| Inside AME BC - Happy Holidays from the Staff at AME BC - Holiday Hours
- Notice of Work Permit Conditions and Operational Guidance for Mineral Exploration Activity in Mountain Caribou Habitat
- Early Roundup Registration Extended Until January 6!
- Having Trouble Registering for Roundup? Let Us Help You
- Roundup Myra Falls VMS Mine and Quinsam Coal Mine Field Trip Almost Sold Out!
- Correction Notice - 2009 Member Directory & Buyers Guide
Health & Safety - Hypothermia - Surviving the Cold
Mineral Exploration News - Prosperity Environmental Review Update
- MREPBC Silent Auction Fundraiser - Donations Needed
- Call for Volunteer Companies to Field Test e3 Plus
- Survey on the State of Green Technology in the Canadian Mining Sector
- Opportunity Rocks! Registration Now Open for Minerals North 2010
- Industry Donations Make Further Education Possible
Geoscience BC News - Report 2009-17: QUEST Project Property File Update Highlights New MINFILE Occurences
In Memoriam: Clifford Charles Rennie Employment Opportunities
Courses & Education
Upcoming Events and Conferences |
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AME BC Holiday Hours The AME BC office will be closed at 12 noon on Thursday, December 24, and will reopen on Monday, January 4 at 8:30 a.m. AME BC staff will be available via phone or email to answer Roundup registration questions between December 29 – 31. The staff at AME BC wish everyone best wishes for a safe, happy holiday season. |
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| Inside AME BC |
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| Notice of Work Permit Conditions and Operational Guidance for Mineral Exploration Activity in Mountain Caribou Habitat |
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| AME BC is disapppointed to learn that as part of the Mountain Caribou Recovery Implementation Plan, the Ministry of Environment has now implemented Government Actions Regulation (GAR) orders for wildlife habitat areas (WHAs), ungulate winter ranges (UWRs) and associated general wildlife measures (GWMs). These orders and measures are designed to reduce the impact from timber harvest and road construction on mountain caribou and their habitat. The AME BC Land Use Committee and affected regional exploration groups had been working with government officials to minimize negative impacts on the mineral exploration community. Although the Implementation Plan does address some of the industry’s concerns, further important work needs to be done to ensure that permit conditions are more reasonably balanced, responsible mineral exploration can successfully proceed and the Mines Inspectors provide necessary exemptions in a timely and efficient manner. AME BC and regional groups will also continue to advocate that wildlife habitat planning recognizes best practices already underway by mineral exploration companies and individuals. The orders, accompanying GAR rationale and boundaries are available from the following Ministry of Environment websites: WHA: www.env.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/apps/faw/wharesult.cgi?search=show_approved
UWR: www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/uwr/approved_uwr.html Notice of Work Permit Conditions and Operational Guidance for Mineral Exploration Activity in Mountain Caribou Habitat can be found at:
http://empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Permitting-Reclamation/ApplicationForms Exemption forms may be found at:
www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/index.html Additional mapping resources can be found at:
iMapBC: http://webmaps.gov.bc.ca/imfx/imf.jsp?site=imapbc
MapPlace: www.mapplace.ca For more information about the Mountain Caribou Recovery Implementation Plan, refer to the Ministry of Environment website at:
www.env.gov.bc.ca/sarco/mc/index.html. If you have questions specific to a Notice of Work permit application, contact your local Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources office:
www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/RegionalOffices/Pages/default.aspx |
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| Early Roundup Registration Extended Until January 6! |
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| The AME BC Board and the Roundup Organizing Committee are pleased to announce we will be extending the early registration rates until January 6, 2010. Members can save $100 off all full delegate registrations and short courses. Remember supply is limited. Full registration rates will come into effect on-site. Tickets for special events, luncheons, and short courses will not be available after January 6 or on-site so don't delay! AME BC recognizes the past year has been a challenge for many of our members so we are pleased to be able to continue to offer this discount. 3 Easy Ways to Register |
