Nova Scotia government offers hope to ailing industry

The recently elected Liberal government of Nova Scotia intends to create “a balance point” between environmental and mining interests over the next year, said Donald Downe.

Downe, natural resources minister since the Liberals swept to power last spring, was speaking at the ministry’s 17th Annual Review. He was referring to the previous government’s plan to protect a million acres of Crown land “in perpetuity” — a move which many in the province’s mining industry believe would favor the environmental lobby.

Last February, former Premier Donald Cameron’s Progressive Conservative government placed the acreage — which amounts to 25% of all Crown land in the province — under a mineral exploration moratorium. The plan proposes turning the land packages into a network of wildlife areas and parks. Downe, addressing an audience of about 300, said the moratorium was still in place. But he said the government was deliberately slowing down the process and promised to consult with industry before closing off any future possibility of exploration.

“I believe what was done in the past was somewhat fast-tracked,” he said. “It’s wrong that people in industry weren’t (included as) part of the process. It was dead wrong.”

Downe was not clear on whether this meant some of the frozen areas would be re-opened for exploration. Asked in an interview if mineral exploration might be allowed, he told The Northern Miner: “We’re looking at that internally. These are only proposed sites and we have to go through a consultative process.”

Nonetheless, the slowdown of the process was regarded as favorable by some prospectors and promoters attending the event.

“Some 14 or 15 of those 30 areas may have significant mineral occurrences on them. Some of the boundaries of the protected areas run right through the deposits,” said Alex Thomson, a prospector and co-owner of Tri-Ex Explorations.

“If they’re willing to use industry input, that’s a good sign,” said Gary Woods, project geologist for Noranda Explorations.

Noranda was among the exploration companies caught off-guard by the moratorium. One of its claims in Cape Breton was within a proposed area. Woods said he learned of this only late last year while attending a meeting of the Nova Scotia Chamber of Mines.

“They weren’t forthcoming with information,” Woods complained. “There was no single map showing where the proposed areas were. You had to buy all 200 mining maps of the province and put together the information yourself.” Downe, a poultry farmer who says he has also struggled with governmental red tape, promised his department would become more helpful and less bureaucratic. In particular, he said his department would soon offer industry “one-window” service for everything from government permits to environmental assessments. “I want to create a plan where you will have to deal with one person, rather than jump through 35 hoops,” he said.

“One reason we are not competitive with other countries when it comes to investment is because our environmental approvals take too long,” he admitted. “The minister of the environment and I have agreed our departments will work together to speed up that process.”

James Patterson, geological consultant for ADI-Nolan Davis in Halifax, said he was pleased with the apparent direction of the new government. “One of the things I like is the plan to offer a 20% provincial tax credit for venture capital projects,” he said. “It reduces the risk a little bit.” Prospectors at the meeting remained concerned about the future of federally funded exploration grants of up to $5,000 per project. Downe could only offer them his assurances he would try to convince the federal government to continue funding the program.

But they also heard some good news, when details of travel assistance plans were unveiled. Next year, Nova Scotian prospectors will receive up to $1,000 in travel assistance for trips to promote local properties.

Chamber of Mines President Scott Smith said such announcements placed “a note of optimism in the air, which we haven’t had in a long, long while.” But the industry remains stagnant. As Downe himself noted, mineral exploration investment has dropped to $2 million a year from $50 million in 1988.

A coal basin methane project was among the few bright prospects discussed at the annual meeting.

In 1994, a consortium led by Salt Lake City, Utah-based Resource Enterprises will continue its $4-million project to find out if a 100-hectare site in Springhill, N.S., can yield commercial quantities of gas.

— Michael Tutton is a freelance writer.