By Guy Quenneville If you’re reading this, it means I have survived our second Mining Issue of 2011 - easily our biggest edition of the year. It was a lot of work, but worth it: I dare say it’s the most comprehensive Mining Issue we’ve ever crafted, looking at the industry from a variety of angles.
Starting on page 11, you’ll find a series of maps – one for each territory – plotting all the currently operating mines and, more importantly, those projects with the potential to be next in line, whether they’re still being explored or waiting for a permit to begin building.
When it comes to the NWT map, you’ll see a lot of projects waiting (and waiting) for a green light. As our regular contributor Andrew Livingstone writes in his feature starting on page 50, the pace at which decisions are being made by regulatory bodies in the NWT is seriously cramping industry’s style, stoking fears that the departure of the diamond mines will leave a serious void. We’ve all heard general grumblings about the supposed failings of the regulatory system, but Andrew’s piece gets to the bottom of it, getting insight both from the people who run the system and those who are subject to it. Brace yourself.
Otherwise, this issue focuses on the biggies: the projects with potentially very long mine lives. Near Yellowknife, in the NWT, there’s Avalon Rare Metals’ Nechalacho rare earths project, which is in a race with other similar projects around the world to be the first to take economic advantage of China’s tight and near-exclusive control of rare earths production. The clock is ticking on this one due to – you guessed it – the regulatory system, according to Avalon.
In Nunavut, Baffinland Iron Mines’ is also under environmental assessment. The company is using the time to carefully prepare Nunavummiut for the opportunities associated with the $6-billion project, easily the biggest private investment in Nunavut’s (albeit short) history. And in the Yukon, Selwyn Chihong Mining is working hard to bring a massive lead-zinc project to life while also avoiding the mistakes of Faro, the territory’s previous, contaminant-riddled lead-zinc mine. As these different profiles make clear, every mining project comes with its unique set of challenges.
On a more personal note, Up Here Business found itself inextricably linked to the crash of an Arctic Sunwest Charters twin-otter in Yellowknife on September 23. The plane was returning from a trip to the site of Avalon’s Nechalacho project at Thor Lake.
The accident sadly claimed the lives of the plane’s pilot, Trevor Jonasson, and co-pilot, Nicole Stacey. Also onboard were Avalon staff, investors checking out the Nechalacho site and our magazine’s art director and contributing photographer, Michael Ericsson. Mike was dispatched to Thor Lake to take photos of the camp and its inhabitants for my piece on Avalon. Thankfully, Mike escaped the crash with only a nasty cut on his head and a fractured femur; the latter will require considerable healing before he can return to the magazine.
Everybody at UHB and our flagship publication, Up Here, can’t even begin to say how thankful we are that Mike pulled through this tragedy. We wish him a swift recovery. In the meantime, check out the photos from his Avalon visit on pages 39 and 41.
In Mike’s absence, Up Here art director John Pekelsky forsook his perpetually-delayed vacation and graciously took on this issue, while designer Beth Covvey lent her talent to several of the graphics. As I said, this is a big issue, but John and Beth, along with regular photo editor Pat Kane, helped me produce a stellar issue and I am incredibly thankful to them all.
But enough about us. Enjoy the issue.
