Quebec Mining Association: Speaking up for Qubec’s mining industry

Mining activity in Qubec represents a powerful economic lever: annual production exceeds $3.5 billion. Its mines, smelters, refineries, drilling and mining companies and research centres generate over 50,000 direct and indirect jobs, and have considerable economic power in the province’s regions and major urban centres.

The wide variety of Qubec’s mineral resources is known worldwide, whether it be gold, base metals, ferrous metals or industrial minerals. In addition to the diversity of its mineral resources, Qubec’s mining industry can take advantage of leading-edge technological resources, and the expertise of its human resources to maintain and improve its competitive position in world markets.

The discovery of diamonds by Ashton Mining of Canada and its partner Soquem sparked an unprecedented diamond rush in the James Bay region. Several companies have also located significant grades in nickel-copper-gold-platinum-palladium in this northern region. Still others have identified gold, copper, zinc, graphite, apatite and vanadium ore deposits.

Since the start of 2002, the Qubec government has signed historic agreements with the Cree and Inuit communities, calling for an increased involvement of these communities in the development of their natural resources, including in the mining sector.

Moreover, the existence of partnership agreements between mining companies such as Falconbridge and the Nunavik Inuit, between Inmet and the James Bay Cree, between Noranda and the Schefferville Montagnais Council, and between Dianor and the Cree Nation of Wemindji, to name a few, illustrate the willingness of the industry to promote a greater involvement of native communities in developing the mineral resources in these regions.

Three native mineral exploration funds are currently in operation. The Nunavik mining fund, created in 1998; the Innu Nitassinan mining fund (March 2000) for the Natashquan community; and the Cree mining fund created in the spring of 2002.

The industry is working to produce metals and minerals that our modern society needs, while making sure its operations are run in an environmentally-responsible manner. Over the last few years, industry efforts in this regard have focussed on reducing the amount of mining waste, processing this waste, recycling metals, and reclaiming mining sites in order to allow new uses for these lands.

Qubec Mining Association

The Qubec Mining Association (QMA) is the provincial organization and official voice of Qubec’s mining industry. It is formed of mining companies currently in operation or about to go into production in Qubec, industrial mineral producers and mining contractors.

Founded in 1936, the QMA is dedicated to promoting and encouraging the development of Qubec’s mineral wealth, and the growth of mining, smelting and other related industries.

The QMA provides numerous services to its members through committees dealing with human resources, taxation and management issues, maintenance, public relations, training, accident prevention, catamine (mining emergencies) and mine rescue, industrial health and safety, research, environment, and terrain control.

The QMA has a team specialized in accident prevention and industrial environment, which supplies technical services, training, information and inspections to members of the accident prevention committee.

The QMA responds to questions from member companies, and provides information concerning government legislation, regulations and policies with regard to the industry. The association played an active role in the formation of two organizations devoted to research and development, Corem and Soredem. It also manages a scholarship program to support the next generation of specialized human resources in the mining sector.

The QMA is in an excellent position to lobby governments, parliament committees, boards of inquiry and various public and related agencies. It publishes memoirs or reports on selected topics of interest to its members intended for various end-users.

For several years now, the QMA has also been involved in a number of activities to make the public more aware of the mining sector’s contribution to the quality of life of society. It contributed to the presentation of exhibits such as Diamonds and Du roc au mtal (Mining), in cooperation with the Muse de la civilisation du Qubec, with whom it is also preparing, for the fall of 2002 a bilingual interactive web site on the mining industry.