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| Having Trouble Registering for Roundup? Let Us Help You |
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| We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has registered for their patience with our new process. Due to the large volumes of registrants, our registration software has been having some technical issues. We are working hard to have this fixed as soon as possible. If you experience any problems while registering, please call us at 604.689.5271 Ext. 1 and our helpful staff will be happy to assist you. For more information regarding Roundup 2010, visit www.amebc.ca/roundup/overview.aspx. |
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| Roundup Myra Falls VMS Mine and Quinsam Coal Mine Field Trip Almost Sold Out! |
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| The Myra Falls VMS Mine and Quinsam Coal Mine field trip, taking place on Thursday, January 21 to Saturday, January 23, is almost full. Don’t miss your chance to participate in the underground visits as well as surface tours of both Quinsam Coal and the Myra Falls mine. To reserve your seat today visit www.amebc.ca/roundup/roundupregistration.aspx or call 604.689.5271 Ext.1. |
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| Correction Notice - 2009 Mineral Exploration Members Directory & Buyers Guide |
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| Please note that Logistical Mill Installations Ltd. is incorrectly listed under the Analytical Labs heading in the summer 2009 issue of Mineral Exploration Members Directory & Buyers Guide. Logistical Mill Installations Ltd. is a general construction contractor for the mining industry and should be listed under Construction, General Contractors. |
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| Health & Safety |
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| Hypothermia - Surviving the Cold |
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| Working in a cold environment, whether it be cold weather, cold water, or an indoor freezer, is part of the job for many British Columbia workers. One of the major hazards you face when working in the cold is losing your body heat. If your body becomes so cold that it can no longer produce more heat than it loses, you are becoming a victim of hypothermia. With hypothermia, your vital organs and body systems begin to lose their ability to function. Hypothermia often happens so slowly that you don’t realize you’re in danger. That’s why it’s important to be able to recognize the early signs. If untreated, hypothermia can lead to death. Click here to read the WorkSafeBC pamphlet on Hypothermia. It will give you a basic understanding of when and why hypothermia occurs and tells you how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of harmful exposure to cold. It also informs you of how to recognize the onset of hypothermia and how to treat victims of hypothermia. Many text and video resources on cold water immersion and hypothermia are available on University of Manitoba professor Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht’s website at www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/kinrec/research/people/giesbrecht.html. Dr. Giesbrecht, who has been nicknamed Professor Popsicle, has literally immersed himself (and others) in his research. |
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| Mineral Exploration News |
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| Prosperity Environmental Review Update |
| Public Comment Period for Response to Information Request on the Current Use of Lands and Resources for Traditional Purposes |
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| On December 10, 2009, Taseko Mines Ltd. submitted its response to the Panel’s information requests regarding: (a) the potential effects of the project on the current use of fish and fish habitat for traditional purposes by First Nations (information request 5.2); and (b) the potential effects of the project on the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by First Nations (information request 9.0) and any additional mitigation measures that are considered appropriate (see www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents/40074/40074E.pdf). As outlined in its letter of October 6, 2009, the Panel is making Taseko’s response to these information requests available for a 3 week public comment period. Interested parties are invited to submit comments to the Panel by January 2, 2010. For further information on the Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine Review Panel, visit www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/details-eng.cfm?cear_id=44811. |
