Mining News: PDAC convention attracts record crowd

Annual gathering expands program offerings to better serve global mining industry; trade group elects first Aboriginal president

Rose Ragsdale

For Mining News

More than 30,000 people attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Convention held in Toronto March 4 – 7, breaking last year’s attendance record of 27,714 participants from 120 countries.

The annual convention, currently in its 80th year, attracts investors, analysts, mining executives, geologists, prospectors and international government delegations from all over the world and represents a tremendous networking and educational opportunity for the industry. The gathering’s Trade Show and Investors Exchange, combined, featured more than 1,000 exhibitors.

According to a recent report generated by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the PDAC Convention contributed nearly C$72 million to Toronto’s economy in 2011.

“The convention has really hit its stride in terms of its place in the global mineral industry—this year’s attendance attests to that,” said outgoing PDAC President Scott Jobin-Bevans. “The tremendous networking and educational opportunities the convention offers really sets the standard for the industry. No other annual convention for mineral exploration and mining draws a crowd of this size.”

If the convention’s growth trend continues—attendance has been climbing since 2009 and early registration figures are up from last year—the economic impact on the Toronto area is expected to increase in 2012.

Aboriginal focus

“The expansion of the Aboriginal Program is a reflection of the natural partnership between Aboriginal people and the mineral industry,” said Jobin-Bevans. “Exploration and mining can be an engine for socio-economic development in Aboriginal communities—it supports business development, jobs, training, education and sustainable economic and community development.”

The Aboriginal program included a short course on Aboriginal awareness and relationship-building, a technical session on training and human resource development, and the presentation of the Skookum Jim Award to the 51 percent Inuit-owned Nuna Group of Companies in recognition of their involvement in the mineral industry.

Recipients of the Skookum Jim Award 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.

Nuna was formed in 1993 and is owned by a partnership of the Nunasi Corporation of Northwest Territories (25.5 percent); the Kitikmeot Corporation (25.5 percent); and Nuna Management (49 percent).

Nuna was contracted to build the 567-kilometer ice road from Yellowknife to Lupin, Nunavut, and since 1998, the company has operated and maintained this roadway, which provides access to northern mining sites each winter.

Today, the Nuna Group provides services through a group of seven subsidiary companies and 14 joint ventures and partnerships. These include construction services, logistics, contract mining, infrastructure planning, earthworks, large diameter drilling, and mining support services and mining products.

Sharing the economic benefits of the business with Inuit, Aboriginal People, and northerners has resulted in the Nuna Group having, among owners and subcontractors, a very high proportion of northern content on projects. The company, which is dedicated to ongoing employee training, has a work force in excess of 600 people on various projects in northern Canada and sources 66-81 percent of the goods and services it uses from the North.

The PDAC also honored the Mine Training Society with a Special Achievement Award for its work. The Society, a non-profit organization comprised of Aboriginal, industry, and government partners, provides Aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories with opportunities to develop job skills that can be used in the mining industry. The society’s objectives are to screen, select, train, and place Northerners in all areas of mining; and in cooperation with the NWT’s education system and communities, build a legacy of education and awareness about the employee and skill requirements of the mining industry.

The Society works with mining companies and industry service providers to bring training and jobs together, funding up to 50 percent of eligible costs for training programs. Priority for funding is given to training proposals that are skills based and lead directly to employment. The MTS is a pioneer in this area and serves as a model for the other training societies across the North. Since 2004, the Society and its partners have trained 854 individuals out of a total 1,095 applications, and 600 people have been employed in the mine and mine services sectors. Courses offered include: general trades training, environmental monitoring, first-aid first responder, driller helper, underground mining (heavy equipment operator, etc.) and mineral process operation.

Another highlight of the Aboriginal program was the Aboriginal Forum held March 5, which showcased models for successful Aboriginal participation in the mineral industry. The forum included a presentation on the Ring of Fire, with participants from Webequie First Nation, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and Noront Resources Ltd. The forum also provided a venue for the signing of agreements between industry and Aboriginal communities. The event ended with a one-hour networking reception that was open to the public.

