Land access rights focus of mineral outlook conference

The president of Westmin Resources (TSE), Walter Segsworth, speaking here at the recent 10th Mineral Outlook Conference, summed it up nicely: “Canada needs mining and mining needs land.”

Segsworth spoke last on the program after delegates had listened to several plans that would severely limit exploration and development access to a significant portion of Canada’s landmass.

The creation of parks covering 12% of the country was likened by Segsworth to the “economic equivalent of the Charge of the Light Brigade.” With the addition of buffer zones and corridors, the total alienated area would be much larger.

Most conservationists agree that areas of high mineral potential should be avoided when selecting parklands. But the debate rages as to how that potential should be assessed. Any geological estimate is only relevant given the conditions prevailing when it was done. Rapid technical and economic change can make it practically worthless.

Alternately, land considered for protection might be open to private exploration for a period of perhaps 10 years, while companies attempt to find a deposit valuable enough to dissuade park creators.

“I don’t know about you, but I would rather put my money into Las Vegas,” Segsworth quipped.

During questions following the panel’s presentations, delegates were reminded that 40 years passed between the time the mineral potential of Hemlo (the northwestern Ontario gold camp) was first examined and three exceedingly rich mines were developed.

Segsworth urged conservationists to abandon the concept of single use. He said it is wrong to think that land cannot have a secondary or simultaneous use. After all, Westmin has operated a successful base metal mine within the boundaries of Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island for many years. Moreover, the local elk herds are not disrupted by surface diamond drilling. Access to capital and to markets was also examined at the conference, which attracted 300 delegates, down significantly from the previous year’s record of about 500. The program included speakers who delved into the South African situation, the Canadian coal industry and a North American free trade system. Environmental regulation can be used as an effective barrier to international trade, noted Andre Bouchard, acting director of international mineral relations at the federal department of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR). Bouchard discussed the activities of the recent United Nations environment and development conference in Rio de Janeiro. The trend will continue toward more and increasingly complex rules that restrict industry’s ability to produce and trade goods, he concluded.

The mineral industry must fight environmental abuses that adversely affect international trade, product use and production costs, added Gary Nash, secretary-general of the International Council on Metals and the Environment. He urged the industry to become involved in the development of cost-effective environmental solutions based on good science and sound technology. Otherwise, policies may be politically advantageous but of little environmental benefit.

Nash said that opportunities for the improper use of environmental regulations are fostered by several factors.

One is the use of fuzzy concepts such as “precautionary principle,” “minimizing the use of non-renewable resources” and “full cost price recovery.” All these ideas lack clear operational definitions and may be applied differently among competing nations.

A second obstacle is the lack of expertise among people making environmental policy, as is evident in the Basel Convention which restricts the international movement of recyclable materials, he said.

Another hurdle is the imprecise use of terminology. For example, “hazardous” is used indiscriminately for corrosive, explosive, flammable, radioactive, infectious and toxic materials.

“The mere existence of a hazard does not imply an unreasonable risk,” said Nash.

The conference was hosted jointly by EMR and The Mining Association of Canada.