News - 2018 Archive | The Mining Association of Nova Scotia

News - 2018 Archive

November 28, 2018
MINERALS PLAY FAIRWAY WOULD HELP REDUCE RADON EXPOSURE
Proposed geoscience surveys would identify areas with elevated uranium levels

As Radon Awareness Month comes to an end, the Mining Association of Nova Scotia is highlighting the importance of investing in geoscience to reduce exposure to deadly radon gas.

“Radon causes an estimated 114 lung cancer deaths in Nova Scotia each year,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia. “We need to do a better job identifying potential sources of radon so we can reduce exposure to it and to uranium in well water. Our Minerals Play Fairway project would identify areas with elevated uranium levels and help governments better-manage this public health risk.”

Radon is a naturally-occurring gas produced by radioactive decay of uranium, which is found in all rocks and soils in Nova Scotia. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, behind smoking. It is estimated that 11% of Nova Scotia’s population lives in homes that exceed the indoor air radon guideline, compared to the national average of 7%.

Minerals Play Fairway is a proposal for $19.5 million in government funding for airborne geophysical surveys that would improve our geological understanding of Nova Scotia. The surveys would help find future mines and quarries and create jobs for Nova Scotians.

The surveys would also increase our knowledge of uranium occurrences and potential sources of radon gas, and thereby help protect Nova Scotians from this serious public health risk.

Minerals Play Fairway would also help find other potential geohazards such as sinkholes, and help find and manage underground water sources, which is particularly important given climate change.

The Minerals Play Fairway report is available at www.tmans.ca/minerals-play-fairway. The project is modelled on Nova Scotia’s oil and gas Play Fairway Analysis. In 2008, Nova Scotia’s Department of Energy commissioned a $15 million Play Fairway Analysis with the goal of stimulating offshore petroleum exploration activity. The resulting data was made available for free to the global oil and gas industry and attracted over $2 billion in investment in Nova Scotia’s offshore.

The provincial government’s Mineral Resources Development Fund provided $62,000 to conduct the Minerals Play Fairway report. MRDF is a grant program that supports prospecting, advanced exploration, minerals-related research and public education. More information about MRDF is available at https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/mrdp.asp.

More information about radon and its health risks can be found on the Lung Association’s web site: https://ns.lung.ca/lunghealth/radon-gas.

October 18, 2018
MANS RELEASES MINERALS PLAY FAIRWAY REPORT
Analysis calls for $19.5 million in surveys to attract exploration investment

The Mining Association of Nova Scotia has released a report that recommends $19.5 million be invested in geophysical surveys to help find future mines and quarries.

“This needs assessment report is the first step toward building a minerals version of Play Fairway – a free, best-in-class database of geophysical knowledge that will help attract investment and job creation to Nova Scotia,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS). “The oil and gas Play Fairway was a made-in-Nova-Scotia success story and copying it for the mining industry would help the industry grow and create jobs for Nova Scotians. The partnership between the mining industry and the Government of Nova Scotia has been very successful in recent years and we believe Minerals Play Fairway is an opportunity to continue to build on this success.”

The report analyses the province’s publicly-held airborne geophysical data and recommends that government fund the following geophysical surveys:

A province-wide magnetic, radiometric and VLF survey;
A regional gravity gradiometry and magnetic survey in the St. Mary’s Basin and Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault System; and
A series of regional electromagnetic (ZTEM) surveys.

The report is available at www.tmans.ca/minerals-play-fairway.

“Offering free geophysical data to exploration companies is a common and effective way of attracting interest and investment,” said Kirby. “However, much of the data in Nova Scotia’s database dates from the 1980s and the technology to conduct surveys and process the data has improved immeasurably in the decades since. Put simply, Nova Scotia’s geophysical database is like a rotary telephone in a wireless world. We need to modernize it.”

While Minerals Play Fairway’s main focus is to help find mineral deposits and stimulate exploration, Nova Scotians would also benefit several other ways:

The surveys would help find potential geohazards, such as sinkholes and deadly radon gas, and help protect Nova Scotians from them.
They would help identify onshore oil and gas deposits that could also lead to job creation.
They would help find and manage underground water sources, which is particularly important given climate change.

Nova Scotia’s mining industry recently established the Minerals Research Association of Nova Scotia (MRANS), a not-for-profit to focus on research activities that will help the industry grow and create jobs, including managing Minerals Play Fairway.

The needs assessment was conducted by geophysical consulting firm Paterson, Grant & Watson Ltd. (PGW). With 45 years of experience in mineral and oil and gas exploration, Toronto-based PGW are recognized global experts in geophysics and have conducted similar projects for companies and governments around the world.

