Media - 2015 Archive
Respectful dialogue on mining is a two-way street
Published: October 25, 2019
Source: The Chronicle Herald
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/sean-kirby…
This province has a golden opportunity to create jobs for Nova Scotians in gold mining. One gold mine opened in 2017, four are in the permitting process and there is a lot of exploration taking place. This activity is bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to the province and creating hundreds of jobs for Nova Scotians, mainly in rural areas.
Sean Kirby, executive director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia: "Many activists refused to believe that we had facilitated the protest — despite the fact that the hotel obviously would not have let protesters use hotel land to criticize us without our approval." - Tim Krochak/Herald fileJob creation and investment were the focus of the Nova Scotia Gold Show, a conference we recently held at the Alt Hotel Halifax Airport. It was a chance for investors and companies to learn about the exciting opportunities in Nova Scotian gold. We hope it leads to more investment, job creation and government revenues to pay for programs like health and education.
The mining industry believes in the concept of a social licence to operate — that the support of the local community is important to the success of a project and to making it a win-win for everyone. Indeed, the term “social licence” was coined by a Canadian mining executive in 1997.
With that philosophy in mind, we arranged space for anti-mining activists to hold a small demonstration outside the Gold Show, since the lack of public property at the airport would have prevented them from doing so otherwise. While we disagree with them, we respect their right to express their views and were happy to accommodate them. We hoped this would be seen as a gesture of goodwill on our part.
Instead, many activists refused to believe that we had facilitated the protest — despite the fact that the hotel obviously would not have let protesters use hotel land to criticize us without our approval. (A hotel that helps organize protests against its customers, without their permission, would not be in business very long!) Activists called us liars, criminals and corrupt on social media when we expressed our desire for respectful dialogue.
We believe we always need to be doing more to communicate, consult and work with Nova Scotians. That is why we have, for example, established an educational website at www.NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca and do daily educational social media posts about mining, minerals and geology. We need to constantly be doing a better job explaining how modern mining works, how we take proper care of the environment and how minerals contribute to everything in our daily lives.
However, respectful dialogue has to be a two-way street in order to work. Activists calling for industry to engage more and then attacking us for doing so only make dialogue more difficult. Perhaps both sides can commit to doing better.
Mining employs 5,500 Nova Scotians and is the province’s highest-paying resource industry, with average wages of over $55,000 per year. An entry-level job, such as haul truck driver, pays an average of $25 per hour. We create a lot of excellent, high-paying jobs in areas of the province that need the economic opportunity.
We all agree on the need to create jobs so our young people can stay here, the importance of growing government revenues to pay for programs like health and education, and that it is essential to take proper care of the environment.
Let’s focus more on the things we agree on and maybe that respectful dialogue will come a little more easily.
Sean Kirby is executive director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia.
Not your grandfather’s mining industry
Published: August 9, 2019
Source: Cape Breton Post
I am writing regarding the August 7 article, “About a third of abandoned mines on provincial Crown lands are in Cape Breton.”
Mining today is a sophisticated, science-based industry that takes proper care of the environment while providing essential materials we all use every day. Modern mining is completely different from the historical mines discussed in the article that the provincial government is cleaning up.
For example, Montague Mines in Dartmouth and Goldenville in Guysborough County, the two sites being addressed first, date back to the 1860s. A century-and-a-half ago there was no environmental awareness or scientific understanding of peoples’ impact on the environment.
We know now that mining’s environmental standards were not good enough back then. No industry’s standards were. It was an era of people and companies dumping garbage and waste in rivers and forests.
We cannot hold the companies responsible for these sites because they no longer exist and the people who ran them have long since passed away. As a result, the Nova Scotia government is cleaning them up. It’s unfortunate that that is necessary, but it’s the right thing to do and the government should be commended.
Today, Nova Scotia mines are stringently regulated by the provincial and federal governments. Before getting operating permits, companies must get government approval of reclamation plans and post reclamation bonds that ensure funds are available to properly take care of sites. Reclamation — returning sites to nature or preparing them for their next use after mining is done — is a fundamental part of the modern mining process. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for reclaiming mines and the regulatory regimen ensures they won’t be.
