Contrary to a widely held industry belief, Ontario is committed to the mining industry. At least that is the message delivered by the provincial government at the Ontario Mines and Minerals Symposium held recently in Toronto.
The 3-day symposium opened with a mineral development forum which stressed how the government is working together with industry to promote mining in Ontario. Technical papers presented at the forum covered such topics as abandoned mine hazard liabilities, new gold discoveries and mining research and development.
The last two days of the meeting were devoted to technical presentations relating to current geoscience research and field studies being carried out by the government and universities.
In an informal address to a gathering of delegates at the opening reception of the Minerals Symposium, Mines Minister Shelley Martel emphasized that her government is committed to the mining industry.
Martel said that discussions are ongoing between her ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of the Environment with the intention of reducing regulatory processes for advanced mineral exploration programs in Ontario. She also hopes to resolve problems with the Environmental Protection Act with regards to inheritance of previous environmental liabilities on mining properties.
Although progress is being made on many issues, Martel feels that more work is also needed on the status of aboriginal land claims and the principles of land tenure.
Total attendance at the 3-day conference was estimated to be more than 650 people, and about 60% of the delegates were from the minerals industry.
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