VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) — If the multi-year metals party is in jeopardy, you wouldn’t know it from the optimism of 6,000 explorers and miners gathered here to discuss prices and geology.The mood was decidedly upbeat at the annual Mineral Exploration Round-up conference last week, even though cyclical commodities prices have been flying high for several years already and prices for copper and zinc have tumbled this year.

The sell-off in those two metals continued on Friday after a report of losses at a London hedge fund and concerns about stockpiles, while nickel and uranium prices remain elevated.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s mining index slid 3.4 percent Friday, and most global commodities indexes fell in January.

But some mining executives appear unperturbed.

“The correction that has occurred over the last month or two is probably just a natural part of the normal ebbs and flows in the cycle,” Don Lindsay, president and chief executive of base-metals producer Teck Cominco Ltd. , told the conference crowd.

“Are we at a crossroads? Well, we don’t think so,” he said, adding his company believes that a 20-year up-trend is still intact.

Cash-rich Teck Cominco, which produces copper, zinc, coal and gold, is keen to add to its copper resources, so any copper price decline actually plays into its hands, Lindsay noted.