More than 6,500 delegates from throughout the world descended on Toronto in mid-March for the 1999 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention. While international projects clearly dominated the 4-day event, the buzz on the convention floor reflected hope that several new discoveries in Eastern Canada might give domestic exploration a badly needed shot in the arm.
High hopes were pinned on the new nickel discovery made earlier this year by
However, the dreams of another Voisey’s Bay-type strike were brought back down to earth on the last day of the convention, when the eagerly awaited results from subsequent drilling were announced. While still indicating a mineralized system warranting further work, the narrower widths of high-grade mineralization were viewed by some as disappointing. But, as one delegate said, “exploration doesn’t have many overnight successes, and expecting the Nuinsco [play] to keep Canadian exploration alive is an unfair burden.”
Nuinsco first deepened hole 98-09, which had stopped in a granite dyke during last year’s drilling. It intersected 7.4 metres of 0.24% nickel and 0.12% copper (from 138.2 to 145.6 metres), followed by 2.95
metres of semi-massive sulphide grading 6.36% nickel and 0.46% copper, and thereby extended mineralization 50 metres up-plunge from hole 99-01.
Hole 99-04 was drilled vertically on the same section as hole 99-01.
It intersected disseminated sulphides over 50 metres, followed by 2.35 metres of massive sulphides grading 9.59% nickel and 1.59% copper. The 50-metre interval (from 66.45 to 117 metres) returned 0.76% nickel and 0.31% copper. Assays are pending for cobalt and platinum group elements.
Nuinsco has two rigs operating, and a third is expected shortly. President Douglas Hume said “the objective of this work is to track these heavy sulphides in search of the feeder system and a larger pool of massive sulpides.”
The convention began with an overview of metals prices. Stating that commodity prices have bottomed out, Scotiabank’s Patricia Mohr forecast that with the U.S. economy slowing down in the latter half of 1999, the spring of 2000 should see a blossoming of global demand for metals. Falconbridge’s John Smillie predicted that increased nickel demand from steelmakers will firm up prices over the next two years. However, he warned that cobalt prices will likely nosedive when byproduct cobalt begins to flood the market as the new generation of nickel-laterite mines come on-stream. Neil Buxton of the Metal Bulletin Research unit was gloomy on the prospect for copper, whereas Claire Hassall of Brook Hunt & Associates said zinc’s fundamentals do not justify its current low price. Gold consultant Martin Murenbeeld predicted gold would average US$295 per oz. for 1999, and gave a range of US$256-$320 as the worst- and best-case scenarios.
Highlighting Monday’s activities was the annual awards ceremony, where 12 men were honored for their contributions to the mining industry.
The Bill Dennis Award for Prospector of the Year went to the
Pierre Lassonde and Seymour Schulich, president and chairman, respectively, of sister companies
The Distinguished Service Award went to Edward Thompson, who, in addition to being a past president of the PDAC, chaired the 1986 Ontario Advisory Committee on Junior Resource Financing and the Competitive Position of Ontario.
Roy Martin was honoured for his lifelong service to the industry, picking up one of the three Special Achievement Awards. Among his contributions were a role in the discovery of the Dogpaw Lake property in Ontario and participation in a grubstake that led to the discovery of the Granny Smith gold mine in Australia.
The other awards went to prospector Ross Toms, who is widely acknowledged as the “uncrowned king of the Ungava iron ores,” and consulting firm Watts Griffis & McOuat, recognized for its participation in mineral exploration around the world.
Timginn Prospecting Alliance and Henry Brehaut shared the PDAC’s Environment Award. The former was acknowledged for its environmentally responsible drilling programs in Timmins, Ont., whereas the latter was recognized for his overall commitment to the environment and for advancing sustainable development in the mining industry. Incidentally, Brehaut is the first individual to receive the award since its inception in 1990.
Special recognition was given to the late Dennis Prince, who was a director of explorations projects for Falconbridge and a vice-president of the PDAC.
He was honored with a Distinguished Service Certificate, which was received by his wife, Glenys.
The technical sessions featured mostly international projects, with the keynote session examining exploration programs and trends in the Americas, Asia and Europe. David Hall of Minorco South America pointed out that Latin America had been the leading destination for exploration spending, taking about 29% of the money spent worldwide in both 1997 and 1998.
Hall suggested a number of reasons for the region’s prominence: South America had a reputation for providing big, low-cost mines, and Latin American countries — particularly Chile and Brazil — had tailored very favourable tax regimes. He also noted that Latin America took an especially large share of the exploration money spent by junior companies.
He tipped Brazil, where Minorco and the privatized Companhia Vale do Rio Doce are the heavyweight exploration spenders, as one country likely to see greater levels of work in 1999. The Brazilian real, after the country’s central bank abandoned its policy of fixing an exchange rate with the U.S.
dollar, has fallen to about half the value the government had tried to maintain, and costs in U.S.-denominated terms can be expected to fall drastically.
Hall also cautioned that low metal prices would dampen enthusiasm for some projects, saying “it will be interesting with the low copper price to see who has the stomach to continue porphyry-copper exploration.” Barry Simmons of Teck saw
some similar advantages to exploration in North America, noting that exploration costs — especially drilling — were lower than elsewhere in the world. Except for British Columbia, which Simmons called “the basket case in Canada,” exploration expenditures, while lower, had not fallen as far as expenditures on most other continents, and he credited the “hospitable” regulatory environment in those Canadian provinces and U.S. states that have high mineral potential.
Simmons said the mining industry will have to improve society’s attitude toward mining by making a vigorous case for its economic benefits and by challenging statements made by anti-mining groups and opinion-makers.
Robert Parsons of Price Waterhouse Coopers’ mining group told the convention that the “Asian Crisis” was not the bogeyman it has been made out to be, and that growth in the region is likely to come “sooner rather than later.” Parsons said the chief problem with the Asian economy was that “the regulatory framework has not kept up with economic growth.”
Parson
s said that, except for Indonesia, the Asian countries are major net consumers of metals, and that the lower demand provoked by the recession in those economies would translate into smaller exploration budgets everywhere in the short term.
Also on hand for the event were representatives from the new government of Nunavut, a territory newly carved from the eastern half of the Northwest Territories. Covering one-fifth of Canada’s land mass, it is the only jurisdiction in Canada to have a settled land-claim agreement. Officials were busy promoting the region’s mineral potential and seeking industry input for a new minerals policy aimed at attracting mining investment.
A government delegation from British Columbia attempted to woo mining companies back to the province by announcing the creation of a new mining advocate and by giving assurances that the government was listening to concerns about land access, mineral tenure and native land claims.
Provincial delegations from across the country also promoted their mineral potential, as well as incentives to stimulate prospecting and to improve and upgrade geoscience data.
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