Resource World Magazine

Roundup 2013 Overview by Vanessa MacLean T he term ���Round-up��� is, to me, jovial; as an attendee in a room packed with people, I often felt like a member of a large herd. However, what the conference title is intended to convey is a gathering of like-minded, industry related professionals, which was the case at the 30th annual Mineral Exploration Roundup. What I always find pleasant about Roundup or any industry related conference is the opportunity to connect and network with others in our shared fields of interest. More than 7,500 people attended AME BC���s annual Mineral Exploration Roundup hosted at the Westin Bayshore, Vancouver from January 28 to January 31, 2013. AME BC (Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia) was established in 1912, and represents thousands of geoscientists, prospectors, engineers, entrepreneurs, suppliers, exploration companies and mining companies who are involved in mineral exploration and development. The attendees at this year���s conference represented every facet of these divisions. The conference had no shortage of activities. This year, numerous short courses were held, including multi-day courses such as Structural Geology of Mineral Deposits, the Footprints of Hydrothermal Mineral Deposits, Resource Estimation, Running effective QA/QC Programs, and Exploring through Cover. The latter being a topic I see becoming a major focus in the future, especially in a province like British Columbia, where many areas have been thoroughly explored using conventional methods. As usual, complimentary technical sessions were also held, many designed to complement the 2013 theme of the convention ���Resources for Life: Digging Deeper.��� Of the many sessions I attended this year, I found the talks addressing this topic to be the most innovative. Progressive geochemical survey methMARCH 2013 ods were addressed by David Heberlein of Heberlein Geoconsulting in his technical session ���Surficial Geochemical Patterns above Blind Mineralization in Glacial Sediment Covered Areas: Some thoughts on Their Formation and Preservation,��� where he explained how biogeochemical surveys (detecting metal cations that are transported through the vascular system of trees and vegetation as a method of identifying mineralization at depth), are currently being used at projects such as Mount Milligan (Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., north central British Columbia) where test samples taken from the outer bark of lodgepole pines have helped to determine what elemental anomalies exist at depth. Richard Hillis, CEO, Deep Exploration Technologies CRC, presented an excellent overview of state-of-the-art drilling and sensing equipment during his talk entitled, ���Drilling and Sensing Technology for Exploring Deeper Smarter: An Australian R&D Perspective.��� The company is focused on finding cheaper and safer ways to drill, while analyzing and targeting deep mineral deposits. Highlights of this talk focused on real-time, down-hole evaluation of mineralization, which may lead to the elimination of core though the development of surveying tools that can provide instantaneous geochemical, and mineralogical information while imaging the wellbore and allowing for immediate analyzes. In addition to these talks and courses, there were poster sessions which highlighted current regional and economic geological studies presently being researched by many graduate students, professors and professionals. At the Core Shack, Prospectors��� Tent and Map Tent, drill core, grab samples, sketches and photographs were presented by BC and Yukon based prospectors. Having attended this conference in the past, as a job hungry geology student, I did notice that there were substantially fewer mining and exploration companies exhibiting this year, and an increase in exhibitor companies from technical and service sectors. This to me is semi-alarming, and paired with the often repeated phase ���cautiously optimistic��� uttered by many in the resource industry, leaves me unsettled in terms of the outlook for 2013. Most recognize that mineral prices will be going up in the long run due to increasing demand from developing countries in pursuit of a higher standard of living. Yet, although there are many noteworthy indicated and inferred reserves and resources throughout British Columbia and the Yukon, (many of which have not delineated the extent of the target, leaving significant potential for exploration), capital seems harder to raise this year. As Dr. Stephen Enders, from The Center for Innovation in Earth Resources Science and Engineering, mentioned in his technical session ���New Perspectives, Exploration Strategies and Technologies to Meet Societal Needs,��� with an upward pressure on commodities from growing demand and their use in innovative technologies, coupled with the long time frame it seems to take to grow a deposit from discovery to development ��� we need to modify the exploration and business paradigm, so that we are efficiently exploring today for tomorrows targets. n www.resourceworld.com 15

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