“Through the Aboriginal Program at the PDAC Convention, we are providing a venue for dialogue, information-sharing and networking to increase Aboriginal participation in the mineral industry, promote partnerships and work towards prosperity for Aboriginal communities and the mineral industry,” Jobin-Bevans explained.

Other PDAC award recipients

Regulatory reform focus

“The exploration and mining industry has been a cornerstone of the Canadian economy for generations, shaping our national identity with benefits in all regions,” said Minister Oliver. “Canada has stable, predictable economic conditions, a favorable tax regime, and is a leader in geoscience and technological innovation. Now we are taking the next steps to modernize our regulatory system. … Our ultimate goal is one project, one review, completed in a clearly defined time period.”

Commenting on the minister’s remarks, Jobin-Bevans said, “We’re encouraged by the federal government’s commitment to an improved regulatory process. As a national association representing close to 9,000 individual and corporate members involved in mineral exploration and development, the PDAC works to ensure that Canada continues to be the world leader in attracting exploration investment.”

PDAC Executive Director Ross Gallinger also commented: “An effective regulatory system is a key factor in a company’s decision about where to invest. Mineral exploration is a high-risk venture, and companies want to know that the permitting and regulatory process is consistent and timely. We are confident that improvements can be made that continue to satisfy social and environmental objectives while allowing for new projects and jobs,” he added.

The PDAC also added two new sessions to the convention’s extensive 3 ½-day program this year, one on consultation and one on engagement, agreements and capacity building that was open to the public.

For first-time attendee, Lara Lewis, an economic geologist at the Yukon Geological Survey, the PDAC convention was a bit overwhelming.

“This was my first PDAC so I don’t have a very balanced perspective of the conference,” Lewis told Mining News. “The conference certainly is a force to be reckoned with – over 30,000 registrants, and maybe up to 35,000, if rumors are to be believed.

“It felt like one of those supermarket contests where the prize is whatever you can fit in your cart in 10 minutes, except that you’re trying to load up on meetings, talks, maps and drill core in a matter of days,” she observed. “I made it through half the booths on the Investors (Exchange) side, which was far busier than the service and geological survey side (Trade Show) where the Yukon Geological Survey was staked out. Luckily, a lot of Yukon geologists came to visit us.”

One exhibitor, who asked to not be identified, said the PDAC trade show was a bit boring because it was “too big and not as many people attend it as in the past as they are now getting pulled away to the Investors room.”

Lewis said she heard from others attending the conference that “there wasn’t quite the same excitement at PDAC this year.”

“It’s difficult for some smaller companies to raise money and the ‘blush may have faded from the rose’, but despite market uncertainties, preliminary indications are that exploration in Yukon for 2012 will be just as robust as it was in 2011,” she added.

Rob Krcmarov, Barrick Gold’s senior vice president of global exploration, praised the gathering for bringing together explorers, developers and producers “for what is arguably the global mining industry’s most important event of the year.”

“Our team is always on the hunt for promising projects, and the PDAC Convention offers up a universe of opportunities under one roof. There’s no other forum like it,” Krcmarov said.

Northerners also expressed delight with the convention’s additional emphasis on Aboriginal concerns and issues and the election of Glenn Nolan as the first-ever Aboriginal president of PDAC.

New face of PDAC

Observers say this is a sea change in the way mining works, and Nolan acknowledges some conflict is inevitable,

But he says success stories far outnumber the trouble spots. He said getting that message out as one of the major challenges ahead for PDAC and the industry. 
“As an industry we have not done a good enough job of getting that message [of the benefits of mining] out,” Nolan explained. “People who work in the industry, who see the chain of product coming out of mineral resource, [understand] the benefits.”
Ultimately, even the most sophisticated of information technologies would not be possible without the mineral resources from which communication and computer devices are made.

