 |
|
|
PDAC e-News and Activities, July 25, 2007, No. 45
Page Index
Geoscientists urged to sign petition on
mobility
PDAC responds to corporate social
responsibility (CSR) report
Fonds Restor-Action Nunavik – an update
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
Asia Pacific Forum on Mining & Minerals –
Sept. 30-Oct. 3 - Hyatt Regency Vancouver
Mining women walk to support
breast cancer research
CIM Barlow Memorial Medal winner
Canada-India foreign investment
protection agreement
Geoscientists urged
to sign petition on mobility
The
association, through its Geoscience Committee, is encouraging
geoscientists to sign a petition in favour of full mobility for
geoscientists in Canada. The PDAC interprets ‘full
mobility’ as a system in which a geoscientist who is registered in a
Canadian jurisdiction, held accountable to a common code of ethics and
subject to a disciplinary body following a common set of standards,
would have the right to work in another Canadian jurisdiction without
further application or notice. There is growing support from the
geoscience community for full mobility. The results of the petition,
which is in English and French, will be used, along with other PDAC work
in this area, to persuade ministers of labour and government
decision-makers that action needs to be taken towards this. The petition
is
here.
PDAC responds to corporate social
responsibility (CSR) report
Earlier this year, the report of the National Roundtables on Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Canadian Extractive Industry in
Developing Countries was released.
Click here for the process leading up the report’s
publication and a link to the actual report (in English and French). The
PDAC has now submitted a formal response to the report, prior to its
recommendations going forward to Parliament. The response points out
that most Canadian companies involved in mineral exploration and
development have some form of CSR practice in place. However, the
clarification of expectations, guidance instruments and good practice
tools recommended in the report will enable them to perform at an
internationally acceptable level. The PDAC also states that voluntary
initiatives are the most effective mechanisms for advancing CSR
objectives and that the application of legal instruments by one country
to another is very difficult. Legal instruments should be left to those
cases where it is clear that people are intent on breaking the law. A
summary of the PDAC’s response is
here
and the full response is
here.
Fonds Restorr-Action Nunavik – an update
In the April e-newsletter, we told you about a
new program to clean up abandoned exploration sites in the
Nunavik region of Quebec. Since its establishment, Fonds Restor-Action
Nunavik has raised $750,000, including an annual donation of $5,000 from
the PDAC for the next five years.
This article, published last month in Nunatsiaq News, outlines the
progress that has been made to date in raising funds for the program and
also the clean-up work being undertaken this year. PDAC director André
Gaumond is leading this initiative and will be pleased to receive
comments or questions about it from members. His email address is
agaumond@virginia.qc.ca.
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
Exploration 07 – Sept. 9-12 – Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto
The
Exploration 07 conference will be held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel,
Toronto, from Sunday, September 9 to Wednesday, September 12. Early
bird registration fees ($100 saving) are in effect until July 31. This
is the fifth of this decennial conference which focuses on advances in
exploration technology over the previous decade. This year’s event will
feature an extensive set of oral presentations, poster papers and
workshops. A highlight will be a 3D theatre in which delegates will be
able to see how state-of-the-art visualization and data modeling can be
applied to exploration.
Click here for registration form. For more details about the
conference,
click here.
Asia Pacific Forum on Mining &
Minerals – Sept. 30-Oct.
3 - Hyatt Regency Vancouver
This
international forum is being organized by the Mining Association of
British Columbia with the support of the British Columbia government to
increase trade, investment and collaboration in the mining and minerals
sector among British Columbia, Canada and countries around the Pacific
Rim. Three major themes – trade and investment; emerging standards and
best practices; and finance and risk – will be explored through plenary
and concurrent sessions during the two and a half day program. The forum
will be of interest to senior representatives from industry, government,
the investment community, non-governmental organizations, and other
businesses in the mining and minerals value chain. Early registration
fees are in effect until July 31. Registration form is
here,
and the forum website is
here.
Mining women walk to support breast cancer
research
Thanks to the many individual and corporate supporters of the Women in
Mining team which is raising funds for its participation in the 60
kilometre Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk on September 8 and 9. The
team’s goal is to raise $200,000 in donations for the Princess Margaret
Hospital in Toronto to fund research into the prevention and treatment
of breast cancer. As well as its ambulatory efforts, the team is working
to give the mining industry a major profile in the media by making the
mining team the top fundraiser of this year’s event. The eight women
walking are preparing to deliver the message that mining is important to
the livelihoods of Canadians, including those in urban centres. At the
time of writing, the team was in 5th place in a large field
of fundraisers. If you haven’t yet made a donation, please consider
making one. Donations for the team can be made online
through Jane
Werniuk’s
page. Past president Ed Thompson has put together a note on the
advantages of donating shares, particularly flow-through shares.
Click here
for more details.
CIM Barlow Memorial Medal winner
Congratulations to past president Peter Dimmell on winning this year’s
CIM Barlow Memorial Medal, which is presented for the best paper on
economic geology published by the institute. Peter and his co-author
Jeff A. Morgan won the award for their paper, The Aubrey Pegmatite:
Exploration for highly evolved lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites in
northern Ontario.
Canada-India foreign investment protection agreement
Canada and India have agreed upon a foreign investment protection agreement ((FIPA)
that aims to improve the predictability of the legal framework governing two-way
investment. The Canada-India agreement will require that host governments
protect foreign investments against expropriation, treat foreign investors in a
non-discriminatory manner, allow the repatriation of profits, and allow access
to international investment arbitration and laws, among other measures. Click here
for more information. |
|
