The awards will recognise excellence in four categories:

-              CEO of the Year

-              New/emerging Leader of the Year

-              Explorer of the Year

-              Deal and/or Merger of the Year

Last year's winners were Westgold Resources' Peter Cook (CEO of the Year), OZ Minerals' Andrew Cole (New/Emerging Leader of the Year), Gold Road Resources (Deal and/or Merger of the Year) and West African Resources (Explorer of the Year).

Last year's judging panel, comprising members of MNN's editorial team and industry leaders, had the tough task of whittling down more than 100 nominations into just 4-6 nominees for each category.

This year's awards, for ASX-listed small-to-mid-cap companies, cover the period July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, with winners to be announced in July, 2018.

The company leadership awards recognise standout value creation in the qualifying period; the New/Emerging Leader of the Year being for a person who has been in their first CEO/MD role for 1-2 years.

The Explorer of the Year recognises a company/leadership team for a maiden resource(s)/reserve(s) report during the fiscal year in focus, for a new discovery.

The Deal and/or Merger of the Year is the MNN corporate development award recognising successful execution of a growth strategy, with associated realisation of value.

The awards will again be judged by a panel of industry experts, to be announced early next week.

The nomination period will open on June 1 with more details to come in the next week.