Expect the bar bills to be bigger and the giveaways greater at the annual gathering of miners in Toronto this week as the industry celebrates its roaring recovery from last year's recession.
China will be the unofficial special guest at the 78th Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference, having pulled the industry from its depths thanks to its endless appetite for minerals. India will also be well-received for its role.
More delegates from China, India and other mining nations are expected at this year's conference, helping make it the largest in history with an estimated 22,000 delegates from more than 100 countries.
It's a different story this year.
"If there is a theme, it's we're back and we weren't gone for long," PDAC executive director Tony Andrews said.
There is also more optimism this year, according to a new KPMG survey to be released this week. It shows 71 per cent of mining companies expect to perform better this year than in 2009.
"Mining companies are in the best position they've been in their lifetime. They are pinching themselves because they can't believe it," said BMO Nesbitt Burns strategy adviser Don Coxe.
While the rebound has been dramatic over the past year - with North American non-precious metal mining share prices rising about 300 per cent - some are cautious about the future.
"The early cycle move in mining share prices has historically not been sustainable," RBC Dominion Securities Inc. said in a recent report.
It's a sobering message that the buoyant PDAC crowd may not want to hear until this week's festivities have wrapped.