After a few years of pandemic interruptions, government delegations, major miners, juniors, investors, bankers and media from all over the world were back in force. More than 6000 delegates attended the event with many more in town for the smaller sister event 121 Mining Investment.

After a very busy Sunday of networking events, delegates woke up to the news on Monday of Newmont Corporation's takeover proposal for Newcrest Mining.

It was unsurprising to see standing room only at the main stage ahead of Newmont boss Tom Palmer's speech. However, delegates were left disappointed when the elephant in the room wasn't mentioned.

One topic Palmer did speak passionately on was sexual harassment in the mining sector.

Separately, a panel featuring gold mining leaders answered the big questions facing the sector.

Robert Friedland lived up to his reputation as the best speaker in the mining sector with a one-hour keynote on Wednesday.

The Ivanhoe Mines founder was highly critical of other mining companies which dared to ignore Africa and pleaded with them to renew their faith in the continent.

As expected, the energy transition was a hot topic with many wondering if graphite might be the next commodity to take off.

Over at 121, a panel on exploration explored the environment for juniors and the challenges facing developers in a high-inflation environment.

More coverage from Mining Indaba and 121 can be found here.