Meet PDAC President Peter Dimmell, Prince of Prospectors

The recently-appointed president of the Toronto-based Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, Peter Dimmell, is breaking new ground, as the first president of the 72-year old association to live outside Ontario. Dimmell is a St. John’s, Nfld.-based exploration consultant and VP exploration-Canada of Linear Gold Corp. CMJ caught up with him (by telephone) in late May.

CMJ: What is the PDAC’s role in 2004?

PD: Our work will focus on making ‘super’ flow-through permanent. The PDAC lobbied to establish the program, and it has been very effective in stimulating exploration in Canada, particularly in the down years. The program is the envy of the world. We’ll also be working on securities regulatory reform, supporting one national regulator applying one set of rules across the country. The money raised by companies should be used for exploration, not spent on complying with regulations imposed by thirteen separate jurisdictions. Other issues include ways to maintain or increase access to land for exploration and increasing funding for geological mapping programs.

CMJ: What can you contribute to Canada’s mineral industry?

PD: The PDAC’s board has lots of expertise. My role is to achieve consensus or at least a compromise–not easy with 48 directors! I’d like the association to refocus on its roots. Prospectors are just as important to today’s industry as they always were. Nowadays, they’ll be carrying GPS units, but their part in making mineral discoveries hasn’t changed. The general public would be surprised to learn that many discoveries, including Voisey’s Bay, are made by prospectors.

CMJ: What is the Eastern Canadian perspective on exploration today?

PD: The majors and some juniors are keeping an eye on the Atlantic provinces, but the juniors generally go where it’s perceived to be hot, and it’s hot in other parts of the world like Mexico, right now. That’s our competition and why super flow through is so important to maintaining our competitive advantage. We have more potential for significant deposits in Atlantic Canada than is recognized, but we need exploration dollars to find them.