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| MREPBC Silent Auction Fundraiser - Donations Needed |
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| Mineral Exploration Roundup 2010 will be the 7th year that the Mineral Resources Education Program of BC (MREPBC) has worked with AME BC to integrate students and teachers into the conference. If you have attended Roundup in previous years you may have seen the bright red or blue t-shirted participants, appropriately named the “Roundup Rockhounds”, as they explored the trade show to learn about the exploration and mining community from the people who work in it. These Roundup programs are one of many initiatives of the MREPBC, our BC exploration and mining industry’s K-12 school program, which relies solely on donations to carry out its work building understanding of geosciences, minerals and mining among young people while they are in school. MREPBC is holding a Silent Auction fundraiser during the Roundup Awards Dinner on Wednesday, January 20. Please play a role in supporting minerals education in schools across BC by donating a special item. For more information contact: Laura Estrada, MREPBC Coordinator
Ph: 604.681.4321 ext. 108
Email:lestrada@bcminerals.ca. Items must be donated by Friday, January 8, and can be delivered to the MREPBC office at #900-808 West Hastings Street in Vancouver. |
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| Call for Volunteer Companies to Field Test e3 Plus |
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| The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s Corporate Social Responsibility Committee (CSR) has been developing a framework for CSR to add to their Environmental Excellence in Exploration (e3) program. This tool for Corporate Social Responsibility is being referred to as e3 Plus. e3 Plus comes at a time when our sector has come under the spotlight to demonstrate its responsible practices; e3 Plus provides us with a means of doing just that. After developing Guidelines and Principles, PDAC is now ready to ‘test-drive’ them to see what can be operationalized and how to evaluate/measure performance. PDAC is developing training on e3 Plus for companies, and is looking for companies with exploration projects in Latin America, Africa and in BC that would be willing to receive training and to test-implement the principles and guidelines. Here is the link to the CSR section of PDAC’s website www.pdac.ca/e3plus - you may need to sign in (if you aren’t registered, only your basic information and email address are required for login). The detailed page is here www.pdac.ca/e3plus/English/news/index.aspx. If you are interested in learning more about field testing of e3 Plus, please contact Laureen Whyte (lwhyte@amebc.ca or 604.630.3928) at AME BC or Bernarda Elizalde (belizalde@pdac.ca or 416.362.1969 ext 289) at PDAC. |
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| Survey on the State of Green Technology in the Canadian Mining Sector |
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| The Minerals and Metals Sector (MMS) of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) have commissioned Golder Associates Ltd. and the Delphi Group to conduct a review of the “State of Green Technology in the Canadian Mining Sector.”
They need your help to focus on the most promising and important technologies and best management practices that will serve you best in the future. Please take the time to complete the Green Mining Questionnaire and return it to no later than December 24, 2009.
By contributing to the project, MMS and NRCan commit to ensuring that its summary results will be shared with you. Its purpose is to assess the current and future state of green mining in Canada to find ways to facilitate the development and implementation of green mining technologies for mineral extraction, mineral processing and environmental reclamation within the context of the following four themes: - Footprint Reduction
- Innovation in Waste Management
- Ecosystem Risk Management
- Mine Closure and Rehabilitation
The objective of this research is to provide recommendations to support the development and demonstration of new green technologies and processes to enable improved environmental performance throughout the mining life cycle, thereby creating new opportunities for Canadian mining technology and service industries.
Golder and Delphi will be using your responses to focus the options presented to NRCan. Please feel free to provide additional comments, information or links to other documents that you feel will be useful to the project. Your responses will be kept confidential and will not be attributed to specific individuals or companies. All those that complete the survey will receive the summary results.
Click here to complete the survey.
