EDITORIAL — A century of challenge and accomplishment — Congratulations, CIM

Surviving a century of fast-paced change is no small feat for any professional organization. The Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) has done more than survive 100 years, it has flourished alongside the industry and professionals that it serves. By promoting the exchange of technical information and ideas, the Institute has helped make Canada a world leader in geoscience, mining and associated technology.

This week, CIM members and supporters will gather in Montreal for a special celebration to mark the 100th annual meeting of their national organization. With its fine food and general joie de vivre, cosmopolitan Montreal is the ideal setting for the CIM to celebrate a century of accomplishment. Delegates will no doubt discover that May in Montreal is every bit the equal of April in Paris.

Delegates will find more forums, seminars and technical sessions than ever before, dealing with a broader range of issues than in the past. This year, CIM members will be doing more than celebrating yesterday’s triumphs. They will be tackling new technical challenges (some associated with globalization) and examining opportunities to boost the prestige of the industry and its people, at home and abroad.

While the Canadian industry has much to be proud of, it faces two major challenges. First, the industry and its regulators must move forward from the Bre-X debacle with a clear set of guidelines designed to improve reporting standards and strengthen investor confidence. Toward that end, many CIM members are taking part in the task force set up by the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Ontario Securities Commission to address such issues.

The CIM’s founding father, Benjamin Taylor Bell, would no doubt approve of this house-cleaning initiative. Bell was well known for his zero-tolerance stance towards rogues and rascals in the late 1800s, when he helped organize several provincial mining associations and brought about their federation and subsequent amalgamation into what became the CIM. Through spirited editorials published in The Canadian Mining Review, Bell spoke out against dishonesty in the promotion of mining properties, as well as other unsavory practices that threatened to damage the reputation of Canada’s fledgling mining industry. For these and other accomplishments, Bell was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame earlier this year — a fitting start for the CIM’s year of celebration.

Second, the CIM and its members still face technical challenges associated with building and operating mines in developing countries. A major area of concern is environmental management, particularly the handling and containment of tailings.

The public has not failed to notice that since 1995, three offshore mines involving Canadian companies have had failures or breaches of tailings dams that resulted in environmental damage. While each of these incidents may have had different causes, the public is increasingly concerned about the general integrity of these structures.

The industry should take action on this issue, which, unless resolved, threatens to make it more difficult for all companies to finance and obtain government approvals for new mines.

Granted, there will be challenges. Many countries will continue to insist that local laborers and contractors be used when building mines in their jurisdictions. The industry must find ways to accommodate those aspirations while, at the same time, meeting the highest engineering and environmental standards, all the while remembering that “designs don’t fail, dams do.” “Best practices” in some developing countries may fall short of Canadian standards. Yet even Canadian standards may have to be raised a notch or two if spills are to be prevented, once and for all.

In the past, Canada’s miners have championed safety and met the challenge of building quality mines under less than ideal conditions. We believe they are quite capable of meeting the challenges associated with globalization.