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PDAC e-News and Activities, August 23, 2010 - No. 73
Page Index
Have you mailed in the Bill C-300 postcards?
Financial regulatory reform bill in US
contains disclosure obligations for mining companies
Fraser Institute says attitudes more hostile
as Quebec, Nevada, Chile and Australia slip in its annual rankings
CSR draft rules of procedure for dispute resolution
and the PDAC
The PDAC’s pre-budget submission
seeks support for mineral exploration
PDAC director Michael Bourassa named Mining Lawyer of 2010
In memoriam - George Podolsky
Students’ mining videos show humour and creativity
Noront Resources sponsors PDAC Mining
Matters aboriginal youth mining camps
Exploration tips from one of the best
Canada India Mining and Metals Forum 2010
● Sept 27-29 ● Toronto
Colombia
Mining Show ● Oct. 6-8 ● Medellin, Colombia
Job openings available here
Have you mailed in
the Bill C-300 postcards?
In your July issue of PDAC in
Brief, you should have found an envelope with instructions to mail in
the four postcards it contained to key MPs urging them to vote against
Bill C-300. The bill will be up for debate when the House of Commons
resumes sitting on Sept. 20, with a vote expected in October. We have
extra postcards here. If you’d like more, please contact
Florence.
Financial
regulatory reform bill in US contains disclosure obligations for
mining companies
The Dodd-Frank Bill, signed into law on
July 21, 2010, and encompassing a wide swath of financial reforms,
contains new disclosure obligations for extraction issuers and users of
conflict minerals. Under the new legislation, issuers must indicate in
their annual reports payments made to foreign governments and to the US
federal government for the commercial development of oil, natural gas,
or minerals. Issuers must also make a disclosure when they are using
minerals originating in the DRC or in contiguous countries and the due
diligence taken to identify the source and chain of the minerals.
Regulations must be drawn up and published within 270 days of the
passage of the bill. Comments on the regulations are invited. Fasken
Martineau has created and published a
summary of the new disclosure obligations.
Fraser Institute
says attitudes more hostile as Quebec, Nevada, Chile and Australia slip
in its annual rankings
According to the Fraser Institute’s
Survey of Mining Companies: 2010 Mid-Year Update, mining executives,
representing 429 mineral exploration and development companies, sense a
shift in mood in the investment climate for mining around the world. The
latest survey covered 51 jurisdictions. Earlier this month, the Fraser
Institute brought out an update following the global recovery in
commodity prices and the introduction of new regulatory hurdles and
taxation in many jurisdictions. Download the full report
here.
CSR draft rules of
procedure for dispute resolution and the PDAC
Earlier this
year, CSR Counsellor Marketa Evans released for comment
draft
rules of procedure her office will plans to use to resolve CSR
disputes related to the overseas operations of Canadian extractive
companies. The rules include five steps of a possible dispute resolution
mechanism. In a detailed response submitted in mid-August, the PDAC, the
Mining Association of Canada and 10 mining companies note that, to be
successful, the office of the counsellor must be regarded as “a fair,
impartial and viable resource to resolve issues that may arise when all
other avenues of redress have been exhausted.” The office should also
conduct its work in such a way that host country governments see it as
constructive and respectful of their sovereignty. The full response is
here.
The PDAC’s
pre-budget submission seeks support for mineral exploration
Citing the economic slowdown and drop in exploration finance, the PDAC’s
recommendations to the House of Commons standing committee on finance
includes five key ‘asks’: temporarily increasing the Mineral Exploration
Tax Credit (METC); making the METC permanent; adding costs related to
issuance, compliance and duty to consult as expenses eligible for the
METC; clarifying the Canadian Exploration Expense definition to include
costs related to exploration at former mines sites that have not
operated for at least five years; and providing flow-through share
treatment for Qualified Environmental Trusts (QETs).
The full
submission is
here.
