PDAC president
to speak in India about the junior exploration sector
President Jon Baird will be representing the PDAC this month at a
conference in Agra, India. He will be delivering a paper entitled ‘The
role of junior companies in exploration’ at the two-day conference,
Mining-Exploration Summit – Policy Initiatives, which is being held
October 13-15 and organized by the Federation of Indian Mineral
Industries.
Click here for a copy of the program. A copy of Baird’s paper will
be posted to the PDAC’s website closer to the time of delivery.
Aboriginal
outreach will be the topic of an upcoming ‘webinar’
Philip Bousquet, director, regulatory affairs, will speak on the mineral
industry’s work to include aboriginal Canadians in a ‘webinar’ on
November 13, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Registration for this web based
seminar, which is being organized by the Environmental Society of CIM,
is required, and the fee is $25.00 for CIM members and $40.00 for
non-members. Topics will include: the PDAC’s memorandum of understanding
with the Assembly of First Nations; current efforts to establish a
mining/aboriginal forum in the NWT; the work of the Mining Association
of Canada’s TSM community of interest advisory panel on aboriginal
issues and the activities of the PDAC’s aboriginal affairs committee.
For more information and to register,
click here.
Come and see us
in Newfoundland and Saskatoon
The PDAC will have exhibit booths at the
Newfoundland andLabrador
Mineral Resources Review in St. John’s, October 30-November 1, and
at the annual conference of the
Canadian
Aboriginal Minerals Association in Saskatoon, November 2-4. We look
forward to meeting our members at these events.
Federal
government announces $100 million investment in northern geological
mapping
On August 26, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the
federal government will invest $100 million over the next five years on
geological mapping in northern Canada. The program, entitled Geo-mapping
for Energy and Minerals, is an extension of the $34 million announced in
the February 2008 federal budget. President Jon Baird wrote a
letter to the Prime Minister, commending him for this initiative and
expressing hope that the federal government will act on the McCrank
recommendations aimed at improving the regulatory system in northern
Canada. An article on the geological mapping announcement was prepared
and published in the National Post on September 3.
Click here for a copy.
‘So You Think
You Know Mining’ video competition launched
The Ontario Mining Association (OMA) has launched a contest for budding
movie producers. High school students in Ontario, working individually
or as a team, are being offered the chance to produce two- to
three-minute videos showcasing the benefits of mining. Resources will be
provided for students and teachers. Winners will receive “substantial
cash prizes,” and the winning productions will be shown at the May 2009
annual meeting of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum. More details about the competition will be posted on the
OMA website in late
October.
Applications
from graduate students invited for the Mary-Claire Ward Geoscience Award
Applications are now invited for the fifth Mary-Claire Ward Geoscience
Award. Given annually to a graduate student at a Canadian university
whose thesis incorporates geoscience mapping as a significant component,
this award comprises a cheque for $3,000 and certificate. The winner can
choose whether to receive his/her award at the PDAC’s annual convention
in March or at the Geological Association of Canada’s annual meeting in
May. Travel and accommodation expenses are covered either by the PDAC or
by the GAC, depending on where the presentation is made. This award
commemorates Mary-Claire Ward who worked hard to advance geoscience
mapping in Canada. She died in 2004. Deadline for applications is
December 15. Full details and an application form are
here.
Scholarships now
available from Kamloops exploration group
The Kamloops Exploration Group Society is inviting applications for
scholarships under the Ronald C. Wells Geological Education Fund. A
total of $1,500 is available to support scholarships for the 2008-2009
academic year. A minimum scholarship is $500, and a maximum is $1,500.
Applicants must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants and registered
as full-time students in the third or fourth year of an accredited
undergraduate degree program in geology or earth sciences at a Canadian
post-secondary institution. Full details
here.
Poll says geology
students are happiest with their degrees
In an article entitled ‘It’s official: geology rocks’ and published
recently in The Guardian online, students in geology were reported as
being amongst the happiest or the most satisfied with their choice of
degree program. According to the article, “a national student survey
showed that 95% of geology students in the poll of nearly 220,000
students studying all subjects at UK universities and colleges were
satisfied with their courses. Only 67% of the photographers were.” The
full article is
here.
Mining
Association of Canada releases its Facts & Figures 2008
The 2008 edition of Facts & Figures, an annual publication of the Mining
Association of Canada, is now available. The 72-page publication
provides details on the production, reserves, exploration, trade and
investment, innovation, tax, and human resource aspects of the mineral
industry. In announcing the publication’s release, the association notes
that the industry is an important contributor to government coffers –
paying over $10 billion in taxes and royalties to federal, provincial,
and territorial governments in 2006. It is also the largest private
employer of aboriginal Canadians. The report is available
here.