In 2008, Nova Scotia’s Department of Energy commissioned a $15 million Play Fairway Analysis with the goal of stimulating offshore petroleum exploration activity. The resulting data was made available for free to the global oil and gas industry and attracted over $2 billion in investment in Nova Scotia’s offshore.

The provincial government’s Mineral Resources Development Fund provided $62,000 to conduct the needs assessment. MRDF is a grant program that supports prospecting, advanced exploration, minerals-related research and public education. More information about MRDF is available at https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/mrdp.asp.

September 20, 2018
MINERALS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA ESTABLISHED
New organization to manage Minerals Play Fairway project

Nova Scotia’s mining industry has established a new not-for-profit organization to manage its proposed Minerals Play Fairway project.

“The Minerals Play Fairway would be a free, best-in-class database of geophysical knowledge that would help attract investment and job creation to Nova Scotia,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of the Minerals Research Association of Nova Scotia (MRANS). “The oil and gas Play Fairway was a made-in-Nova-Scotia success story and we want to copy it for the mining industry.”

In 2008, the Department of Energy commissioned a $15 million Play Fairway Analysis and geoscience data package program with the goal of stimulating offshore petroleum exploration activity. The resulting data was made available for free to the global oil and gas industry and attracted over $2 billion in investment in Nova Scotia’s offshore.

The oil and gas Play Fairway Analysis was government-funded but managed by the Offshore Energy Research Association. MRANS would play the equivalent role for the Minerals Play Fairway that OERA played for the oil and gas version.

The first phase in the Minerals Play Fairway is to conduct a needs assessment of the province’s publicly-held airborne geophysical data. The needs assessment, which started in early summer, will identify strengths and weaknesses in Nova Scotia’s minerals database and make recommendations for how to improve it in order to attract more investment and job creation to the province. The provincial government’s Mineral Resources Development Fund is providing $62,000 to conduct the needs assessment and the report is expected to be complete this fall.

When the needs assessment is done, the industry will seek government funding to implement its recommendations, including a series of geophysical surveys across the province.

MRANS is a separate organization from the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS), with its own board, legally established under the Societies Act. However, MANS is seeding MRANS by covering costs associated with its establishment and donating staff time to manage the new organization.

A general meeting of MRANS’ membership was held on September 20 in Halifax and the following board was elected:

Pat Mills, President, former plant manager of National Gypsum’s Milford quarry.
John Wightman, Managing Director of the GOLDFIELDS Group of companies and Executive Director of the Prospectors Association of Nova Scotia.
Dr. Sally Goodman, Chief Geoscientist, Atlantic Gold.
Dr. Jacob Hanley, Chairperson and Full Professor, Department of Geology, Saint Mary’s University.
Patrick Hannon, Mining and Geological Engineer and Past President of MineTech International Limited.
George O’Reilly, retired Mineral Deposit Geologist.
Rick Horne, Consultant.

While Minerals Play Fairway was the impetus for establishing MRANS, it is expected that MRANS will also conduct and facilitate other minerals-related research in partnership with government, industry and universities.

The Mineral Resources Development Fund was introduced in the Government of Nova Scotia’s Budget 2018-19. MRDF is a grant program that supports prospecting, advanced exploration, minerals-related research and public education. More information about MRDF is available at https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/mrdp.asp.

September 3, 2018
MINING AND QUARRYING LABOUR DAY FACTS

Today’s mining and quarrying industry is a sophisticated, high tech business that is vital to our way of life – and a very different industry than in the past.

Nova Scotia’s mining and quarrying industry employs 5500 Nova Scotians and generates $420 million per year in economic activity.

Mining and quarrying is Nova Scotia’s highest-paying resource industry and one of the highest-paying of all industries in the province. Its average wage is over $55,000 per year.

The industry's total payroll is approximately $96 million per year.

The industry is committed to hiring locally and ensuring that the economic benefits of the industry are primarily enjoyed by Nova Scotians. According to a 2017 survey of Mining Association of Nova Scotia members, 97% of jobs at mines and quarries are filled by Nova Scotians.

Existing operations are usually staffed 100%, or very close to it, by Nova Scotians. It is in new operations that we see slightly smaller, though still very impressive, percentages of local hires. Opening new operations safely and successfully sometimes requires bringing in some expertise from outside the province.

We believe the most important thing to come out of a mine is the miner, and our safety record reflects this. Injury rates in the province’s mining and quarrying industry have been reduced 90% in the last two decades, and are lower than other comparable industries.

