Confidence in Mining Industry Growing
Prince George, B.C. – After a few dark years for the mining industry, a top executive feels things are starting to turn around for the struggling industry.
Glen Wonders made the comments Tuesday on day one of the Minerals North Conference at the Civic Centre in Prince George.
“The last five years really have been very, very challenging for minerals, mineral exploration and mining,” says Glen Wonders, VP of technical and government affairs with the Association of Mineral Exploration B.C.
“We’ve had lower commodity prices and with it a lack of interest in the commodity markets. It’s been challenging for junior companies that usually make major discoveries and the prospectors as well of course.
But despite those challenges, he’s seeing a new sense of optimism with big turnouts for mineral conferences “across the country” – including 6,000 delegates at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference in January.
“So, we think there’s a renewed interest, and commodity prices are starting to inch up steadily.”
With a provincial election less than two weeks away, does Wonders feel a possible change in government would have an impact on the industry?
“All parties have come out and said that they support the mining industry. They support mineral exploration,” he says. “Even though mining is a finite resource it allows an opportunity in a regional context that is very attractive and very healthy in terms of creating jobs and opportunities for rural people.
“So, every party gets that, they understand that. It’s just a question of how their policy framework around enabling mineral exploration and mining is going to be developed and brought forward into the industry within the province.”
This week’s conference, which moves from city to city each year, has drawn well over 300 delegates and includes a trade show.
It wraps up tomorrow.
Comments
Well they are going to have to focus on something other than reality… LNG is a bust. New tariff on lumber is going to hurt us bad. With the provincial just recently allowing the mine to discharge into Quesnel lake it shows it’s about buying votes at the cost of the environment.
In reality the tariff does not amount to much, it’s mainly just window dressing. The industry expected it to be higher and when it wasn’t stock prices had an uptick.
Tell everyone affected how the tariff means nothing. Take a look at the big picture dude.. this is just a sign of things to come from trump. This is just on item of Nafta and what’s he going to do to the others on the list ? Trump is failing on everything he has tried and so he is getting desperate for success and he decides to attack Canada to show he is tough.. what’s next ? Oh wait. Tariffs mean nothing …….
Speaking of tRump types….Kevin O’Leary has dropped out of the race to be leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Good effort Kevin, why did you waste that few hours of your time ?
West Fraser and Canfor got a huge break on the tarriff .
Both were audited and found free of all insinuations
and will pay nothing . There were I think 2 other companies
that were also spared . Our company was not, but we shall survive .
Alot of money was made in the last yr in this industry, even though we will be forking out 2 mil. retro to this date
Canfor 20.26% and west Fraser 24.12% according to the previous article
ht tp://www.250news.com/2017/04/25/we-are-not-going-to-be-rattled-says-head-of-bc-lumber-trade-council/
Will pay nothing? You must be a rose coloured glasses wearing liberal.
You don’t know how multinational corporation marco economics works either , do you seemud ? When BCs multinational forest tender owners have 70% of their operations in the states and 30ish in canada it’s easy to figure out where the up tick in LUMBER prices comes from . 150 of our mills have been shut down and raw log exports have gone through the roof under Chrissy’s watch , one has to wonder if the tariff will also be extended to raw logs .
Ataloss what’s with the name calling, you are a class act.
Tariff on raw logs, are logs going to the US?
DID you buy your solar panels from an evil Corp?
How is your free energy system operating?
What makes you think the liberals were involved in the shutdown of sawmills? Last I heard sawmills were in the private sector and that the companies that owned the sawmills shut them down not the government. Most mills were shut due to business related decisions which includes productivity, upgradability costs, companies being bought out or going out of business because they can’t compete with the big boys. Government had no input into how these companies run their businesses so please explain to me how government shut down sawmills?
Canada lost 20% of its sawmills from 2004 to 2009. 382 sawmills closed in Canada during that timeframe. 47.4 percent of lumber industry jobs direct and indirect were lost in those 5 years.
ht tp://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/2011089/part-partie1-eng.htm
If the NDP get in, they will put and end to mine confidence. Just like they did last time they were in.
