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Report calls on BC govt to clarify land access and use rules

21st January 2016

By: Creamer Media Reporter

  

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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Access for mineral exploration has decreased in British Columbia, reaching a critical threshold threatening the survival of the exploration industry and, by extension, the jobs, families and communities that rely on it, a new report has found.

The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) on Wednesday published a report titled ‘Framing the Future of Mineral Exploration in British Columbia’, which called on the provincial government to clarify land access and use rules, while also drawing attention to the overlapping nature of government regulations.

Prepared by environmental consulting firm Hemmera, the report highlighted the shrinking land base available for the exploration of hidden and valuable minerals in British Columbia, as well as the increasingly complex government policies that exploration companies were forced to navigate.

AME BC stated that without ongoing exploration there could be no new discoveries and without new discoveries, the future of the industry would be limited. As a result, thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly economic impact could be at risk, the association warned.

“Mineral explorers and developers have a proud history of finding critical metals, like copper, and building British Columbia over the past 150 years. The innovative and always evolving exploration industry forms an important R&D [research and development] function, designing and using technologies and developing expertise that results in not only finding new mineral deposits, but also expanding the world’s geological knowledge base for everyone’s benefit,” stated AME BC CEO Gavin Dirom.

The association advised that, if the situation was not addressed, it could be devastating for the more than 30 000 British Columbians employed by mineral exploration and development and the many communities around the province that relied on it. This included Metro Vancouver, which had become a global centre of excellence for the industry and headquartered about 800 exploration and mining companies, as well as many others providing a range of technical, legal, accounting and supply services.

With explorable land shrinking at unprecedented rates, fewer jobs would be available and fewer economic opportunities would be created in the future. Given that more than $2.2-billion had been spent on mineral exploration in the province since 2010 alone, a cooling of this industry would leave a large hole in the provincial economy.

“Despite a perception that only a small percentage of land is designated as off-limits to mineral exploration, the reality is that more than half the province is severely constrained to the industry due to layers of restrictive and sometimes redundant regulations. We believe that it is possible to have both a strong and active mineral exploration and development industry and a sustainable, healthy environment,” said Dirom.

AME BC called government to action to streamline and clarify land use regulations and plans, as well as developing a modern decision-making process. These changes needed to recognise the hidden nature and value of mineral resources compared with surface-level natural resource activities and ensure these different values were taken fully into account in land-use decisions.

“In order to thrive in BC, the mineral exploration and development industry requires access to land to discover hidden and valuable mineral resources and certainty to develop those resources should a deposit be found. These two principles of access and certainty should be integrated into all government land planning processes,” stated a geologist conducting exploration in British Columbia, Greg Dawson.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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