(L to R) Laurence Golborne, Chile Minister of Mining, Special Achievement Award Winner; PDAC President, Scott Jobin-Bevans

For a video presentation about the Special Achivement Award, please go here: http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/programs/awards/award-winners-video-special.html

An award for special achievement is being given this year to Laurence Golborne, Mining Minister of Chile, for his management of the rescue operation that saved 33 miners who had been trapped underground for 69 days in the San José copper-gold mine.

An estimated one billion people around the world were riveted to screens on October 12, 2010, as, one by one, the miners were winched to the surface in a 21-inch wide bullet shaped capsule called Phoenix, following a rescue effort that had taken 51 days and is believed to be the deepest ever.

(L to R) Joe Hinzer, PDAC; Anglo American Exploration Team, Graham Brown, Vicente Irarrazaval, Graeme Lyall, William Robles, Juan Carlos Toro

For a video presentation about the Los Sulfatos discovery, please go here: http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/programs/awards/award-winners-video-thayer.html

This award, honouring the memory of one of Canada’s greatest mine finders, recognizes an individual or a team of explorationists credited with a recent significant mineral discovery anywhere in the world. 

An exploration team of Anglo American has been chosen to receive the 2011 Thayer Lindsley Award. The team is being recognized for its discovery of Los Sulfatos copper deposit in Chile, a world-class discovery with an inferred resource of 1,200 Mt @ 1.46% copper and 0.02% molybdenum and a potential resource of 4,000-5,000 Mt @ 0.8-1.0% copper.

The five team members include Graham Brown, group head of geosciences and exploration; Vicente Irarrazaval, regional head of exploration; Juan Carlos Toro, regional copper geologist; Graeme Lyall, senior resource geologist; and William Robles, senior geologist.

(L to R) Vice Chairman and CEO, Sean Boyd, Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, Winner Viola R. MacMillan Award; Rodney Thomas, PDAC Second Vice-President

For a video presentation about Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, please go here: http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/programs/awards/award-winners-video-viola.html

This award is named in honour of the PDAC’s longest serving president and is given to a person or company demonstrating leadership in management and financing for the exploration and development of mineral resources.
 
Winner of this year’s Viola R. MacMillan Award is Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, a company that has developed into a world-class, multi-mine gold producer. An ambitious four-year mine-building program from 2006 on has transformed the company, creating exceptional value for shareholders, employees and host communities. Today Agnico-Eagle, which has been in operation for 53 years, has six operating gold mines in Canada, Finland and Mexico. Its gold reserves have increased significantly, and the company ranks among the top ten gold producers in the world, based on market capitalization.

(L to R) Phillip (Jerry) Asp, PDAC Skookum Jim Award Winner; Glenn Nolan, PDAC First Vice-President.

For a video documentary about Phillip (Jerry) Asp, please go here: http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/programs/awards/award-winners-video-skookum.html

Recipients of this award will have demonstrated exceptional achievement and/or service in an aboriginal-run service business for the Canadian mining industry or a Canadian aboriginal exploration or mining company, or have made a significant individual contribution to the mining industry.
 
Phillip (Jerry) Asp is this year’s winner of the Skookum Jim Award. Asp is being recognized for promoting mining’s benefits to aboriginal communities in British Columbia. A former Chief of the Tahltan Band Council, Asp established the Tahltan Nation Development Corporation to provide construction and maintenance services to northern BC mines. The company became the largest aboriginal-owned and operated heavy construction company in western Canada.

Jerry negotiated two mining impact and benefits agreements, the first for the Golden Bear mine that set the template for later Tahltan projects, and the second for the Eskay Creek mine. Jerry is a founding member of the National Indian Businessman’s Association and the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association, of which he serves as vice president. He was a major contributor to the award-winning Mining Information Toolkit for Aboriginal Communities.

