It was a neat illustration of the ongoing power shift in the global gold mining sector.
In a small media conference room on the sidelines of the Diggers & Dealers forum, within the space of an hour, the divergent strategies of the established gold majors and the rising giants from China were laid out. 
AngloGold Ashanti, long one of the most famous names in gold, ruled out any prospect of acquiring new projects in Australia despite the shifts in cost and currency that have made the country a far more attractive place to invest.
"If I look at the portfolio in terms of the areas we'd move next, the next areas of growth aren't in Australia," the group's executive vice-president of group planning, Graham Ehm, said. "In Australia we wouldn't look at M&A." A short time later, sitting at the same table, Zijin Mining executive director George Feng was spelling out the plans of the Chinese group - which has rocketed to become the world's biggest gold miner by market capitalisation - to continue expanding its presence in Australia.
Zijin had already bought out Norton Gold Fields, owner of the Paddington mine near Kalgoorlie, and is currently bidding for small explorer Phoenix Gold (although it looks likely to face competition from the acquisitive Evolution Mining, which has a 19.9 per cent stake in Phoenix).
Its ambitions in Australia could be far grander, with a recent agreement with North American giant Barrick Gold potentially paving the way to more acquisitions.
"We see Australia as one of the best destinations to make continuing investment," Dr Feng said.
Barrick has been selling off assets in Australia and the region as it looks to tackle its debt load. It recently announced a deal to sell its stake in the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea as part of a broader formation of a strategic partnership, and Dr Feng signalled that the emerging alliance could be a precursor to more deals.
"We have a (memorandum of understanding) announced with Barrick and we have a good relationship and good communication. We have a team working together to close the deal," Dr Feng said. "In terms of other potential opportunity, we are also in a process of discussing potential opportunities with Barrick."Asked if those talks could involve a deal over Barrick's 50 per cent stake in Kalgoorlie's massive Super Pit, Dr Feng offered a firm "no comment".