A Devoted “Explorationist” Makes No Bones About It

Last year, $2.8 billion was spent on mineral exploration in Canada while the value of non-fuel mineral production was $45.2 billion. It is no secret that the mining industry is a huge contributor to the well being of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, employing just over 58,000 in 2008.

However, when we speak of the mining industry, the image of a head frame or an open pit come to mind first; not the image of an explorationist collecting a stream sediment, soil or rock sample. The simple fact remains that without mineral exploration and the discovery of new mineral deposits, eventually we would have no mines and no mineral industry.

In the North, mining and mineral exploration are extremely important and their impact on the northern economy is huge. Mineral deposits have a nasty habit of not locating themselves close to infrastructure and the odds of finding one close to a road, railway and/or power line decreases as one goes farther north.

Therefore, historical mines in northern Canada have been the low hanging fruit; mineral deposits with exceptional grades or other characteristics that make them economic.

Rising commodity prices are improving the economics of known deposits and are also fueling exploration for new mineral deposits. I believe that mineral exploration will continue to find new deposits, the mining industry will develop these deposits with a lesser impact on the environment and the mineral industry will remain a key part of the Canadian economy for many years to come, especially in the North.

So why do we need exploration? I think I answered that question already but there are also more subtle reasons.

Mineral exploration is key to the mining cycle. The contribution of the mineral exploration industry to the economy is overshadowed by mining. We often use the terms mineral exploration and mining in the same sentence but having worked in both industries I can truly say that they are vastly different.

The impact of a mine is very obvious in the local community however for every mine there are tens or hundreds of exploration projects that impact many local communities. Many communities in northern Canada, for instance, have not felt the benefit of having a mine in their midst but it is a rare place indeed that has not played host to mineral exploration crews or supplied personnel, services and supplies to help in the search for new mines.

There is a growing recognition in the exploration industry that there are many benefits to hiring locally besides the social licence that recognizes that we should be providing the maximum opportunity to the folks whose backyard we explore in. Providing as many entry level exploration jobs to the local community makes sense economically by offsetting the high cost of transporting personnel to exploration sites. Once any person is exposed to mineral exploration they quickly realize the array of careers that can be obtained in the business; prospector, cook, first aid, geologist, diamond driller etc., the list is rather extensive.

Mineral exploration usually involves travel out of town into bush camps. You don’t even have to move away from your home to get work. Once people become part of the skilled exploration labour force, the opportunity to travel to exploration sites in other parts of the country or world becomes a reality.

The need to travel to work sites means people do not need to permanently leave their community to find work. Being directly involved in exploration and mining also opens up local communities to the reality of the industry, not the misconstrued interpretation and mistruths that are so often portrayed by special interest groups and sadly in many cases by the media.

There is no better advocate for the minerals industry than a local person who can speak from a position of knowledge.

The importance of mineral exploration is too varied and wide ranging to cover in a short article. Suffice it to say that it has provided me a lifetime of enjoyment of working with the largest group of optimists on the planet.

Even in the toughest of times in this industry there are always exploration companies and individuals that know they will find something new, just maybe next year.