(L to R) Edward Thompson, PDAC Former President and Chair of Awards Committee; Patricia Dillon, Distinguished Service Award Winner

For a video documentary of Mrs. Dillon, please go here: http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/programs/awards/award-winners-video-distinguished.html

This award recognizes an individual who has achieved one or more of the following: made a substantial contribution to mineral exploration and mining development over a number of years; given considerable time and effort to the PDAC; made outstanding contributions to the mineral industry in the field of finance, geology, geophysics, geochemistry research, or a related activity. 

Patricia Dillon is this year’s recipient of the PDAC’s Distinguished Service Award. Mrs. Dillon is being honoured for her many and exemplary contributions to the PDAC and to the Canadian mineral industry, especially to its education and human resources initiatives. Patricia served as a PDAC director for 15 years and as the association’s president from 2006 to 2008. She is also a past president of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum and is the only person to have been president of both associations.

Patricia has charted the course for PDAC Mining Matters, a highly successful educational program. She is a director of the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, past-president of the Minerals and Economics Management Society, a director of the Ontario Mining Association, and past-chair of the Minerals and Metals Industry Sector Study Steering Committee, which oversaw research on human resource needs in Canada’s mineral industry.

(L to R) Stephen Letwin, IAMGOLD Corporation President and CEO; Tony Andrews, PDAC Executive Director

For a video documentary of IAMGOLD Corporation’s CSR program, please go here: http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/programs/awards/award-winners-video-environmental.html

This award honours an individual or organization demonstrating outstanding initiative, leadership and accomplishment in protecting and preserving the natural environment and/or in establishing good community relations during an exploration program or operation of a mine.

 The PDAC has selected IAMGOLD Corporation to receive the Environmental & Social Responsibility Award for the company’s commitment to excellence in environmental stewardship, community engagement, and health and safety, particularly during exploration. IAMGOLD has operating mines and exploration projects in West Africa, South America and Québec.

The company’s frameworks for health and safety management and sustainability are informed by international standards and good practices (including the PDAC’s e3 Plus) and are used to create performance criteria and measurable results for all of its operations. The company was the top extractive company and third overall in the 2010 Globe and Mail’s ranking of environmental and social and governance performance of Canada’s largest companies in the S&P/TSX 60 Index.

(L to R) Shawn Ryan, PDAC Prospector of the Year; PDAC President Scott Jobin-Bevans

For a video documentary of Shawn Ryan’s disovery, please go here: http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/programs/awards/award-winners-video-dennis.html

This award, named for a former president of the association, honours individuals who have accomplished one or both of the following: made a significant mineral discovery; made an important contribution to the prospecting and/or exploration industry. The award may also be used to recognize an important mineral discovery in Canada. 
 
Prospector Shawn Ryan wins this year’s Bill Dennis Award for his gold discoveries in Yukon. Ryan worked for close to 15 years to locate the source of the alluvial gold found in the Klondike gold fields. In 2004 he identified the anomaly that led Underworld Resources to its White Gold deposit and a subsequent $138-million takeover by Kinross. Ryan’s efforts and eventual success have had a positive impact on exploration in the Yukon, with a six-fold increase in exploration spending from $30 million at the beginning of this decade to an estimated $183 million in 2010.

Ryan worked for close to 15 years to locate the source of the alluvial gold that sparked the Klondike gold rush more than a century ago. In 2004 he identified the anomaly that led Underworld Resources to its White Gold deposit and a subsequent $138-million takeover by Kinross Gold Corporation. Ryan’s efforts and prospecting success have had a substantial impact on exploration in Yukon, stimulating renewed exploration interest and activity in the territory.

TORONTO (March 22, 2011) – Scott Jobin-Bevans, president of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), expressed support for the inclusion of the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC) in the Government of Canada’s budget, announced today. 
 
“On behalf of our members, many of whom are involved in raising financing for grassroots exploration, I am pleased that the federal government has proposed that the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit be extended for another year,” said Dr. Jobin-Bevans. “Investment in mineral exploration is the first step in addressing Canada’s decline in mineral reserves and the METC program plays a critical role in encouraging investment in Canadian-based projects.”
 