Mine operators are required by law to treat, strictly monitor and test water, and report back to the provincial Department of the Environment. Water is usually recycled on-site to reduce the overall amount that an operation draws from local sources. Water released back into a river or lake is usually cleaner after it has been used in a mine or quarry than it was beforehand.
Modern mines even sometimes fix issues with historical sites by cleaning up tailings or stabilizing land that was left unusable by the pick and shovel mining of the distant past. For example, the Touquoy gold mine has cleaned up historical tailings in Moose River and the Point Aconi mine reclamation project fixed subsidence issues caused by historical bootleg coal mining.
The province’s mining and quarrying industry employs 5500 Nova Scotians and pays an average of over $55,000 per year. An entry-level job in mining, such as haul truck driver, pays an average of $25 per hour. We create excellent jobs and vital economic opportunity for the province. The tax and royalty revenue that mining generates helps pay for important government programs like health and education.
More information about how the modern mining industry operates and takes care of the environment is available on our educational website, www.NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca. We also invite readers to follow our daily educational posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to learn more about mining, minerals and Nova Scotia’s geology.
Nova Scotia’s golden mining opportunity knocks
Re: Jim Vibert’s July 26 column, “N.S. government bullish on gold mines.”
Published: July 30, 2019
Source: The Chronicle Herald
Nova Scotia has a golden opportunity right now to create excellent, high-paying jobs in gold mining. The Touquoy gold mine in Moose River opened in 2017. It is the lowest-cost gold mine in Canada and the 10th-lowest-cost gold mine in the world. Four other gold mines are in the permitting process and there is a lot of exploration taking place. This activity is bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to the province and creating hundreds of jobs for Nova Scotians, mainly in rural areas.
Mr. Vibert describes gold mining as it was a century or a century-and-a-half ago. We agree that mining’s environmental standards were not good enough back then. No industry’s standards were. But that isn’t how mining works today.
Modern mining, including gold mining, is a sophisticated, science-based activity that takes proper care of the environment. Nova Scotia mines are stringently regulated by the provincial and federal governments. Before getting operating permits, companies must get government approval of reclamation plans and post-reclamation bonds that ensure funds are available to properly take care of sites. Reclamation — returning sites to nature or preparing them for their next use after mining is done — is a fundamental part of the modern mining process. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for reclaiming mines and the regulatory regimen ensures they won’t be.
Mine operators are required by law to treat, strictly monitor and test water, and report back to the provincial Department of the Environment. Water is usually recycled on-site to reduce the overall amount that an operation draws from local sources. Water released back into a river or lake is usually cleaner after it has been used in a mine or quarry than it was beforehand.
We all use gold every day. Its unique properties make it essential in all sophisticated electronics like phones, computers and medical equipment. It is used to diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, HIV, arthritis and autoimmune diseases. Because it is biocompatible — our bodies do not react negatively to it — gold is used in surgical instruments like scalpels, pacemakers and heart stents, and in dentistry.
Gold is expensive so we only use it when there aren’t other viable options. It’s an essential material.
Minerals contribute to everything in our daily lives. If we don’t mine the minerals we need in a stringently-regulated Western democracy like Canada, more mining will have to be done in jurisdictions that do not take proper care of the environment, workers and communities. Protecting the environment and ensuring ethical sourcing of essential materials like gold means doing more mining here, not less.
The mining industry employs 5,500 Nova Scotians and pays an average of over $55,000 per year. An entry-level job in mining, such as haul truck driver, pays an average of $25 per hour. We create excellent jobs and vital economic opportunity for the province. The tax and royalty revenue that mining generates helps pay for important government programs like health and education.
More information about gold, and how the modern mining industry operates and is regulated, is available on our educational website, www.NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca.
Nova Scotia government mulls mining industry's $20M request
Industry group says search for mineral deposits would be boon for rural communities
Published: March 11, 2019
Source: CBC Radio NS and cbc.ca
By:Jean Laroche · CBC News
Nova Scotia's mining industry is hoping for good news in the budget Finance Minister Karen Casey plans to introduce on March 26.
