VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – British Columbia is ‘ground zero’ for mining in Canada, as technological advances require an ever-increasing volume of metals to satisfy improving standards of living and produce environment-friendly technologies.

This was the key message to attendees at the fourth yearly Resource Breakfast Series held in Vancouver on Tuesday.

“Mining builds communities,” Mining Association of BC president and CEO Bryan Cox stressed, pointing out that it was thanks to the gold rush and burgeoning mining industry more than a century ago that a provincial government was established to oversee the unprecedented influx of miners – all in search of personal fortunes in the harsh, but prospective mountain territory.

He argued that every community in the province is indeed a mining community, especially since British Columbia produces the most copper and the most steelmaking coal in Canada – ingredients critical to the establishment and maintenance of a vibrant domestic economy.

“Mining continues to build and sustain communities in British Columbia. This is the most important discussion that we can have: how mining continues to affect everybody, every day, in almost every imaginable way,” he told the audience comprising several ministers, members of the legislative assembly of British Columbia and key local government and industry leaders.

ECONOMIC DYNAMO
Illustrating the point Cox was making, Copper Mountain Mining VP for operations Don Strickland pointed out how the construction of the C$438-million eponymous mine, in the surrounding area of Princeton, had brought new life to the ageing village.

“We employ about 450 people at Copper Mountain, which has enabled a younger generation to establish roots in nearby Princeton. The well-paying jobs we provide enable people to buy houses and take good care of their families,” he said. “Mining strengthens the very fabric of the communities they support.”

However, even more critical than the direct employment and benefits mining brings to communities, is the indirect economic stimulus a mining operation creates on a regional basis. Strickland noted that Copper Mountain buys supplies and services needed by the mining industry from across the province.

These include, for instance, buying local automotive spares, tyres and services from suppliers based in Princeton, totalling expenditure of about C$53-million; equipment and professional services from Kamloops-based companies totalling about C$30-million; C$37-million spent in Vancouver; C$38-million spent in Surrey; and about C$32-million spent in Burnaby.

“While Copper Mountain employs less than 5% of the total mining workforce in the province, its activities impact the entire BC economy in diverse ways, on every level,” he stated.

Princeton Mayor Frank Armitage agreed, stressing how grateful the community is to have Copper Mountain supporting the community with its C$50-million-a-year payroll.

“Because of the mine, the town of Princeton is expanding. Thanks to the forward-thinking leadership at Copper Mountain, we managed to sit down with them three years ago, when the price downturn was at its worst, to look at ways we could navigate the difficult period without impacting the community. This resulted in zero layoffs, during what was a very difficult time for the mine,” he said.

He further praised the mine’s corporate citizenry, encouraging its involvement with junior league hockey in the community, for example. Princeton also hosts ‘Copper Mountain Days’, usually in the first week of May each year, which it uses as an opportunity to engage with the local community, and educate people on the critical role mining plays in their everyday lives.

According to Armitage – a 50-year mining veteran – the Copper Mountain mine contributes about C$350-million to Princeton’s coffers under a negotiated deal that saw the mine being incorporated under a satellite town boundary, in order to contribute to the town’s expanded capital overheads as a result of the influx of about 400 new residents.

The clincher, however, is the C$750-million contribution the mine makes to provincial capital Victoria’s balance sheet, thanks to the active mining conducted in the town boundaries.

RECONCILIATION OPPORTUNITY
British Columbia’s Minister for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Michelle Mungall used the opportunity to stress the historic importance of mining in establishing communities across the province, especially in the Kootenays – the south-eastern portion of British Columbia that took its name from the Kootenay river, which in turn was named for the Ktunaxa (or Kootenai or Kutenai) First Nation.

“This is a new era for reconciliation with First Nations. We’re at the beginning of something great, that will leave our grandchildren better off,” she said, adding that, although mining is responsible, to a significant extent, for the very existence of British Columbia, it did not historically respect the rights of Aboriginal people.

Mungall said her mandate letter stressed the importance of adhering to the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the recommendations contained in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s ‘Call to Action’.

The Minister also pointed to the newly installed coalition government’s support for mining exploration and mine development as a critical economic driver into the future.

How to best engage an audience regarding the importance of mining? Mungall suggested a sure-fire method is to ask an audience to look at their cell phones for a minute, and contemplate how its components were made, and which materials were used.

“The answer is that it mainly comes from mining, as does almost any other thing we use in our daily lives. The natural resource industry affects us all, every day,” she underlined.

In its first budget update, released earlier this month, the New Democratic Party-led government confirmed the British Columbia mining flow-through share tax credit for individuals and it expanded the expenses eligible for the mining exploration tax credit to include environmental studies and community consultation costs, in alignment with the federal tax rules.

Further, the provincial Ministry is working towards announcing a mining jobs task force before year-end, to bring decision-makers together to create more mining jobs and look at ways to sustain them, Mungall said.

Armitage noted that direct community engagement is the best method to get people involved. “The message about the need and opportunities regarding mining are not always well known among rural residents, and engagement at the top level is critical to get the message across,” he said.

“People’s perceptions about the mining industry are outdated. People in general do not realise how advanced mining technology has become. Mining is safer than retail,” Strickland quipped.