AME BC History - 1990s

In 1990, high levels of exploration were attributable to significant discoveries at Eskay Creek and Mount Milligan. BC’s share of Canadian mineral exploration reached 29.2%, with exploration expenditures reaching $226.5 million. The area of mineral claims staked in BC represented 40% of the national total. The total area permitted for all mineral claims and leases represented 2.37% of all Crown land, with only 0.024% of the land base disturbed by mining. In June, the BC Ministry of Parks released Park Plan ’90, a major planning initiative designed to raise provincial park areas not eligible for mineral resource development from 6.15% to 12.0% by the year 2000. The BC Ministry of Forests was also moving ahead to establish Forest Wilderness Areas, and AME BC organized a sub-committee of the BC Land Alienation Committee, specifically designed to deal with the issue of mineral resource withdrawals in provincial parks and forest wilderness areas. Finally, the impending process for settlement of aboriginal land claims added one more level of business uncertainty for the BC mineral exploration and mining sector.

As 1991 began, AME BC represented about 1,600 corporate and individual members, and had a staff of 4 with an annual budget of $200,000. In his President’s report, Bill Wolfe noted that compared to the top 20 environmental groups in North America, with memberships totaling 7.8 million, staff of 3,853, and annual budges of $685,800,000, “our resources are considerably dwarfed.” He concluded that “in summary, we are confronted in 1991 with external pressures from several directions, all with the uniform objective in some way diminishing the area of BC Crown land available for mineral tenure… and in the year 2000 there will be less land available for potential mineral resource development in BC than there is today.”

In the early 1990s, value of mineral production slipped from $4.1 billion in 1990 through $3.5 billion in 1991 to $2.8 billion in 1992. This signalled the beginning of a downward trend that could not have been envisaged at the time. The impact of provincial policy manifested in BC’s share of Canadian mineral exploration slipping from 29.2% in 1990 through 25.5% in 1991 to 18.6% in 1992 (it would bottom out at 5.7% in 2001). Expenditures were down to $72 million by 1992 (these too would bottom out in 2001, at $29 million). BC’s share of area staked in mineral claims declined from 40.3% in 1990 through 28.2% in 1991 to 2.5% in 1992 (it would bottom out at 1.7% in 1997). Principal factors causing the downward trend of the mineral exploration sector in Canada, but especially BC, included lower demands for metals and coal, preservationist restrictions, and global opportunities in developing countries.

Uncertainty over First Nations claims was one factor. The number of permits and regulations controlling mine development in BC had also significantly increased, creating concerns and delays in approvals for mine projects. The Schwindt Commission of Enquiry into Compensation for the Taking of Resource Interests issued its report on compensation recommendations. It recommended that unless economically proven reserves were indicated, compensation to mineral claim owners would not be made for mineral potential when the Crown expropriated mineral rights. Further uncertainties concerning proposed and potential mine developments included the uncertain outcome of the Commission on Resources and the Environment (CORE), which was not expected to be completed until at least 1997. AME BC was concerned about having volunteers and funds to provide for travel expenses to attend the two-day meetings each month in each of the land use areas. In order to provide funding to cover the cost of providing adequate representation at these meetings, AME BC formed the Free Miner’s Gold Key Club and by 1993 had received about $10,000 in donations.

In the President’s Report at the 11th Annual Cordilleran Roundup on February 4, 1994, Mike Beley noted the sentiments that would prevail for the next eight years:

“Our government’s current attitude toward development of natural resources forces us to reach out around the world to remain active in our chosen field of endeavour. Money and management are very mobile but the workforce and the service sector are not readily so. Thus, the industry stands to lose specialized experienced people and companies for a lack of a viable industry here at home. Our money is spent abroad to develop the next level of technology offshore.”
 
Mike Beley listed the principal issues facing the BC mineral industry in 1993 as:
1. Security of Mineral Tenure
2. Competitiveness
3. Access to land for exploration
4. Permitting
5. Windy Craggy, and with the government’s unilateral decision to make it a park, the resulting uncertainty which pervaded the entire industry

In May 1994, the BC & Yukon Chamber of Mines, the Mining Association of BC, and the Mining Suppliers, Contractors & Consultants Association of BC assembled under one roof at 840 West Hastings Street. “Mining House” was officially opened by Anne Edwards, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. The three organizations would share office space until the move of AME BC in 2003.

In the mid-1990s, exploration companies did well offshore. In 1995, the Vancouver Stock Exchange raised $1.54 billion, followed by $992 million in 1996. It was followed by the Bre-X fiasco, with a dramatic drop in the price of gold and a loss of confidence in the junior companies. In 1997, AME BC had 1,640 members, including 14 major and 78 junior mining companies, and 186 service and supply companies. In his President’s Report on January 30, 1998, Walter Sellmer noted the largely volunteer nature of the organization, with its three paid staff and its numerous volunteers who had spent “literally thousands of hours” participating in land use planning exercises in committees, providing input into mining laws, the Mineral Exploration Code, land use issues, aboriginal land claims, junior mine financing, education, and safety. Summarizing the current negative health of the exploration sector in BC in particular, he noted the drastic drop in exploration, development, and mine production since the early 1990s, driven by “organizations which had preservation in their view of the wilderness and/or non-development as their agenda.”

In March 1998, Jack Patterson retired after 18 years as manager, and Bruce McKnight was hired as Executive Director in April. Lindsay Bottomer, the new president, noted that the historic low level of exploration spending at $40 million in BC threatened the long-term viability of the BC mining industry. Long-running experiments in the land use process had continued with the Land Resource Management Plan (LRMP) process. After years of participating in CORE and LRMP processes, AME BC and the Mining Association of British Columbia announced in December their decision to withdraw from the LRMP process. The 12% preservation of land in parks goal had been achieved; the projected target appeared to have risen to 16-18%. In addition, other restrictions were known as Special Management Zones (SMZs), with uncertainty as to land access for mining having risen to exceed 40% of BC. Another factor often cited as an uncertainty for investment was the unresolved aboriginal land claims issue, virtually affecting the whole province. It was hoped that the newly enacted Mineral Exploration Code, considered as one of the most rigorous acts of its type in the world, would provide ample protection for the natural environment.

The BC mineral exploration and mining history would rank 1999 as possibly the most depressed year ever experienced. No new metal mines opened, while two (Blackdome and Gibraltar) closed. Few projects were considered to be near a development decision. However, a public opinion survey commissioned by AME BC revealed that 96% of those polled supported an increase in mining in the province provided that there was an economic benefit and little adverse impact on the environment.