The 2011 federal budget proposes that the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, known also as the super flow-through share program, that was due to expire at the end of March 2011 be extended for an additional year to March 31, 2012. As stated in today’s budget, exploration and development of Canada’s rich mineral resources offer important investment and employment benefits in many parts of the country, particularly in rural and remote regions. Read the rest of this entry »

TORONTO (March 22, 2011) Where the world’s mineral industry meets just about sums up this year’s PDAC International Convention. Total attendance was a record-breaking 27,700, up by 26% or 5,000 from last year. Attendees included registered delegates, exhibitors, investors, speakers, sponsors, students, media, staff and volunteers.

In all, 1,000 companies showcased their discoveries and wares at the Trade Show and Investors Exchange in an exhibit space covering the equivalent of eight football pitches. Sixty companies were featured in the Core Shack.

More than 50 foreign delegations, many of them headed by government ministers, attended. The largest contingents came from Argentina, Chile, China, India, Mexico and Peru. Many countries booked rooms where their governments could promote mining and investment opportunities, and the crowds flocked to find out more about Armenia, Bolivia, Portugal, Australia, Greenland, Brazil. Ecuador, South Africa, Peru, Chile, Colombia and India. Read the rest of this entry »

March 7, 2011

TORONTO — Canada’s world-leading exploration and mining industry, an important source of employment and an economic driver for the country, will benefit from a new federal investment in mineral exploration geoscience.

Speaking at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference, the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources, today announced the third renewal of the Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI). The Government of Canada will provide funding of $25 million over five years ― more than double the original two-year allocation of $12 million ― to help develop new ways of exploring for deep mineral deposits.

“The Government of Canada recognizes that modern geoscientific information can help lower industry’s exploration risks and support the search for undiscovered natural resources,” said Minister Paradis. “We are committed to fostering economic growth throughout Canada, improving our global competitiveness and helping create local employment in mineral-based communities.” Read the rest of this entry »

This speech was given by the Honourable Christian Paradis, P.C., M.P., Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, on March 7, 2011 at the Prospector and Developers of Canada convention in Toronto, Canada.

Introduction

Good morning. Bon matin à tous.

Whether you’ve come here from across the country or around the world, I’m delighted to welcome you on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada.

I want to thank Shawn Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, for being here.  His presence demonstrates that Aboriginal people have a shared interest in mining and development of our resource sector. It also, in turn, reflects the importance of exploration and mining to Canada’s Aboriginal communities.

Let me also welcome Peter Van Loan, Canada’s Minister of International Trade. And I would like to bring special greetings to the Honourable Laurence Golborne, Minister of Mines for Chile.

Minister Golborne, like everyone in this room, I was elated by the rescue of those 33 trapped miners last fall. I was born and raised in a mining town, and I know the close bonds that form not just between miners themselves but among their families.

So you can bet I was cheering along with the rest of the world when those miners were reunited with their loved ones. The rescue was an inspiration to all of us. And I hope that spirit and inspiration finds its way into all our talks at this conference. Read the rest of this entry »

TORONTO (December 9, 2010) – Prospector Shawn Ryan will receive the Bill Dennis Award for prospecting success, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) announced today. Ryan is one of six awards winners to be honoured at an awards evening on Monday, March 7, 2011, in Toronto during the association’s annual international convention (March 6-9).
 
Ryan worked for close to 15 years to locate the source of the alluvial gold that sparked the Klondike gold rush more than a century ago. In 2004 he identified the anomaly that led Underworld Resources to its White Gold deposit and a subsequent $138-million takeover by Kinross Gold Corporation. Ryan’s efforts and prospecting success have had a substantial impact on exploration in Yukon, stimulating renewed exploration interest and activity in the territory.
 