Learn more about mining and minerals in Nova Scotia at www.NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca

September 2, 2018
MANS RELEASES EDUCATIONAL INFO ABOUT MINING AND MINERALS
Back to school update to educational web site

As students head back to school this week, the Mining Association of Nova Scotia is releasing new educational material about mining and minerals.

“We have just added a great deal of new material to our educational web site, www.NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS). “The site explains, in layperson’s terms, that today’s industry is a sophisticated, high tech business that is vital to our way of life – and a very different industry than in the past. We encourage students, and all Nova Scotians, to visit the site to learn more about how the industry works and the importance of minerals in their daily lives.”

The site now features a series of videos that explain the environmental and operational issues Nova Scotians often have questions about:

How mining works (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/how-mining-works)
Blasting (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/blasting)
Water (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/water-management)
Dust (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/dust)
Noise (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/noise)
Reclamation (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/we-give-back)

Approximately 20,000 words about minerals in Nova Scotia have been added to the site (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/why-mining-matters).

An online reclamation quiz, Find the Mine, illustrates that after mines and quarries have been reclaimed, it can be very difficult to tell that an operation was ever there (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/find-the-mine).

The Mining ROCKS! Video Contest is an excellent program for educating students about the industry, minerals and geoscience. You can check out this year’s winners and the almost one hundred entries the contest has received in the past four years at https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/contest.

The province’s mining and quarrying industry employs 5500 Nova Scotians and generates $420 million per year in economic activity.

July 30, 2018
DOCUMENTS PROVE PROTECTED AREAS DISPROPORTIONATELY HARM MINING
“We all support protecting land but we need to avoid unnecessarily harming our economy”

Government documents prove that the province’s protected areas plan disproportionately harms the mining industry, according to the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS).

“When the previous government released the protected areas plan, it said it had taken economic potential, including mineral potential, into account when choosing which lands to protect,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of MANS. “Documents on the government’s web site suggest otherwise. Seventy-six percent of the protected areas discussed in detail on the government’s site have medium or high mineral potential, according to the government’s own analysis. We all support protecting land but we need to avoid unnecessarily harming our economy.”

The Parks and Protected Areas plan identified 782 areas for protection. MANS was able to find pages on Nova Scotia Environment’s web site for 179 of those areas which included NSE’s assessment of whether the areas have low, medium or high mineral potential. Of the 179 areas:

137 areas (76 percent) are considered by NSE to have medium and/or high mineral potential;
Fifty-eight areas (32 percent) are considered by NSE to have high mineral potential; and
35 areas (20 percent) had mineral claims staked in them when the previous government chose to include them in the protected areas plan.

“These documents suggest the economy was not a significant factor for the previous government as it rushed to choose protected areas,” said Kirby. “If these areas are representative of the plan in general, the plan will harm the province’s economy forever by protecting hundreds of sites that could otherwise potentially be used to create jobs for Nova Scotians.”

The Parks and Protected Areas plan states on page 16 that “Some existing mineral and petroleum rights are overlapped by new provincial parks, wilderness areas, and nature reserves identified in this plan. Throughout the planning process, protected area boundaries were designed to minimize the overlap with such rights where possible.”

The previous provincial government released the protected areas plan on August 1, 2013 and called an election five weeks later on September 7. MANS believes the rush to finish the plan before the 2013 election contributed to flaws in the land selection process.

MANS is asking the provincial government to strike a better balance between protecting jobs and protecting land by adding a “land swap” mechanism to the protected lands regulatory regime. This would allow mining and quarrying companies to access protected land by purchasing land of at least equal size and ecological value outside of the protected areas and arranging for it to be protected instead. Proposed land swaps would be fully regulated by the provincial government, on a case-by-case basis, to ensure there is a net benefit to the province.

The NSE web site pages MANS reviewed can be found at https://novascotia.ca/parksandprotectedareas/plan/lands-profiles/.

The province’s mining and quarrying industry employs 5500 Nova Scotians.

July 13, 2018
MANS PURSUES MINERALS PLAY FAIRWAY
Government making strategic investments to create new jobs

Government of Nova Scotia funding announced this week is the first step toward creating a minerals version of the province’s oil and gas Play Fairway Analysis, says the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS).

The government’s new Mineral Resources Development Fund is providing $62,000 to conduct a needs assessment of the province’s publicly-held airborne geophysical data. The needs assessment will identify strengths and weaknesses in Nova Scotia’s minerals database and make recommendations for how to improve it in order to attract more investment and job creation to the province.

