4 EDITORIAL PAGE Busting out in British Columbia

Those in the mining business in 1990 would do well to heed the advice of American journalist Horace Greeley, who was inspired by John Babsone Lane Soule’s words: “Go west, young man.” Today, the future prospects for mining look brighter on the western side of the Rockies than in the rest of the Dominion.

That’s not to say the mineral wealth of the Canadian Shield is depleted. We have no doubt there are many more surprises in store from the greenstone belts throughout Eastern Canada, from northern Saskatchewan to Newfoundland.

Aur Resources’ polymetallic discovery at Louvicourt Twp. in northwestern Quebec is one example of what the Archean has withheld until now. With 36 million tons grading 3.11% copper and 1.34% zinc already delineated, the Louvicourt find is a significant deposit. Some day it will make money for someone, but legal proceedings make it unclear just who is likely to benefit the most.

In British Columbia, however, awe-inspiring mineral deposits at various stages of development are busting out all over.

Most prominent is the Eskay Creek gold discovery near Stewart in the northwestern corner of the province. The deposit, containing an estimated 3.5-5 million oz. gold and growing, has already spawned half a dozen claim disputes, lawsuits and takeover bids — all involving big dollars. It has brought the Vancouver Stock Exchange back to life and generally added some pizazz to an exploration industry suffering from investors’ indifference.

The battle between Placer Dome and Corona for control of Stikine Resources puts a value of close to half a billion dollars on the Eskay Creek deposit. A more dramatic way to value the deposit is to multiply the number of contained ounces by the price of gold — a value of more than $2 billion — although no one knows how much gold will be minable.

What is particularly exciting is the real potential to find other deposits similar to Eskay Creek lurking in the rugged northwestern British Columbia mountains. The entire area — hundreds of kilometres — seems to be strongly mineralized. In the past two years, three mines have opened and met with mixed success. Several other significant finds are being delineated in the area.

This area could change the way investors look on British Columbia gold projects. Gold from British Columbia usually came as a byproduct of the big copper mines or from small, high-grade vein deposits. Eskay Creek could have people think more along the lines of Hemlo, the Ontario gold discovery a decade ago that led prospectors to rewrite the book on exploration in the Shield.

The provincial government has also indicated its commitment to the exploration industry by undertaking road construction to make access to the remote area considerably easier.

But Eskay Creek is just one of several undeveloped deposits in British Columbia that are causing excitement. Windy Craggy is another. Slowed by environmental concerns, there’s no denying that Windy Craggy is a major mineral deposit. Geddes Resources estimates that diluted reserves of more than 200 million tons grading 1.7% copper with significant cobalt, gold and silver credits could be mined by open pit methods.

Geddes faces some tough environmental opposition to its project, but given mining companies’ demonstrated willingness to address environmental concerns and comply with stipulated requirements, Windy Craggy could be contributing to Canada’s minable mineral resource inventory early in the 1990s.

Another awe-inspiring project is Mount Milligan, now at the feasibility study stage. One of the companies involved says the project could support a 60,000-ton-per-day open pit mining operation to produce 400,000 oz. gold and 83 million lb. copper annually for 15 years.

What these currently undeveloped deposits contribute to the nation’s mineral wealth has yet to be determined. Stung by overly optimistic projections of the past decade, few are willing to say that any of these will definitely make a mine — there are just too many variables.

But we have no doubt that British Columbia’s output of mineral wealth will take a quantum leap as the 20th century comes to a close. Those who can’t follow Greeley’s advice should tell their brokers at least to keep the lines open to the other side of the Rockies, because there’s bound to be more to come.