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NEWS RELEASE
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For Immediate Release Jan. 18, 2010 |
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
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RISING COMMODITY PRICES BOOST B.C. MINERAL INDUSTRY
VANCOUVER – Rising commodity prices signal that 2010 will be a strong year for B.C.’s mineral industry, announced Randy Hawes, Minister of State for Mining. Hawes also announced that mineral exploration activity in B.C. reached $154 million in 2009 with 30 mine development projects submitted to government.
“This was the sixth-highest total for exploration spending in the last 20 years,” said Hawes. “Despite a difficult economic climate in 2009, the mining industry is helping lead the provincial economic recovery. The province’s mineral resources are in demand, and B.C. is an attractive place to invest in exploration and mining.”
Northwest B.C. saw $65 million in mineral exploration activity last year, while the Northeast had $20 million and the North-Central region had an estimated $28 million. The South-Central region of the province had $21 million in activity, with $9 million in the Southeast and $11 million in the Southwest.
“We are optimistic that 2010 will be a year of growth for the mineral exploration sector in British Columbia,” said Gavin C. Dirom, president and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia. “The 30 mine projects under review also hold billions of dollars of economic potential that could greatly benefit all British Columbians.”
Hawes proclaimed Jan. 17 to 23, 2010 Mineral Exploration Week. This is the third year the Province has recognized Mineral Exploration Week, which celebrates the contributions the prospectors and companies of the mineral exploration industry and its related industries make to B.C.
Hawes made the announcements during a keynote address at the opening of Mineral Exploration Roundup 2010. The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia’s 27th annual Roundup conference is held in Vancouver Jan. 18 to Jan. 21. Roundup is a technical mineral exploration conference highlighting Canadian and international exploration and mine development activities. More than 5,700 delegates attended the conference last year.
The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources released two reports documenting the 2009 exploration and mining activity, as well as the annual report on Geological Fieldwork and several other reports and maps by the British Columbia Geological Survey.
Links to the map and publications can be found in attached backgrounder.
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Media Contact:
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Jake Jacobs Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources 250 952-0628 250 213-6934 (cell) |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.
BACKGROUNDER
Jan. 18, 2010 Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
· Exploration expenditures were nearly $154 million, the sixth highest level in 20 years.
· Total exploration drilling was in excess of 350,000 metres during the year.
· Mineral tenure acquisitions during 2009 were down from 2008 levels, at 3.2 million hectares.
· Number of exploration projects with budgets in excess of $250,000 was more than 80.
· There were more than 350 exploration projects for minerals, coal, industrial minerals and aggregates throughout B.C.
· There were 28 new mineral discoveries reported in 2009.
· Number of new mine proposals in 2009 was 36: 21 metal mines, 10 coal mines, two industrial minerals quarries and three large aggregate operations. Twenty three were in the Environmental Assessment process, seven were in the Mines Act permitting process and six were in development.
· B.C. has nine coal mines and eight metal mines in operation.
· There are more than 30 industrial minerals mines, and hundreds of sand and gravel quarries providing employment to B.C. workers.
· B.C.’s forecast of solid mineral production is $5.7 billion in 2009 and is dominated by coal and copper, which account for 72 per cent of the total value.
· There were 23 mine development projects under environmental review in 2009.
· Eight mines opened or re-opened in the last five years.
· Sixty per cent of Canadian exploration companies are based in B.C., raising $2.9 billion in equity capital (about 40 per cent of the total equity capital for Canadian-listed exploration companies).
· Equity capital was raised by 770 publicly listed B.C. companies which account for 54 per cent of the national total.
· B.C. is estimated to account for about 10 per cent of Canadian mineral exploration investments during 2009, up from about five per cent in 2000.
· Minerals economy employs 28,000 people in the mining and minerals sector in over 50 B.C. communities: 14,000 directly and several thousand additional jobs in the service sector that rely on exploration and the mining industry.
· Mining jobs pay family supporting wages averaging $112,800 with benefits.
Exploration expenditures by mining region:
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Region |
2009 Exploration Spending |
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Northwest |
$65 million |
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Northeast |
$20 million |
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North-Central |
$23 million |
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South-Central |
$21 million |
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Southwest |
$11 million |
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Southeast |
$14 million |
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TOTAL |
$154 million |
NEW PUBLICATIONS AND MAPS AVAILABLE
The following publications are available online after 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 18:
· British Columbia Mines and Mineral Exploration Overview 2009, which outlines B.C.’s most active exploration and mining programs and helps identify new exploration opportunities:
· Exploration and Mining in B.C. 2009, which gives a detailed technical breakdown by mining regions throughout B.C.:
www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/PublicationsCatalogue/ExplorationinBC/Pages/default.aspx
· Operating Mines and Selected Major Exploration Projects in British Columbia 2009 (A map which identifies 171 individual mine and exploration project locations with their associated commodities in B.C.):
www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/PublicationsCatalogue/OpenFiles/2010/Pages/2010-1.aspx
GOVERNMENT PUBLIC GEOSCIENCE TO ATTRACT MINERAL EXPLORATION INVESTMENT
British Columbia benefits from mineral exploration and mining throughout the province. Geological mapping and other geoscience work by the B.C. Geological Survey branch of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources attracts industry investment in mineral exploration, the first step to developing new mines by providing reports, maps and expertise. The B.C. Geological Survey has been the provincial geoscience data custodian for more than 100 years. The B.C. Geological Survey programs often involve co-operative partnerships with other agencies, universities, First Nations, local communities, and industry.
The British Columbia Geological Survey had an active year with five field projects and continued to deliver geoscience data via the award winning MapPlace over the internet for free. The field surveys included mapping near Princeton, south of Houston and on the North Coast. The B.C. Geological Survey partnered with Geoscience BC and the Geological Survey of Canada to update the bedrock geology for the QUEST area, a mineral-rich belt that extends from Williams Lake to Mackenzie.
While geological mapping by the survey does not specifically focus on the search for new mineral occurrences, significant mineralization is discovered almost every year during the course of fieldwork. During 2009 field work in the Blue River area near Clearwater, a new vermiculite occurrence of potential economic significance was found on ground already under tenure by a B.C. Geological Survey industrial minerals geologist.
The results of these program activities are available on-line and many are described in the Survey’s annual Geological Fieldwork 2009 publication after 9:30 a.m. Jan. 18, which is available online at: www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/PublicationsCatalogue/Fieldwork/Pages/default.aspx
A photo of Minister Randy Hawes and AME BC president and CEO Gavin Dirom proclaiming Mineral Exploration Week is available at: http://www.gov.bc.ca/empr/mediaroom/hawes/photos/round_up.html.
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Contact:
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Jake Jacobs Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources 250 952-0628 250 213-6934 (cell) |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.
