 |
|
|
PDAC e-News and Activities, December 2, 2004, No. 21
Page Index
Awards for
students in the earth sciences
MP
calls for tax credit program to be made permanent
E3
Environmental Excellence in Exploration update
Minerals and metals industry sector study now underway
Fisheries and Oceans
accord signed
Gratien Gélinas dies
Fairmont Royal York offers PDAC’s members special winter rate
Proposed environmental changes in Ontario are cause for concern
Short course on applying remote sensing to mineral exploration
Accounting
standards for resource companies
China Mining 2004
Help choose new PDAC
directors
Awards for students
in the earth sciences
Attention students! There are a number of awards, bursaries, and
scholarships available for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled
in earth sciences at Canadian universities.
Full-time graduate students attending a Canadian university and
undertaking a geoscience thesis with a focus on mapping are eligible for
the recently instituted Mary-Claire Ward Geoscience Award. The award
consists of a $3,000 cash prize and certificate. Application deadline is
January 15, 2005.
Click here for full details and application form.
The Women’s Association of the Mining Industry of Canada Foundation
provides a series of scholarships, bursaries and awards to undergraduate
students in the earth sciences at degree granting educational
institutions and technical schools across Canada. Deadline for
applications is June 4, 2005.
Further details and instructions on how to
apply.
MP
calls for tax credit program to be made permanent
On November 23, the Hon. Raymond Bonin made a statement to the House of
Commons in which he called for the Investment Tax Credit for Exploration
in Canada program, known more commonly as the “super” flow-through
program, to be made permanent. Click
here for the full text.
The statement was made to coincide with Mining Day on the Hill, an
important lobbying event for the mineral industry and well attended by
PDAC representatives. Lobbying focused on five government actions to
ensure the competitiveness of Canada’s mineral industry: a) provide
stable, long term support for public geoscience; b) make the “super”
flow-through program permanent; c) modernize the Canadian Exploration
Expense qualifications; d) improve Canada’s regulatory system; and e)
develop a comprehensive, competitive climate change plan for Canada.
|
E3
Environmental Excellence in Exploration update |
-
A special session entitled Excellence environnementale en exploration
was held recently at Quebec Exploration 2004. The session featured three
presentations about E3 and gave the program excellent profile. Past
president Bill Mercer and directors André Gaumond and Dennis Jones each
gave presentations. David Comba also gave a talk on E3 at the recent
Newfoundland & Labrador Department of Natural Resources Open House and
Philip Bousquet delivered an E3 presentation at the NWT and Nunavut
Chamber of Mines Geoscience Forum in Yellowknife. For copies, please
contact Saley Lawton,
.
-
The Minerals Council of Australia has agreed to
place E3 on its sustainable development website and promote its use
by their members. The council has noted the complementary nature of
and common ground between E3 and much of the work the council is
undertaking in the implementation of sustainable development
principles and applications across the mineral sector.
-
Barry Simmons, former E3 project manager,
represented the PDAC on a workshop panel on Canada’s resource sector
abroad at the Amnesty International regional meeting in Toronto on
October 16. The question put to workshop participants was: Canadian
resource companies are often involved in countries where human
rights violations are rampant. To what extent are they involved? The
workshop included 10-minute presentations by the panelists followed
by a free-wheeling discussion. Attendees appeared to leave the
workshop with a more favourable impression of the mining industry.
-
An article on E3 was published in a special
feature entitled Énergie et Ressources in Le Devoir on November 4.
Click here for a copy of the
article. Access to E3 is free as long as you register. Please go to
www.e3mining.com
to do so.
|
Minerals and metals industry sector study now underway
The Mining Industry Training and Adjustment Council of Canada (MITAC)
is undertaking a study of the human resource needs of the minerals and
metals sector in Canada. Its goal is to gather perspectives on issues
that must be addressed in a long-term human resources strategy. The
study is entitled Prospecting the Future: Meeting Human Resources
Challenges in Canada’s Minerals and Metals Sector. PDAC members are
encouraged to participate in this important research, which will include
a survey, a series of interviews with industry contacts, focus groups
and roundtable discussions. To do so, simply log on to the study website
at
www.prospectingthefuture.ca and register through the ‘News by email’
section. The website is also an excellent source of information on
progress made and findings to date. For more information about the
study, please contact Karen Sutherland,
ksutherland@barrick.com,
who is the PDAC’s representative on the study steering committee.
