More work, less talk needed in BC

The commentary in the May 26-June 1 issue of The Northern Miner features a PricewaterhouseCoopers report. I quote the following parargraph:

“‘Although 2002 has generally been a positive year for the British Columbia mining industry, there are still significant areas that cause concern,’ says John Bowles, PwC’s expert on mining practice in the province. ‘We’ve had six mine closures since 1999 and expect more to come over the next 10 years. In 2001, . . . $10 million was the lowest level of exploration expenditure in the province ever recorded in this survey.'”

The report goes on to state that uncertainty of the availability of land for mining activities remains a significant constraint to developing new mines in the province. It cites tax incentives as a positive factor but evidently tax incentives alone are not sufficient to counteract the negative factors.

A story on page 5 in the same issue states that the British Columbia government will spend $1.2 million over two years to fund a geoscience program intended to stimulate mineral exploration. This is like a doctor prescribing Aspirin to a patient with terminal cancer. Geoscience will find anomalies, but it won’t find mines without physical work being done. There are already many interesting anomalies that have never been drilled, and, with existing dis-incentives, such as the requirement to post a security deposit to comply with the whims of representatives of various governmental and non-governmental agencies, they never will be.

Walter Guppy

Tofino, B.C.