If you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact Natalie Hamilton at +1 (705) 524.6861, ext 296 or email nhamilton@golder.com. |
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| Opportunity Rocks! Registration Now Open for Minerals North 2010 |
| Prince George, April 21-23, 2010 |
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| The Host Committee is pleased to announce that on-line registration is now open for the Minerals North 2010 conference. The theme of the conference is “Opportunity Rocks!”; flagging the strength of exploration and mining in Northern B.C. Minerals North is an annual exploration and mining conference held in Northern B.C. Prince George last hosted the event in 2002. The conference, which will take place at the Prince George Civic Centre from April 21-23 2010, is celebrating over two successful decades of bringing the minerals industry together with a broad spectrum of representation from the private and public sectors and all levels of government. The objectives of this year’s conference are to showcase key exploration and advanced stage development projects that are anticipated to become the next generation of mines that will help sustain the northern economy. The conference also allows individuals and companies to establish contacts and build working relationships, inform communities about exploration and mining projects, and hold a community dialogue on the impacts and benefits of mining. In addition to technical presentations the program will include keynote speakers, a trade-show, poster displays, a map room, and outdoor displays including a core-shack. New components for this year will include pre-conference educational programs like the Aboriginal Engagement workshop and a Mining 101 short course, plus aboriginal cultural displays and old-time gold-mining entertainment by Barkerville Players. For more information on the conference or to register, please refer to the website at www.mineralsnorth.ca or contact Sue Clark, Conference Coordinator at 250.640.2696 or by email at psclark@shaw.ca. AME BC Member-to-Member Welcome from Ramada Plaza in Prince George The Ramada Plaza Conference Centre Prince George, an AME BC Corporate Member, looks forward to welcoming fellow members to Prince George for Minerals North. Make your Minerals North reservations online at www.Ramada.ca or www.ramadaprincegeorge.com and use promotion code LPPC for the best conference rate in the city in a full service hotel. The Ramada Plaza Conference Centre Prince George is a short five-minute walk from the convention site, and invites AME BC members to start calling it home when they are in Prince George. For further details visit www.ramadaprincegeorge.com. |
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| Industry Donations Make Further Education Possible |
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| Donations by two minerals industry organizations will make it possible for more students to take advantage of a new University Credit program at the Northwest Community College School of Exploration & Mining. The Canadian Aboriginal Mining Association (CAMA) is contributing $9,000 to support Aboriginal students studying toward the Geostudies or Geoscience options of the one-year Certificate in Applied Earth and Environmental Studies, part of the at the School of Exploration & Mining. The Prospectors and Developers of Canada (PDAC) has pledged $1,000 in 2010 for a student to pursue the school's program. The Earth and Environmental Studies program is part of a new laddering system that will encourage students with entry-level academic standing to earn university credits. This innovative certificate program allows students to choose either a Geostudies or Geoscience option. The program delivers training in the off-season, allowing students to work during the exploration season and study during the winter. It recognizes prior field training at the School of Exploration & Mining and can lead to an Associate Degree in Science. The NWCC School of Exploration & Mining recognizes the need for students just beginning their industry careers to start the process of academic upgrading that leads to ongoing education and the potential for a university degree. |
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| Geoscience BC News |
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| Report 2009-17: QUEST Project Property File Update Highlights New MINFILE Occurences |
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| Geoscience BC has announced the release of Report 2009-17 "QUEST Project Property File Update." This report includes a database of all QUEST Property File documents made available online as part of this project, links to new MINFILE occurrences identified during the project and KML files for viewing the updates in Google Earth. This information has also been released as BCGS Open File 2009-10. Property File is an online database accessible at http://propertyfile.gov.bc.ca; the original hard-copy archive contains an estimated 100 000 geoscientific documents from the last 150 years of B.C.'s mining history, of which approximately 9,000 (including this update) are available online. In this project, 2860 geoscientific documents from the BC Geological Survey's Property File were scanned and used to make available additional geological information pertaining to Geoscience BC's QUEST Project areas. Documents used in this project were donated to Property File's Industry File by companies including Cyprus-Anvil, Rimfire, Chevron and Placer Dome. The documents were sorted, culled, catalogued, scanned, indexed, posted to the online database and cross-referenced with any related MINFILE occurrences. In total, 481 MINFILE occurrences were updated and 17 new MINFILE occurrences were identified. These and other locations examined in the past and documented in Property File may have become of economic significance since the publication of the original reports. By synthesizing information found in the Property File database with the information from the ARIS and MINFILE databases and the MapPlace, exploration companies can save both cost and effort to find viable occurrences that were once unviable due to location or grade. Click here to access Geoscience BC Report 2009-17 / BCGS Geofile 2009-10. |
