Drillers’ forum addresses future of worldwide mineral exploration industry

While Canadian drillers have prospered over the past year, thanks in equal measure to hot domestic projects, such as Voisey’s Bay in Labrador, and exploration in foreign jurisdictions, prospects for the future appear somewhat less than bright.

That was the consensus gleaned by The Northern Miner after meeting with several members of the Canadian Drilling Association, who gathered at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto for their 54th annual meeting and convention.

Tim Bremner, a director of Boart Longyear, cited 1996 as his company’s most productive year in terms of international contracts, with a record 760 tonnes of equipment hauled by air freight. However, when asked about sales for the current year, he suggested that orders have not been as forthcoming as expected, due in part to falling metal prices and to fallout over the scandal surrounding Bre-X Minerals’ Busang property in Indonesia. He noted, however, that the trend toward privatizing mining companies owned by foreign governments will generate some sales, thereby offsetting declines in contracts from Canadian companies exploring abroad.

Patrick Reid, president of the Ontario Mining Association, delivered a luncheon address in which he speculated on the outcome of the Bre-X affair.

“I believe that a lot more exploration dollars are going to come back to Canada,” he predicted. He went on to say: “We are going to have fewer inspectors and auditors, with more self-Monitoring and self-regulation. As individual companies, we will have to set higher standards for ourselves than the government might have done . . . Associations such as the [Canadian Drilling Association] are going to have to address what role to play in filling in the vacuum that is left by the lack of government inspectors, auditors and monitors.”

More than 130 delegates attended the event, including Ontario’s labor minister, Elizabeth Witmer.

Talks were given on a range of topics, including: the future of computerized drilling; technological advancements in drill-rig equipment; the need for universally adopted drill-Training schools; and the role of global logistics.

Carl Kwiatkowski spoke on behalf of the Porcupine Opportunities Program, of which he is general manager. Based in Saskatchewan, the program was created in 1974 to generate employment for disabled persons. In 1982, the program attained self-sufficiency and has further expanded as a direct result of its business dealings with mining companies.

Last year, members of the program testified in favor of Cameco’s McArthur River uranium project, during federal and provincial review hearings.