Investors remained optimistic about equities of gold-mining companies, and producers remained focused on returning capital to shareholders, in particular by paying dividends. Those are some of the takeaways of analysts at BMO Capital Markets following the Canadian bank’s 29th annual conference for investors and representatives of the mining industry this week. Company officials gave presentations over a three-day period. BMO analysts listed their overall assessment in a followup 102-page report issued late Wednesday. The BMO conference drew with roughly 500 investors and 753 corporate attendees, including 142 ... (full story)