If this wasn't so sad it would be funny!!!
>>The two conference organizers hope the conference will inform potential investors of the opportunities that exist in the province and entice them to consider investing here. <<
The lesson of Voisey's Bay is going to haunt Newfoundland forever!!! The unctuous Brian Tobin has led the province on a course of anti-development hostility toward investment in mineral resources. Minister of Industry???
Tobin is Minister of Industrial Decline!!!!!
(Bold's added)
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thetelegram.com
Delegates to dig into issues important to industry
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10/30/00
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By PAT DOYLE,
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The Telegram
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The wealth of mineral resource potential around the province and the need to attract sufficient funding to develop it will be the theme underlying considerable discussion and debate at a major conference in St. John’s late this week.
The Environment for Exploration in Newfoundland and Labrador is the theme for a three-day conference which will open at the Delta St. John’s Hotel and Convention Center Thursday.
The 24th annual Review of Activities will be presented by the Department of Mines and Energy with an introduction by the minister, Paul Dicks, Thursday morning.
The 47th annual meeting of the Newfoundland Branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy (CIMM) and Petroleum will be held Friday and Saturday.
During Thursday’s sessions, various departmental officials will make presentations on geological surveys, exploration update, mining update, petroleum update. That will be followed by a number of technical sessions.
During the afternoon, the focus will be on project displays provided by the department and an industry trade show.
Dicks said the province has tremendous mineral potential.
“Iron ore, nickel, copper, zinc, gold and industrial mineral opportunities are just a few examples of what the province has to offer,” he said.
However, Dicks added, “Much remains to be discovered and developed.”
The minister said the mineral industry is key to future development of the province.
“With industry and government co-operation we can create new levels of economic development and employment and bring our province to a new level of prosperity,” he said. “Working together in partnership will ensure our maximum potential is reached.”
Dicks also his department’s programs are aimed at fostering and encouraging increased mineral exploration and development.
“Exploration is the backbone of this important industry, and further exploration will lead to new discoveries and new mineral development.”
That objective and just how to achieve it will be the dominant theme for the approximately 300 delegates as they continue their sessions on the last two days of the conference.
Ken Andrews, director of the mineral lands division of the mines branch of the Department of Mines and Energy, and Peter Dimmell of St. John’s-based Krinor Resources Inc. are co-chairman of the conference’s technical program.
Industry in bad state:
Dimmell said the representatives of all sectors related to the mining industry will be gathering to exchange their views and debate the issues at a time when the state of the industry is “the worst it has been in about 30 years.”
He and Andrews said the difficulties are centred around attracting investors to this province.
The major companies are generally more interested in properties outside Canada and that has left the exploration work to be done by the junior companies.
They are having trouble raising the funding needed, Dimmell said.
The two conference organizers hope the conference will inform potential investors of the opportunities that exist in the province and entice them to consider investing here.
During the conference, there will be presentations on the Duck Pond project in central Newfoundland, the Hammerdown gold deposit at Nugget Pond on the Baie Verte Peninsula, as well as sessions on the iron ore mining in Labrador West, petroleum activity in western Newfoundland, and dimension stone processing at Argentia.
Patricia Dillon national president of the CIMM, will be a luncheon speaker Friday. |