The Mining Association of Nova Scotia and its members have been lobbying the McNeil government in favour of a $20-million proposal to survey and map the province in the hopes of finding mineral-rich deposits.
The results of that aerial work would then be shared, in an effort to entice mining companies to explore further and possibly open new mines.
Sean Kirby, the mining association's executive director, said the project was modeled on similar work undertaken by the Nova Scotia government to promote offshore oil and gas exploration.
"The government invested $15 million in surveys related to the offshore oil and gas sector and that resulted in over $2 billion in investment in the province's economy and the province's offshore industry," said Kirby.
Kirby sees potential onshore.
"When a big mining project gets going in Nova Scotia we create hundreds of jobs for people both direct and indirect," he said. "That generates a lot of tax revenues for the province and helps make a big difference, especially in the rural areas of the province because that's where most of the jobs in our industry are located."
The province is already providing money to mining companies to do prospecting, research, exploration and marketing, through the Mineral Resources Development Fund. In 2018, the fund disbursed $820,000.
Between 2012 and 2017, the Mineral Incentive Program, the predecessor fund, contributed almost $2.5 million towards similar work, but Kirby called the current provincial data available to the industry outdated and technologically inferior to what is needed.
"This is actually a night and day difference from what has been done previously," he said.
What the mining association calls its Minerals Play Fairway project would involve an initial survey using three airplanes that would take about eight months to complete, at a cost of about $9.4 million.
Phase 2 would build on that work and take approximately four months to do, involving airplanes and helicopters. That part of the data collection would cost $10 million.
Once collected and processed, the data would then be used to market the province's mineral potential to mining companies around the world.
"It's about attracting more investment to the province, creating more jobs," said Kirby. "So at the end of the day our provincial and municipal governments have the resources they need in order to give us the services that Nova Scotians all want."
Derek Mombourquette, the minister of energy and mines, said his department has been speaking to the industry about its plan, but he is tightlipped about whether it would be considered in the upcoming budget.
"I can understand the rationale for why they would want to see something like this, similar to what we did in the offshore," he said in an interview. "We're going to continue to have those conversations.
"There's been no decision made at this point."
Ray Plourde, the wilderness co-ordinator for the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre, is dead set against government funding this kind of survey work.
"That's the job of industry, it's not the job of taxpayers," he said.
"It is not the responsibility of Nova Scotia taxpayers, in a province that can't afford to pay its doctors, its teachers and its nurses, and keep its basic services running at an adequate level to give millions of dollars to the mining industry to develop mines that the public may or may not even want."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mining-survey-mining-associa…
Down with the kids: can mining ever be cool?
Published: February 2019
Source: Mine Magazine. Issue 77. https://mine.nridigital.com/mine_feb19/issue_77
In its fifth year, the Mining Association of Nova Scotia's Mining ROCKS! contest hopes to educate young people about mining and encourage them to consider a career in the industry. But what are the barriers between the sector and young people today? Heidi Vella finds out.
"Do you want to win a bucket load of cash? Of course you do!" is the eye-catching strapline of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia's (MANS) annual Mining ROCKS! contest.
It offers cash prizes totalling C$8,000 for junior high and high school students who produce the most interesting and engaging videos about mining across five categories.
Held between October 2018 and 22 February 2019, the contest hopes to inspire young people to teach themselves about the mining industry in Canada and beyond.
Sean Kirby, executive director of MANS, says the association launched the competition because the industry needs to do better at explaining itself to the public and, in particular, reaching out to young people to educate them about mining, minerals and geoscience.
"We started the Mining ROCKS! video contest as a way to appeal to young people, to give them a reason to want to learn about what we do by doing their own research," he says.
Attracting the next generation of miners
Ingratiating young people to the mining industry is more than just about positive PR; it's a necessity if the sector is going to plug anticipated future skills shortages.
According to a 2018 labour report by the Mining Industry Human Resources (MiHR) Council in Canada, the country's mining industry will need to hire roughly 97,450 workers over the next 10 years (2019 to 2029). These new hires are required to replace retirees, the number of which is expected to increase in the coming years.
