PDAC convention acquires an international flavor

With so many Canadian companies active in Latin America and other foreign locales, this year’s convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) had a distinctly international flavor.

More than 2,500 delegates and guests converged on the Royal York Hotel in Toronto last week to attend the 61st annual convention. In the opening session, PDAC President John Hansuld said the convention has evolved to reflect changes in the world as they affect mining.

Representatives from 30 countries were present, including Tanzania, Mongolia, Thailand and China, as well as Latin America and the former east bloc nations. Technical sessions were presented on various international properties and on such topics as the investment climate and opportunities in the Commonwealth of Independent States and eastern Europe.

Core shack displays featured exhibits from such properties as Sutton Resources’ (VSE) Kabanga/Kagera nickel deposit in Tanzania and Rio Algom’s (TSE) Cerro Colorado deposit in Chile.

On the domestic scene, attention was focused on the diamond rush that has gripped Canada. A 14-hour pre-convention seminar on the exploration, sampling and evaluation of diamonds attracted more than 400 people, and it was standing room only at sessions on diamond activities in North America. Diamonds were also the drawing card of many exhibitors, such as the Saskatchewan Research Council which was selling a set of diamond indicator minerals.

The annual awards dinner, also, was dominated by diamonds. Dia Met Minerals (TSE) Chairman Charles Fipke was presented with the Prospector of the Year award for his contribution to the Lac de Gras play in the Northwest Territories. He accepted on behalf of the “winning team” that has been involved in the project since its inception.

Between talks on diamonds and international plays, some delegates found time to hear politicians attempt to address the survival of Canadian mining. In the opening session, Federal Mines Minister William

McKnight said he does not buy “doomsday scenarios” about mining. The industry, he said, must find ways to grow and stay competitive. At the joint Canadian Club-PDAC luncheon, Preston Manning, leader of the Reform Party of Canada, unveiled plans for reducing the Canadian deficit to zero in three years. He stressed that if government spending were brought under control, new investment would be attracted to Canada, which, in turn, would benefit mining. He added that his party proposes to reduce the overlap of federal and provincial regulations as they apply to mining. At an evening reception, Ontario Mines Minister Shelley Martel reviewed several initiatives under way. She announced a revision to Bill 220 (an amendment to the Environmental Protection Act) whereby prospectors and mining companies will be exempt from responsibility for pre-existing environmental hazards on properties they acquire. They will be responsible only for hazards that they create.

Martel added that 1993 funding for the Ontario Mineral Incentive Program (OMIP) and the Ontario Prospectors Assistance Program (OPAP) will probably remain the same as last year.

New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna told delegates that it is time mining assumed prominence in the Canadian industrial sector. He said initiatives are needed from the federal government to attract mineral investment in Canada. In order for Canadian mining to survive, it must become more competitive, Mckenna added.

He said New Brunswick is reviewing its mineral policy and that it will have a strong focus on economic geology and mining.

To revive Canadian mining, Manitoba Mines Minister James Downey officially launched the Whitehorse Mining Initiative. The program was conceived in the Yukon capital at the 1992 meeting of mines ministers. Its goal is to foster, through consultation, conditions which will allow the industry to prosper. Downey said that, during the next 12 to 18 months, mines ministers, labor and business representatives, environmentalists and aboriginal groups will meet to resolve issues related to land access, native land claims, environmental protectionism and taxation.