PDAC director
Michael Bourassa named Mining Lawyer of 2010
Who’s Who Legal
has named Michael Bourassa as the Mining Lawyer of 2010. This award
recognizes Michael's leadership role in the global mining industry
as the top “dirt lawyer.” Michael is a partner in the Toronto office of
Fasken Martineau LLP and is the coordinator of the firm’s Global Mining
Group. He has been a PDAC director since 2003. Michael is also a trustee
of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, a member of the Mining Law
Committee of the International Bar Association, and member of the
Mining, Metals and Energy Financing Working Group of the Toronto Stock
Exchange.
In memoriam -
George Podolsky
George Podolsky died earlier this year in
Oakville, Ontario. An obituary prepared and supplied to us by Ken
Witherly states that Mr. Podolsky, a geophysicist and longtime employee
of Texas Gulf, had considerable professional success and “as a result of
circumstances few would ever wish upon themselves or others earned the
title of ‘hero.’” A Special Achievement Award given to Mr. Podolsky by
the PDAC in 1991 recognized his heroism following an airplane crash on
Baffin Island in May 1958. Mr. Podolsky managed to keep his three fellow
travellers, a colleague and the plane's pilot and co-pilot, alive for
four days until their rescue. Despite dislocated ankles and the loss of
his spectacles, Mr. Podolsky struggled to keep his badly injured
companions warm, nourished and comfortable during the ordeal. A
mountain where the crash occurred is now known officially as Mount
Podolsky. The full obituary is
here.
Students’ mining
videos show humour and creativity
If number of responses is
an indicator of success, the Ontario Mining Association’s So you think
you know mining is very successful. The contest, which runs annually,
invites high school students to produce and submit short videos on
mining and its benefits. Prizes, most of which are $2,500 each, are
given for best writing, best music, best directing, etc. The videos are
on this
website. Some are of exceptional quality and demonstrate how
videography can be used to great effect. The winners are listed
here. Well worth a look!
Noront Resources
sponsors PDAC Mining Matters aboriginal youth mining camps
Noront Resources Ltd. is partnering with two Ontario government
ministries to sponsor two aboriginal youth outreach summer camps being
organized by PDAC Mining Matters in northern Ontario. Sixty students
will participate in the camps, each two weeks in length, in Webequie and
Marten Falls. Camps for aboriginal young people are taking place in
Nunavut, Manitoba, and Ontario this year. Here’s a
news release, issued by Noront, about its involvement.
Exploration tips
from one of the best
The former head of Newcrest Mining’s
exploration team at the time it was considered the world’s most
successful gold explorer, Dan Wood, provides some thoughts on what’s
needed for exploration success in a document picked up by the Mining
Explorer blog. Read Dan Wood’s ideas
here.
Canada India
Mining and Metals Forum 2010 ● Sept 27-29 ● Toronto
Canada and India are working together to organize this forum, which will
be held at the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel, 90 Bloor Street
East, from Sept. 27 to 29. Prominent government and industry officials
from both countries, including former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul
Kalam and PDAC President Scott Jobin-Bevans, are scheduled to speak. The
registration fee for PDAC members is $650 before September 6 and $800
after that date. Members should quote ‘pdaccif10’ when registering to
receive this discount. Program details are
here, and registration is open at
www.canadaindia.org. The contact person for this event is
Kalyan Sundaram,
telephone 416 779 5237.
Colombia
Mining Show ● Oct. 6-8 ● Medellin, Colombia
The
Government of Antioquia and Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and National
Entrepreneurs Association (ANDI) will host the VI International Mining
Show–Colombia Minera 2010 from October 6-8, 2010, in Medellin, Colombia.
The show is targeted at mining companies, capital goods and services
providers and the mining sector value chain in general. This year’s
event has the active participation of the Canadian Embassy, which is
organizing a national pavilion with the participation of Canadian
companies and organizations.
More information or contact the
Canadian
Embassy.
Job openings
available here
MinePros Personnel has a variety of
geosciences job openings available. The list is
here.
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