The most recent MiHR consensus found that in 2016, 45- to 54-year-olds made up the highest share of the mining workforce (26%); 35- to 44-year-olds came in second (25%); then 25- to 34-year-olds (24%); and, in contrast, the youngest cohort (15- to 24-year-olds) has consistently represented only 6%-8%.
Given these figures, promoting the mining sector to young people has never been more important for the industry.
Geoff MacLellan, member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, hands out prizes at Glace Bay High School.
Changing perceptions and raising awareness
In Nova Scotia the mining industry employs around 5,500 people of a population of around 950,000. Nationally, the sector employs around 403,000 workers directly.
Yet often young people associate mining with something only their grandad did, typically viewing it as outdated, dirty and unsafe. Alternatively, they are completely unaware of the sector altogether.
"I think one of the biggest barriers is a lack of awareness of the industry by young people, certainly in Nova Scotia," says Kirby. "Or for many their perception goes back 50 years and they envision soot covered faces, pick axes and black and white pictures, when the reality is a very sophisticated, high tech industry."
MANS tries to address these misconceptions 'head on' with its 'Not Your Grandfather's Mining Industry' initiative, which aims to highlight the increasingly technological aspects of mining.
Another barrier is that the sector is perceived as a considerable climate change contributor, which millennials and Generation Xers tend to have a high awareness of and are deeply concerned about. This is another issue MANS tries to tackle.
"It is not known that mining is actually vital to green energy development," says Kirby. "You can't have solar panels and wind turbines without the minerals we mine, so we try to convey that message and say, you know, mining is actually essential to the greening of the economy or to reducing of society's environmental footprint."
It's also worth noting, he says, that mining is one of the better paid employment sectors in Canada, with the average wage in Nova Scotia being around C$55,000 a year, putting it on par with the province's financial services industry.
Industry and government involvement needed
In addition to the two initiatives mentioned, MANS also posts daily information on social media, including facts about minerals, mining and geoscience, as well as conducting school visits.
But much more needs to be done by the industry and public education authorities, according to Kirby.
"I think there's a tendency, quite understandably, for companies to keep their nose down and focus on their job, so it's really important to have an organisation like ours that can focus on education and public outreach," he says.
"However, we do wish in Nova Scotia the education curriculum did more around mining and geo-science, we're trying to fill the gap."
The MiHR's labour assessment notes that undergraduate enrolment in accredited engineering programmes in Canada more than doubled over a 20-year period, from 40,700 in 1996 to roughly 84,450 in 2016.
However, according to MiHR, the projected gap analysis for professional and Physical Sciences Occupations and technical occupations "indicates the mining industry will likely face major hiring challenges for engineering-related occupations if current trends continue."
Therefore, high enrolment in engineering programmes, particularly in mining/mineral engineering, will be needed in the future.
Kirby agrees. "It's our view that geo-science is as important to understanding the world around us as physics and chemistry, for example, therefore it should have a more significant role in the curriculum, that's why it's important to reach out to young people and give them some basic understanding and knowledge of geology," he says.
Women and indigenous populations
Proportionally, the mining industry is the largest private sector employer of Indigenous peoples in Canada and employment is poised to increase.
However, women continue to be under-represented and attracting them to the sector could be key to plugging future skills gaps. According to 2016 census data, women make up 48% of the Canadian labour force, but account for only 16% of the mining workforce - a figure that hasn't changed much since the 2011 census data.
Although the share of women has increased in recent years in several mining related occupations, the mining industry has yet to realise comparable gains, it states.
MANS, however, does not directly target girls and young women with its initiatives.
"I think our challenge is more about general educational outreach to help Nova Scotians understand the industry better; though, there's certainly room to do better at targeting specific groups, like females," says Kirby.
As for its flagship Mining ROCKS! competition, however, Kirby says it should be judged by the growing number of entries - from 21 five years ago to 33 last year.
"We will just keep at it and keep making good progress," he says. "Because we absolutely need to make sure we have the skill sets and the labour necessary for the future."