“The Government of Nova Scotia is making strategic investments to help the mining industry grow and create new jobs for Nova Scotians,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of MANS. “The needs assessment project is the first step toward building a minerals version of Play Fairway – a free, best-in-class database of geological knowledge that will help attract mining companies to Nova Scotia. The oil and gas Play Fairway was a made-in -Nova-Scotia success story and we want to copy it for the minerals industry.”

In 2008, the Government of Nova Scotia commissioned a $15 million Play Fairway Analysis and Geoscience Data Package Program with the goal of stimulating offshore petroleum exploration activity. The resulting data was made available for free to the global oil and gas industry and attracted over $2 billion in investment in Nova Scotia’s offshore.

The Mineral Resources Development Fund was introduced in the Government of Nova Scotia’s Budget 2018-19. The fund supports grassroots prospecting through to more advanced mineral exploration. It also provides marketing grants that enable prospectors to promote their mineral prospects and assists in securing research grants that build partnerships between university researchers, prospectors and mineral exploration companies. The government’s July 11 news release announcing the grants is available at: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20180711003

In addition to establishing the Mineral Resources Development Fund this spring, the Government of Nova Scotia has also recently extended the province’s fuel tax rebate to the mining and quarrying industry and done an excellent overhaul of its Mineral Resources Act. Last week it gave the mining industry a higher profile within government by removing mining from the Department of Natural Resources and creating a new Department of Energy and Mines.

July 6, 2018
MANS RESPONDS TO MAEST REPORT
"Mining and quarrying is an environmentally-responsible industry that is stringently regulated"

The Mining Association of Nova Scotia is responding to a new report written by controversial American activist Ann Maest.

“Mining and quarrying is an environmentally-responsible industry that is stringently regulated by the provincial government,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS). “The province’s regulatory regime helps ensure that Nova Scotians enjoy the full benefits of the materials we take from the ground, and that the industry operates in a safe, sustainable, responsible fashion. The concerns raised in the Maest report are simply unfounded.”

Anti-mining group Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), which released the Maest report today, describes Maest as a “leading expert.” However, Ms. Maest is perhaps best-known for recanting her testimony in a $19 billion legal battle in which she first testified against Chevron and later disavowed her testimony against the company.

A 2013 New York Times article entitled “Consultant Recants in Chevron Pollution Case in Ecuador” describes how Ms. Maest and her consulting firm Stratus Consulting recanted “research favorable to the villagers’ claims of pollution in remote tracts of jungle.” According to the story, Stratus “had decided to disavow its contributions to scientific research about whether there was groundwater contamination that sickened the residents in swaths of rain forest.” The NYT report is available at https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/business/research-recanted-in-oil-pol....

According to a 2013 Reuters report, Stratus Managing Scientist Ann Maest and Executive Vice President Douglas Beltman wrote in affidavits, “I disavow any and all findings and conclusions in all of my reports and testimony on the Ecuador Project.” The story is available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chevron-ecuador-idUSBRE93B15220130412.

A 2015 column written in the Denver Post, in Ms. Maest’s home state of Colorado, stated: “If participating in an international conspiracy to defraud an oil company isn’t enough to ruin your reputation, what would do it? The question arises because work by Stratus Consulting of Boulder — exposed for shameful conduct in Ecuador — is once again at the center of a dispute over a pollution settlement….” The Denver Post column is at https://www.denverpost.com/2015/07/24/carroll-boulders-stratus-consultin...

The following short video, produced by Chevron, explains Ms. Maest’s role in the Chevron/Ecuador case: http://theamazonpost.com/science-fiction-plaintiffs-own-experts-admit-ca...

Water is used on mine and quarry sites for various purposes, such as controlling dust and as part of processing. Mines and quarries test water discharges on at least a monthly basis, and treat it to ensure water quality is within acceptable levels. Water released back into a river or lake is often cleaner after it has been used in a mine or quarry than it was beforehand. Companies are required to submit regular reports to the government to ensure they are compliant with all rules and regulations.

Watersheds are areas where rains falls and gets directed to one or more outflows. All manner of human activities take place in watersheds, including ski hills, residential and commercial development and resource industries. Stringent government regulation and responsible environmental practices are in place to ensure mining does not harm watersheds and drinking water sources. Many activities that can potentially cause harm to watersheds are not regulated to the extent that the mining industry is.

Gold in Nova Scotia is generally not found in nuggets; it is found in tiny flecks, often microscopically small. Because those flecks are usually within rock, it has to be separated from the rock using various processes. Cyanide leaching has been the main gold extraction technology since the 1970s because it is more effective, safer and has less environmental impact than other options, such as mercury. Cyanide leaching is usually done along with a physical process like milling, crushing, floatation and gravity separation.

