Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/198816
Mining in British Columbia is a major export industry and a huge contributor to the province's economic health Exploration & Mining in British Columbia by Ellsworth Dickson W hen it comes to exploration and mining, British Columbia is a busy place. Despite junior exploration companies having challenges in raising exploration funds and uncertain dealings with various First Nations, BC remains a very attractive region for mineral explorers. Last year exploration spending in BC was a record $680 million; however, 2013 is not expected to break any records. There are nine operating coal mines in the Peace River area of northeast BC, the Kootenay area of southeast BC and Vancouver Island, which account for about 40% of national coal production. Presently there is opposition by the Dogwood Initiative and other organizations over the proposal to increase coal shipments through Greater Vancouver from the US and on to Asia. Gross mining revenues for the BC mining industry in 2012 were $9.2 billion with 30 www.resourceworld.com total payments to the government and government agencies of $504 million. One of the main drivers of future mineral project growth in northwest BC is the construction, now under way, of the Northwest Transmission Line that will run from Terrace to Bob Quinn Lake which is expected to eventually serve up to 40 mining projects. Of concern to explorers is that a few First Nations have designated some areas as "tribal parks" that would be off limits to mineral exploration. These so-called tribal parks have no legal status either provincially or federally; however, mining companies have paid to either stake, option, maintain or buy ground in some of those tribal park areas. Below is a selection of current exploration and mining projects in BC. Abacus Mining & Exploration Corp. [AME-TSXV], 20%, and KGHM International Ltd., 80%, are develop- ing the feasibility-stage Ajax Mine near Kamloops. A feasibility study concluded that the project has proven and probable mineral reserves of 3 billion lbs copper and 2.7 million oz gold at 0.27% copper and 0.17 g/t gold. The study suggested a 23-year mine life at a processing rate of 60,000 tpd or 21.9 million tpa at a stripping ratio of 2.4:1. Initial capital costs are $795 million, including contingency of $87 million. Anglo American PLC [AAUKY-OTC; London, Swiss] recently turned the first sod on its Trend-Roman coal project, an open cut expansion plan for its Trend Mine near Tumbler Ridge in the Peace River region of northeast BC. The $200 million expansion will see the mine produce 2.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal annually. See related story page 29. Anglo Canadian Mining Corp. [URATSXV; AU3-FSE] holds several mineral properties in BC. Recently, it completed november 2013