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| In Memoriam: |
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| Clifford Charles Rennie |
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| Clifford Charles Rennie, an AME BC Life Member, Old Timer, and member on the Honourable Service Roll, passed away of natural causes on November 24, 2009. He was predeceased by his wife of 54 years Betty in 2005, and son Howard in 2006. Cliff was a long-time geologist with the Placer organization, and explored the world with Betty and their six sons, Bruce, Matthew, Mike, Gordon, Jack, and Howard. Work experience at the Island Mountain mine in 1948 endowed Cliff with an interest in rocks, minerals, and geology, and after graduating from the University of British Columbia, Cliff was an assistant to Charlie Ney at the Monarch and Kicking Horse mines near Field. He first joined the Placer organization by working at the Canex (Jersey-Emerald) mine near Salmo in 1951. In 1957, Cliff was transferred to Craigmont near Merritt during its exploration and early production. Cliff’s lifelong passion for responsible, shared use of the land and its resources became evident while the Rennies were based in Richmond. Between 1966 and 1969, Cliff became very active with the B.C. & Yukon Chamber of Mines (now AME BC) and was chair of the Mining and Forestry Committee and Chamber representative of the Council of Interior Resource Users. In 1969, Cliff was transferred to Australia, and in 1973, the Rennies returned to B.C., settling in North Vancouver.Cliff semi-retired to Nanaimo in 1996. Until early this year, he was Chairman of Bluerock Resources Ltd., and until his passing was still active in mineral exploration and mining on Vancouver Island. There will be a celebration of Cliff’s life in January. |
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| Employment Opportunities |
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| Check Out the New & Recent Posting on AME BC's Job Board! |
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| Geologist (Mapping & Applied Research)
Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS)
The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) is seeking a full-time permanent Geologist III for our Mineral Resources section. The successful candidate will provide professional-level scientific and geologic knowledge to conduct geologic mapping and applied research projects throughout Alaska.
More+ Senior or Principal Underground Mining Engineer
AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd
AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd is part of the AMC Consultants group, a leading consulting firm providing a broad range of mining, engineering, geotechnical, geological and corporate services to the international mining, exploration and mining finance sectors.We are seeking a highly motivated professional with Canadian citizenship or residency status to fill the following position: Senior or Principal Underground Mining Engineer. More+ Project Geologist
Wallbridge Mining Company Limited
Wallbridge Mining Company Limited is a well established, Sudbury based company exploring for nickel, copper and platinum group element deposits and a portfolio of porphyry copper-gold properties in British Columbia. We are seeking a Project Geologist to join our team. As Project Geologist, you will be responsible for work on one or more porphyry copper exploration projects in British Columbia. More+ Field Geologist
Wealth Minerals Ltd.
Wealth Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: WML) is a Canadian based junior exploration company focused on uranium in Argentina and is currently seeking a qualified field geologist to manage its ongoing exploration programs.
More+ |
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| Want to post an Ad? If you are an employer and would like to post a job, use the post a job function here. The cost for each posting is $200, which will remain active for 45 days. AME BC corporate members receive one free posting with a yearly membership or renewal, with all subsequent postings at a 50% member discounted rate. To use your free posting, please email the complete job posting information to mhughes@amebc.ca. To use your subsequent 50% discount, simply make sure you are logged in and let the payment calculator do the rest. |
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| Courses & Education |
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| AME BC’s tradition of education for the mineral exploration sector dates back to 1918, when it held its first prospecting seminar. Since then, thousands of students have received training in prospecting, mineral exploration, health and safety, and aboriginal engagement through AME BC. Click here to view AME BC’s Education and Professional Development section. Other Professional Development Opportunities Several of AME BC’s Corporate Members have professional development programs geared toward our diverse membership. Current offerings are available here. |
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| Upcoming Events & Conferences |
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| AME BC Events Calendar
Mineral Exploration Roundup 2010 External Event Calendar AME BC helps to facilitate and promote external events that benefit our members. Use this calendar to see what events are on the horizon and get detailed information. |