In the future you don’t want to be in a city, especially a financial centre.”

Convention attendees were concerned by the financial crisis and the impact it had on the capital markets, which are necessary to fund exploration projects.

They heard many different forecasts during the convention and although Faber’s was among the most extreme, few were particularly positive in the short term.

Faber said signs to watch for that will suggest an economic recovery is happening include a weakening U.S. dollar, which he said would indicate liquidity returning to the rest of the world.

But the strident danger he predicted is the likelihood that the serious economic recession or even depression that he is expecting will lead to war.

“It won’t be the traditional war, it will be poison in the water systems of major cities like New York or London,” he said.

An uptrend in commodity prices will continue once the global economy recovers, Faber did however predict.

“When the global economy recovers, inflation and interest rates are likely to increase along with rising commodity prices,” he said.

PDAC 2010 will run March 7 to 10.

We’re looking forward to seeing you then!