The government of British Columbia does not dictate the price of a commodity….
No but they dictate business confidence and red tape
Attaloss..sometimes you come across like one of them Crotchety old englishmen that are so common in Victoria and at others like a 15 year old virgin hiding in your mother’s basement. Hard to tell which most of the time but when you resort to your usual personal attacks, and name calling I suspect the latter!
Maybe Attaloss isn’t one person.
The audited companies do not have to pay retroactive duties, but they will have to pay starting in next week. Far from being found free of all insinuations. In fact they will be worse off than the companies that were not questioned.
CL
Confidence is growing because of the lifting of environmental regulations.
I see a trend here. There are periods of really bad times in mining and forestry and periods of really good times. To put it another way, if it’s good now, wait long enough and it will be bad. Or, if it’s bad now, wait long enough and it will be good.
You’d think we’d learn by now and try to develop more stable contributors to the economy. I guess governments just get too focused on taking credit for when the times are good, and oppositions just get too focused on screaming for the head of those in power when times are bad. It seems nobody is actually doing all that much to come up with solutions. They’d rather just boast or yell.
In 2003 the Liberal Government eliminated long-standing appurtenancy provisions that required companies harvesting timber from public land to mill it near to where they harvested it.
Removing the appurtenancy provisions paved the way for the closure of many of the smaller mills in BC. Anyone who thinks otherwise is living in a dream world.
The Liberals have been working hand in hand with the large lumber corporations since they were elected.
They gave them a sweetheart deal on stumpage for harvesting beetle kill timber even though a lot of this timber is being sold at market prices.
Have a nice day.
Trumpage speak. Stumpage is paid by the stratum and audited loads within that stratum. Dead and dry wood is a quarter but you still pay for the percentage of green wood within that stratum.
If it were economical to run 4 mills within 50 mile radius like Canfor did for years they would still be doing it. Clear Lake, Rustads, Netherlands Overseas, Polar, the 5th – Fort St James that they bought was a little further away… Now they run “super mills” Polar, Vanderhoof (they bought from Slocan) and Houston. Last time I was in the industry they were anyway so things could be a bit different today.
Half of our mines closed down last time the NDP were in power, forest practice code anyone remember that disaster?
They did open one mine – Mount Polley
And what was the world market for metals etc back when those mines shutdown ? It was so low it wasn’t worth mining. Had nothing to do with who was in power, unless you think BC provincial gov sets the standards for metal pricing. If you do the christy is again letting us down. But as long as mount polley can outfall its poisons into quesnel lake we all win I guess?
And what was the world market for metals etc back when those mines shutdown ? It was so low it wasn’t worth mining. Had nothing to do with who was in power, unless you think BC provincial gov sets the standards for metal pricing. If you do the christy is again letting us down. But as long as mount polley can outfall its poisons into quesnel lake we all win I guess?
The government set the standard for unfair practices that bankrupt companies. Hard enough to get those mines opened up, but really easy to shut them down.
Oh oh.. Christy just launched an attack on the states..saying coal is dirty and shouldn’t be allowed in BC ports..
Here we go..what will be the states response ?
This isn’t coal mined here but coal dropped off at BC ports then shipped by rail to the US I do believe.
It’s US coal trained into BC across the border and loaded onto ships for export to wherever.
she doesnt want it in bc water
Mines , mines , everywhere , mines . Where are all the smelters .
?????? Where ?
Answer : trail and kitimat . The Kitimat smelter is not at kitimat because there is an abundance of aluminum ore there , there isn’t . It’s because of the electricity . Why is the smelter still operating in Trail ?
Without mines no solar. Oh wait a little pixie dust, poof a solar panel.
Leo Gerard is an honorary lifetime NDP member. Leo and the US steelworkers he represents asked the White House to put a 50% tariff on Canadian aluminum last year, will they do it again this year with trump? Sayanythingjohn and his union donations get him into hot water, they are paying for election staffers and donated 670,000 to the NDP last year.
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