Despite the Liberal government?s decade-long rhetoric in support of the B.C. mining industry, the jury is still out as to whether it has done more harm than good for the multibillion-dollar sector.
As far as Gary Musil is concerned, things haven?t been going that well.
Musil, president and CEO of Vancouver?s International Montoro Resources (TSX-V:IMT), told Business in Vancouver the Liberals have done little to reduce the red tape his company has had to cut through to explore for metal in this province.
On top of that, IMT has re-ignited a lawsuit it filed two years ago against the province for its ban on uranium and thorium mining.
?It was not like we were building a nuclear reactor in the province,? said Musil. ?We were going to mine this and take it out of the province.?
But that plan, which the company spent $1.93 million developing, didn?t work for former mines minister Kevin Krueger, who in 2008 halted uranium exploration and development across B.C.
The ban also effectively shut down Vancouver-based Boss Power (TSX-V:BPU).
To add insult to injury, BIV revealed in January that senior bureaucrats within the former Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources admitted they refused to process a notice of work (NOW) application for Boss, despite being obligated to do so.
Last December, the province filed a notice of application conceding that on July 20, 2008, deputy minister Greg Reimer (now BC Hydro?s executive vice-president of transmission and distribution) and assistant deputy minister John Cavanagh instructed the chief inspector of mines Douglas Sweeney ?not to consider the NOW and that approval for that work was not to be granted.?
This despite the fact that the attorney general advised Cavanagh that Sweeney had a statutory obligation to consider the NOW on its merits.
Still, court documents show Cavanagh relieved Sweeney of responsibility for the NOW, and passed it off to other ministry employees who ?gave no consideration? to its merits.
Earlier this month, the province agreed to pay Boss Power $30 million of taxpayer money to settle the matter and end a two-year lawsuit.
Boss president and CEO Randy Rogers said he was happy with the settlement, which came just hours before a trial was set to begin.
But he maintained the government has yet to live up to its mining-friendly sentiments.
?There?s a lot of rhetoric, but very little reality,? said Rogers. ?They talk mining friendly, but show me who?s actually been put into production in the last 10 years??
In fact, only one major new metal mine has opened in B.C. since the government took office in 2001: Copper Mountain near Princeton.
But several smaller metal mines have opened in the Interior, Taseko Mines (TSX:TKO) re-started the Gibraltar copper mine and new coal mines have been built in the northeast.
Zoe Younger, the Mining Association of BC?s (MABC) vice-president of corporate affairs, said the industry has noticeably improved in the last 10 years.
?When I came in [three years ago] it was already showing evidence of being better than it had been,? said Younger. ?We?ve seen some significant changes from the province.?
She pointed out the province has worked hard to streamline the environmental assessment process to include legislated timelines and more defined roles for First Nations.
She also pointed to revenue-sharing agreements the province has signed with First Nations for two new mines under development, and Victoria?s commitment to build the Northwest Transmission Line, which will open up a large part of the province for future mineral development.
Yet those advancements seem to have been drowned out amid controversial policy decisions and ongoing land claim issues.
BIV has learned that a third company, Virginia Energy Resources (TSX-V:VAE), is also considering legal action against the province for its uranium claims in the Interior.
And, last week, two Surrey-based free miners filed suit against the province over the same issue, seeking, among other things, a declaration that the BC Liberal Party, former premier Gordon Campbell and Krueger used their offices for ?illegal purposes for political gain.?
In southeast B.C., three mining companies have yet to be compensated for a 2010 ban on mining in the Flathead River Basin, despite an original agreement that outlined a July 2010 deadline for compensation (see: ?No compensation for Flathead miners ahead of July deadline? – issue 1080; July 6–12, 2010.)
This while the province continues to grapple with the impacts of the failed harmonized sales tax, and a First Nations treaty process that has all but stalled out (see ?Treaty trouble stalls development? – issue 1147; October 18-24, 2011.)
Difficulties aside, the Liberals have doggedly maintained their public support for the industry.
Mining is one of the cornerstones of Premier Christy Clark?s recently announced jobs plan.
The plan commits to opening eight new mines in the province in the next four years, and expanding another nine.
Not even MABC chief executive Karina Briño would commit to the notion of opening a specific number of mines in the next few years when BIV interviewed her in September.
?My goal right now is to be the best and most effective voice for the industry that I can be, but I?m not going to do that by promising I?m going to build three mines or four mines or 10 mines; that?s ridiculous,? Briño said at the time.
NDP mines critic John Horgan said the government?s ?over the top rhetoric? does little to satisfy job needs in B.C.?s hinterland.
?I don?t believe it?s physically possible to achieve what the premier says she wants to do,? said Horgan.
Meantime, the Fraser Institute?s annual survey of mining jurisdictions shows that B.C.?s reputation among mining investors worldwide has improved since the Liberals took office in 2001.
B.C.?s reputation a for mining investment has improved to a ranking of 36 out of 79 jurisdictions worldwide, according to the latest survey.
That?s compared with a ranking of 45 out of 47 jurisdictions in 2002-03.
Still, B.C. continues to lag behind all other Canadian provinces and barely ranks in the top half of jurisdictions worldwide, said Jean-Francois Minardi, associate director at the Fraser Institute?s global natural resource policy centre. ?
Key numbers:
1,596%Increase in mineral exploration spending between 2001 and 2011 - ($494 million)
27%Increase in mining jobs between 2001 and 2011 - (12,410)
228%Increase in FT exploration jobs between 2001 and 2010 (2,714)
