The Public Image of Mining – PDAC President Scott Jobin-Bevans Speech at the Calgary Mineral Forum (April 12, 2011)

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) advocates to protect the interests of the Canadian mineral exploration industry and to ensure a robust mining sector in the most environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner possible. 

“If the mining industry is unwilling to talk about its achievements, how can we expect Canadians to understand and value it?” (PDAC President Scott Jobin-Bevans – April 12, 2011)

Good evening everybody.

I’d like to thank Darren Anderson for inviting me to the Calgary Mining Forum’s 20thanniversary. The first years of any organization’s life are the most challenging so M-E-G [Mineral Exploration Group] has reached a milestone.

I understand there’ll be some oil and gas folks here tonight so I’m please that MEG is helping two streams of geology maintain their connections.

Over the last 20 years, a number of the PDAC’s board members have come from MEG. Michael Marchand, president of Leeward Capital, was just elected for his third term at our convention last month. And MEG’s past president, Sherri Hodder, who shares my interest in student recruitment, is one of our newer directors, elected in 2009.

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Voting begins for Ontario Mining Association’s SYTYKM People’s Choice Award

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

 

The Canadian federal election is not the only polling that will be taking place today.  The on-line voting for the Ontario Mining Association’s So You Think You Know Mining (SYTYKM) high school video competition’s People’s Choice Award started May 1 and runs until midnight May 31.

Sixty videos, or about 75% of the total number of entries in this year’s SYTYKM competition, are in the running.  Go to the OMA website www.oma.on.ca and click on the SYTYKM box.  Then click on the People’s Choice Award panel.  You can view the videos and cast your ballot electronically.

In order to complete the mechanics of voting, no pencil or paper is required.  Click below your favourite video where it says “Vote for this video!”  Then check your e-mail box for a confirmation message from the OMA and click on the link provided.  This not only completes the voting process but it will ensure you are entered in the random draw to win an iPod. 

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North of 60: Frozen Out [Mining in the Northwest Territories] – by Bill Braden

 The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication. This article is from the magazine’s May, 2011 issue.

Why is NWT exploration slowing so drastically?

Grassroots explorers shun the NWT, discouraged by high cost, scant infrastructure, a regulatory system that’s still a work in progress, and two land claims 

It’s not much of a dip — only $2 mil­lion from 2010 — but a new forecast for exploration spending in Canada confirms that mine finders have found friendlier places than the Northwest Territories to spend their exploration budgets. 

Natural Resources Canada reported the trend in March, predicting the NWT will see only $83 million invested this year, less than half the money invested just five years ago. 

Contrast that with Yukon’s projected $256.3 million this year, or Nunavut at $327.8 (up an eye-popping 71 and 24 per cent respectively from 2010) and it’s easy to see why the NWT should be worried, if not alarmed. 

“The challenge is we’re facing a matur­ing [diamond] industry and it will take many [conventional] projects to replace an Ekati-size mine,” says Tom Hoefer, Executive Director of the NWT & Yukon Chamber of Mines. Currently, the terri­tory has only four producing mines — three diamond, and the other, tungsten. 

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Building gender-balanced businesses in the minerals industry – by Catharine Shaw

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication. This column is from the magazine’s May, 2011 issue. Catharine Shaw is Business Services Manager, Mining Sector, Golder Associates and WIM Canada, Secretary.

Canadian women working in mining and exploration represent a human resource which is highly talented and yet their skills remain largely untapped. It could be said that there is some familiarity between career lifecy¬cles of women and the cyclical nature of a commodities business. For example, as the value of earnings fluctuate widely according to variations in the economy prompted by global supply and demand, often the career path of professional women in mining are impacted by the uncertainty to invest in female talent (equitable supply) and consistent long-term availability of this resource (demand).

The historical boom and bust nature of the mining industry poses additional challenges for short-tenure employees, such as women entering child-bearing years, who make choices during up- trending markets only to lose opportunities more heavily during the down turns. With that being said, every employer and employee is touched regardless of gender by booms and busts, however, the career path or lifecycles for women are unique when considering all choices that have to be made. Of course, not all professional women are alike when making career choices.

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