One of the discoverers of gold in the Klondike was Skookum Jim Mason. An award commemorating him is presented by the PDAC for aboriginal achievement in the mineral industry. The winner of the 2011 Skookum Jim Award is Jerry Asp who is being recognized for promoting mining’s benefits to aboriginal communities in British Columbia. Asp established the Tahltan Nation Development Corporation to provide construction and maintenance services to northern BC mines and was responsible for negotiating two mining impact and benefits agreements in the province. Read the rest of this entry »

Norm Tollinsky is editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the March, 2011 issue.

It’s no accident that 22,000 members of the global mining community take over Front Street in Toronto every year about this time. Ontario, the epicenter of the global mineral exploration business, is where the deals get done. It’s where money is raised and expertise is sought for discovering and mining the resources that are more in demand than ever as prosperity in the developing countries puts cash in the pockets of hundreds of millions of new consumers.

Downtown Toronto is where it all happens, but Ontario’s stature as an international centre of mining expertise begins with the province’s inexhaustible natural endowment of gold, diamonds, copper, nickel, zinc, platinum group metals and now, chromite. After a brief dip in mineral exploration caused by the global financial meltdown in 2008, Ontario is once again firing on all cylinders.

As reported in our cover story this issue, the province reported record-breaking mineral exploration expenditures of $825 million for 2010 and there is every indication that 2011 will be just as busy. All across Northern Ontario, from Detour Gold’s 14.9 million ounce Detour Lake project in the northeast to Osisko’s 6.7 million ounce Hammond Reef project in northwestern Ontario, we are seeing former producing mines returning to production, new resources being discovered, shafts being sunk or deepened and head frames rising from the earth. Read the rest of this entry »

(L to R) Garry Clark, Executive Director of the Ontario Prospectors Association; Phil Vinet, Mayor of Red Lake; Alan Spacek, Mayor of Kapuskasing and President of FENOM; Honourable Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry; Chris Hodgson, President of Ontario Mining Association; Glenn Nolan, Vice-President, Aboriginal Affairs and the PDAC’s first Vice-President

Check Against Delivery

Thank you, for your kind introduction. And welcome everyone to PDAC 2011!

I’d like to begin by extending a warm welcome to Glen Nolan, First-Vice President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, Garry Clark, Executive Director of Ontario Prospectors Association and Chris Hodgson, President of the Ontario Mining Association, who have joined us here today for the official opening of the Ontario Pavilion.

We’re all looking forward to participating in the greatest mining show on earth here in Toronto!

This year I’m very excited to report a new record for delegations this year – 25,000!  Over the next few days we will be telling these delegations from all over the world about Ontario! 

I’m very happy to report that this year for the first time; more than 800 active mining exploration projects have been recorded across the province.

As well, we’ll be telling the world that we’ve set a new record in exploration spending – in 2011 we are expected to hit $951 million! Read the rest of this entry »

Lisa Wright is a business reporter with the Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion. This article was originally published March 6, 2011.

Lisa Wright (Toronto Star Business Reporter)

With demand for metals red hot again, it feels like the Klondike for miners. An army of 25,000 from 125 countries is expected to show at the industry’s biggest annual blast, opening today in Toronto

Amid boom times in the metals business, the centre of corporate Canada will be transformed into a mining mecca this week as thousands prospectors converge at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to dig for deals and take advantage of skyrocketing prices.

Investors are also welcome to attend the annual industry blast known as the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention. The hard-rock bonanza draws all walks of the mineral exploration business from the guys who stake claims in the bush to brokers and bankers, students, salesmen, geoscientists and mining company executives from more than 100 countries.

The PDAC’s new president, Scott Jobin-Bevans, says a lot has changed since the first time he attended with his dad — both geologists from Flin Flon, Man. — about 20 years ago when the event was at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

“I would say the big difference is the sheer size of it. It’s a monster now,” he says. Read the rest of this entry »