 |
|
|
PDAC e-News and Activities, May 23, 2008 - No. 54
Page Index
Applications are invited for three new
positions at the PDAC
This year’s health and safety survey is now
underway
Expert panel on securities regulation begins its
cross-Canada consultations
New president of International Council on
Mining & Metals (ICMM)
ICMM’s position on indigenous peoples and report on free
prior and informed consent
Links with CIM
Graduate students invited to apply for Geoffrey
Bradshaw Memorial Scholarship
NationTalk TV interviews PDAC president on mining
and aboriginal people
Seminar on risk mitigation and corporate social
responsibility in Africa – Toronto – June 2
Geddes Webster’s book on the people of the
Yellowknife gold boom, 1936-1951
Applications are
invited for three new positions at the PDAC
The PDAC’s strategic plan, developed by the board of directors in
consultation with association members, identified four priority areas
for the association’s advocacy work. These include: attracting new
people to the exploration sector; directing the future of the PDAC in a
globalizing industry; formulating a PDAC corporate social responsibility
framework; and maximizing the exploration land base and ensuring mineral
tenure and land access. The board has also approved an expansion of
staff resources, in part to undertake the implementation of the
strategic plan. There are three positions now available at the PDAC:
program director, community and resources development; communications
manager; and accounting clerk. The description for the program director
position is
here. Details of the other two positions are
here.
This year’s health and safety survey is now
underway
The PDAC and Association for Mineral Exploration BC are appealing to
junior and major companies, government geological surveys, diamond
drilling contractors, geophysical contractors, and any other companies
or contractors carrying out exploration related activities in Canada to
complete this year’s health and safety survey. The aim of undertaking
this survey every year is to track health and safety trends nationwide,
to promote health and safety awareness, and to encourage companies to
institute accident prevention measures. Most exploration companies are
small with few employees and tend not to have statistics which could
pinpoint work hazards that cause accidents. A national survey enables
companies to share this non-competitive information to the benefit of
the whole industry. By sharing accident statistics, companies and
individuals obtain a view of statistically more significant data. The
greater the response to the survey, of course, the more statistically
significant the data. The survey is online
here.
Expert panel on securities regulation
begins its cross-Canada consultations
In February, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the
establishment of an expert panel on securities regulation. The panel’s
mandate is to advise the country’s ministers responsible for securities
regulation on the best way to improve securities regulation in Canada.
The panel will take into account the recommendations put forward by
other groups and will draw on the best regulatory practices of Canada’s
international counterparts. A public consultation paper,
Creating an advantage in global capital markets, has been
released. This document has been developed to focus discussion on the
key issues and questions relating directly to the mandate of the panel.
The PDAC has been invited to take part in the panel’s first round of
cross-Canada consultations on Wednesday, May 28, in Toronto. At that
time, securities committee co-chair Greg Ho Yuen will be presenting the
PDAC’s position calling for: a) a regulatory system administered by one
regulator, applying one set of rules in a consistent manner across
Canada; and b) securities laws that provide junior issuers with access
to capital on a timely, effective and cost efficient basis; that restore
and maintain public confidence in the capital markets; and that include
disclosure and reporting obligations that strike a balance between
protection of the investing public and ensuring that the maximum amount
of a company’s financial and managerial resources are available for
mineral exploration and development work. The securities committee will
be making a detailed submission to the panel in July. To participate in
the preparation of the submission or for further information, contact
Philip
Bousquet.
New president of International Council on
Mining & Metals (ICMM)
Anthony Hodge has been appointed president of the International Council
on Mining & Metals and will take up his new post on October 1. Tony is
Kinross Professor of Mining and Sustainability at Queen’s University at
Kingston and is past president of the Mineral Economics and Management
Society. He served on the National Roundtable on environment and Economy
(1992-96) and led the North American component of the Mining Metals and
Sustainable Development project (2001-02).
Click here
for the full announcement.
ICMM’s position on indigenous peoples and report
on free prior and informed consent
Executive director Tony Andrews attended an ICMM meeting in London, UK,
at the beginning of May. He reports that, after much discussion over
many months, the ICMM has finalized a position statement on indigenous
peoples.
Click here for a copy. Tony further reports that, as part of their
commitment to the Dialogue Project, ICMM and the World Conservation
Union (IUCN) convened the second Mining and Indigenous Peoples
Roundtable in January 2008. The roundtable report, available
here,
includes some interesting discussion on free prior and informed consent,
a major focus of the roundtable discussion. These are important
documents which have direct implications for PDAC members whose projects
are located within the sphere of influence of indigenous peoples.
Links with CIM
For the third year, the PDAC sponsored the exploration pavilion at the
recent Mining in Society show in Edmonton. The show, which is organized
by the CIM, is designed to inform the general public about the mining
industry and its benefits and to highlight career opportunities in the
sector. PDAC Mining Matters staff created a wide range of activities,
including a scavenger hunt, for the many young people attending the
show. In the technical sessions of the CIM proper, health and safety
committee chair Bill Mercer gave a presentation entitled Health and
safety in mineral exploration: The PDAC role.
Graduate students invited to apply for
Geoffrey Bradshaw Memorial Scholarship
Geoffrey Bradshaw was working for the Yukon Geological Survey as a
mineral assessment geologist when he was killed in a helicopter accident
two years ago. A scholarship fund has been set up with the Yukon
Foundation in Geoff’s name. The Geoffrey Bradshaw Memorial Scholarship
awards $3000.00 to a graduate student in his/her first or second year of
a geology program that includes a thesis with a Yukon field component.
Applications are invited for the 2008 award. The deadline for
submissions is May 31. More details about the award and application
requirements are
here.
NationTalk TV interviews PDAC president on
mining and aboriginal people
PDAC president Jon Baird was interviewed on NationTalk TV on April 21.
Topics covered in the interview included employment opportunities that
exploration and mining can offer aboriginal people, programs that the
PDAC has customized at PDAC conventions for aboriginal participants, and
the potential for partnerships between the mineral industry and
aboriginal communities. To hear the interview,
click here.
Seminar on risk mitigation and corporate social
responsibility in Africa – Toronto – June 2
A full-day seminar on risk mitigation and corporate social
responsibility in Africa is being held at 77 Wellesley Street, Toronto,
on Monday, June 2 from 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Registration fee for the
seminar, which is organized by the Canada-South Africa Chamber of
Business, is $135 for Chamber members and $155 for non-members. The
program is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade Canada, MineAfrica and the Ontario Ministry of
Economic Development and Trade.
Click here for the full program and
here for the registration form. For more information, contact Bruce
Shapiro, telephone 416 535 5665; email
bshapiro@canadasachamber.com.
Geddes Webster’s book on the people of
the Yellowknife gold boom, 1936-1951
The Prospectors’ Pick, The people of the Yellowknife gold boom,
1936-1951, by Geddes Webster is a newly published book, or rather a
catalogue, about the individuals and events surrounding the building of
Yellowknife and its eventual transformation into the capital of the
Northwest Territories. The book begins with a description of the history
and early developments of the NWT, including early mineral observations,
the five booms that the territory has experienced, and the beginnings of
the town of Yellowknife and its activities. Then the author gets down to
the nitty-gritty with snapshots of the town residents and of
non-residents who contributed to or participated in the gold boom.
These, together with a section on ‘vignettes, observations, explanations
and reflections,’ make for an entertaining and informative depiction of
the social history of a mining town. Written in a direct, clear and
engaging style and laid out in a pleasing format, this is the kind of
book that can be dipped into or read for longer periods when time
permits. The book, which costs $39, can be ordered
online or
by email. |
|