Fisheries and Oceans
accord signed
PDAC president Peter Dimmell was one of seven natural resource
industry association presidents to sign a precedent setting memorandum
of understanding with the Hon. Geoff Regan, Ministers of Fisheries and
Oceans Canada, on Parliament Hill on October 26. The fish habitat
agreement is intended to recognize activities that are common to all
sectors, e.g., culverts and temporary bridges, place these activities
within a risk management framework, and eliminate the need for
permitting low impact activities. While it is unlikely that substantive
improvements will be visible in the short term, the agreement creates an
avenue to pursue irritants and slowly improve the functioning of the
Fisheries Act. Click here for a copy of the announcement. For more
information, contact David Comba, Director, Regulatory Affairs,
.
Gratien Gélinas dies
Former executive director of the Quebec Prospectors Association (QPA),
Gratien Gélinas, died on September 23. Prior to his appointment as
executive director, Mr. Gélinas was involved with the QPA for many years
as a volunteer. According to the November/December 2004 newsletter of
the Association de l’exploration minière du Québec, “he weathered boom
and bust, meeting every day with enthusiasm and good humour.” A Gratien
Gélinas Award has been established to honour his memory.
Fairmont Royal York offers PDAC’s members special winter rate
PDAC members might like to take advantage of a special winter rate
being offered by the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The rate, $129 per
night, is in effect from November 25 to December 30, 2004.
Click here
for more details.
Proposed environmental changes in Ontario are cause for concern
On November 15 a coalition of industry associations, including the
PDAC, voiced their concerns about Bill 133 in a
letter to the Hon. Leona Dombrowsky, Ontario Minister of the Environment. The bill contains
proposed amendments to the Ontario Environmental Protection Act and the
Ontario Water Resources Act. Besides an inadequate consultation period
for the proposed legislation, the group expressed its concerns about
those amendments which would lower thresholds for discharges, reporting
spills and restoration; replace existing administrative monetary
penalties with environmental penalties and replace the existing
three-tier offence/fine system with a two-tier system.
The minister has since agreed to extend the consultation deadline to
January 7, 2005. The coalition has sent a
second letter to the minister
appealing for a complete re-writing of the proposed legislation.
Short course on applying remote sensing to mineral exploration
A one-day workshop on recent achievements with the remote sensing
toolbox is being jointly organized by the Ontario Ministry of Northern
Development and Mines and the Ontario Association of Remote Sensing on
Monday, December 13. The course, which costs $170 and is being offered
in conjunction with the 2004 Ontario Exploration and Geoscience
Symposium, will be held in the Trent Room, MacDonald Block, Queen’s
Park, Toronto.
Click here for more details.
Accounting
standards for resource companies
On November 2, Rob Whittall, chairman of the Financial and Taxation
Committee, and committee member Ron Gagel met with Mark Walsh of the
Canadian Accounting Standards Board (CASB) to discuss accounting
standards for resource companies. Walsh had responded to a
letter sent
to the CASB by the PDAC on September 30 and asked whether the PDAC would
be interested in forming a sub-committee to provide feedback on the
International Standards Board’s project on accounting for extractive
industries. The project, which involves several national accounting
standard setters, including Australia (chair), Canada, Norway and South
Africa, is expected to produce a set of IASB standards for extractive
industries. A PDAC sub-committee is being formed. The Minerals Council
of Australia is also concerned with this issue and the PDAC and the
council have agreed to share information and positions going forward.
For more information, contact David Comba,
.
China Mining 2004
PDAC directors Deborah McCombe and Keith Spence were invited to
represent the PDAC at the recent China Mining 2004 conference in
Beijing. They both chaired sessions at the conference. The Chinese
organizers agreed to distribute material about PDAC Convention 2005 to
members of the country’s mining industry and to delegates from other
countries. The PDAC was recognized as a sponsor of the event on banners
throughout the convention.
Help choose new PDAC
directors
Do you know someone whose experience could help guide the PDAC
during the next three years? If so, why not nominate that person for the
PDAC’s board of directors. Directors, who are elected at the PDAC’s
annual meeting in March, are responsible for the overall governance and
stewardship of the association. One of their major responsibilities is
to approve the PDAC’s position and policy on all major issues.
Nominations must be submitted to the PDAC no later than December 16. For
more information, contact MariAnn Semkiw, tel: 416 362 1969, ext. 227;
email . |
|