“As a society we are heavily dependent on these resources, and really it’s always been that way. We tend to forget that. Native people used to quarry stone in Quetico Park, and mine silver and copper on the North Shore [of Lake Superior],” he observed
Nolan has traveled extensively since joining the PDAC board, and expects this will increase during his term as president. Noront is supportive of his role with PDAC, and has agreed to allow him to devote half his time the organization. 
“Canada is the world leader in all aspects of mining, from technology to corporate responsibility to legislation to best practices. [The world] wants to know what Canada is doing,” he said. “You name it, we’re invited.”

A mining leader, Canada can do even better

Canada has more than 200 active mines, producing more than 60 minerals and metals, and the country ranks as the No. 1 producer of potash.

“We rank in the top five in aluminum, cadmium, cobalt, diamonds, nickel, platinum group metals, salt, titanium concentrate, tungsten and zinc. With recent discoveries in the region that we now call the Ring of Fire, in northern Ontario, it’s a good bet we’ll soon be a major producer of chromite as well,” Oliver said.

In wide-ranging remarks, the minister cited evidence of the Canadian mining industry’s impact on the rest of the world. As of 2010, Canadian mining and exploration companies were active in more than 100 countries, with 826 mining companies having total assets worth more than C$129 billion outside Canada, according to Oliver. Almost 60 percent of the world’s publicly listed mining companies list in Canada, including more than 1,200 junior mining companies. These companies account for 40 percent of the world’s exploration expenditures, which are expected to top C$4.2 billion in 2012.

In Canada’s North, Northwest Territories is well on its way to becoming the third-largest producer of diamonds in the world. In Yukon Territory, what many are calling a New Klondike Gold Rush is underway. Last year, more than 114,000 mineral claims were staked in the Yukon. There are now more than a quarter of a million claims up there, considerably more than the 17,000 claims staked at height of the first Gold Rush back in 1898, Oliver said.

The minister reiterated the federal government’s commitment to supporting mining, citing the C$100-million GEM program, the Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals initiative which is about to enter its fourth field season, having produced 28 regional geophysical surveys and 473 open file releases of new geoscience maps and data that is available at no cost to the public on the Natural Resources Canada website.

NRCan is also working with industry, academia, and provincial and territorial geological surveys to develop new ways of exploring for deeper mineral deposits through the C$25-million Targeted Geoscience Initiative. The department is also working with industry on other initiatives and programs promoting sustainable development and other improvements around the globe.

NRCan’s mining labs, for example, have developed an enhanced leaching process for recovering precious metals. Companies using this new process have reportedly experienced productivity gains generating value of C$28 million.

“Forbes Magazine says Canada is now the best country in the world in which to do business,” Oliver said. “And according to the Fraser Institute, several Canadian provinces and territories are consistently ranked as being the most attractive places in the world to invest exploration dollars. Both the (International Monetary Fund) and the (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) predict Canada’s economic growth will be among the best this year and next.”

The Canadian government, however, recognizes the need for more improvements and is working to modernize the country’s regulatory system by streamlining the approval process for major projects across Canada.

“The competition for investment is as tough as the competition for any other commodity. Investors want predictability, they want low-risk, and they want to see returns sooner rather than later,” Oliver said. “Since we established the Major Projects Management Office in 2008, the average time for federal regulatory approval of major projects has been reduced by more than half, from more than four years to less than two.”

The government is now exploring new approaches for further improvements. In B.C., for example, Canada has delegated the environmental assessment of Teck’s Line Creek Coal Mine Expansion to the Province of British Columbia.

“By integrating the federal and provincial processes, we’re eliminating duplication and saving time and money without compromising the quality of the review,” Oliver said. “Our goal is to deliver more predictable and timely reviews and reduce regulatory burden while improving environmental protection and supporting meaningful Aboriginal consultation. In order to do that, we need to focus our resources where it matters most, that is, on larger projects that potentially have the most environmental impact.

“Furthermore, clear timelines from the beginning to the end of the regulatory process are needed to improve the predictability of the regulatory environment and further support investment and planning decisions,” he added.

—Rose Ragsdale