Mining operations use the smallest amount of cyanide necessary to extract gold effectively. This reduces cost and environmental concerns. Mining operations also recycle cyanide and remove it from tailings before tailings are released to a tailings management facility. Any residual cyanide in tailings naturally photodegrades with exposure to air and sunlight.

Cyanide is a naturally occurring chemical that is found throughout nature. At least 1000 species of plants, micro-organisms and insects are capable of producing cyanide. Foods such as coffee, almonds, lima beans and table salt all contain small amounts of naturally-occurring cyanide.

Cyanide does not persist in the environment and is quickly and naturally broken down when exposed to sunlight and air. The human body has a natural ability to detoxify small quantities of cyanide, so it generally poses little risk.

More information about how Nova Scotia’s mining industry takes care of water is available at http://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/water-management

March 29, 2018
AND THE WINNER IS…
Winners announced in student video contest

The Mining Association of Nova Scotia is pleased to announce the winners of its "Mining ROCKS! Video Contest."

“Students from across the province created incredibly clever and interesting videos about mining and quarrying,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS). “We congratulate all the students for their excellent work and thank them for participating in the contest.”

The videos can be viewed at: http://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/contest

The winners and runners-up of the contest are:

Best High School Video

Winner: Jacob Routledge ($1000) from Glace Bay High School for “Mining Animation”
Runner-up (2-WAY TIE):
Edmund Wohlmuth ($250) from Horton High School for “Past, Present and Future”
Christene Southwell ($250) from Glace Bay High School for “There’s More to Mining”

Junior High Video

Winner: Rhianna Waligura-Newman ($1000) from Gorsebrook Junior High School for “The Mining ABC’s”
Runner-up (3-WAY TIE):
Nicole Dion ($166) from Madeline Symonds Middle School for “Discover Mining”
Raegyn Judge ($166) from Hebbville Academy for “Job Fair Interview”
Heather MacDonald ($166) from Astral Drive Junior High for “Traveling Back”

Best Comedy

Winner: Nicole Dion ($1000) from Madeline Symonds Middle School for “The Mining Game”
Runner-up: Joshua Grant ($500) from Sir John A. MacDonald High School for “It’s Mine”

Best 30-Second Commercial

Winner: Hannah Lawrence ($1000) from Citadel High School for “Women in Mining”
Runner-up (3-WAY TIE):
Fumairia Laureijs ($166), Homeschool, for “Are YOU Mindful?”
Christelinda Laureijs ($166), Homeschool, for “Hurray for Mining!”
Nicole Dion ($166) from Madeline Symonds Middle School for “Mining: Greener than you think”

People’s Choice

Winner: Jacob Routledge ($1000) from Glace Bay High School for “Mining Animation”
Runner-up: Nathan Woodworth ($500) from Hants East Rural High for “Mining in Nova Scotia”

This year’s judging panel included Margaret Miller, Minister of Natural Resources, Membertou Chief Terry Paul, Christine Blair, Mayor of the Municipality of the County of Colchester, Bill Mills, Mayor of Truro, and several accomplished film and media professionals.

The contest awarded $8000 in prizes and in its fourth year.

Nova Scotia's mining and quarrying industry is a key creator of jobs and prosperity for Nova Scotians. It provides 5,500 jobs, mostly in rural areas, and contributes $420 million dollars to the province's economy each year.

March 29, 2018
MANS RESPONDS TO WATER MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS
"Mining and quarrying is an environmentally-responsible industry that is stringently regulated"

The Mining Association of Nova Scotia is responding to questions about how the industry takes care of water.

“Mining and quarrying is an environmentally-responsible industry that is stringently regulated by the provincial government,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of MANS. “The province’s regulatory regime helps ensure that Nova Scotians enjoy the full benefits of the materials we take from the ground, and that the industry operates in a safe, sustainable, responsible fashion.”

“Two major new gold mines were opened in Nova Scotia in 2017, and a number of companies are currently doing gold exploration in the province,” said Kirby. “These projects have created hundreds of new jobs for Nova Scotians with more opportunities anticipated in coming years.”

More information about how Nova Scotia’s mining industry takes care of water is available at http://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/water-management

March 21, 2018
MINING ASSOCIATION APPLAUDS BUDGET
"MRDF is a smart, strategic investment in the future of our industry"

The Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS) is pleased the new provincial government budget provides funding to establish the Mineral Resources Development Fund (MRDF).

"The Mineral Resources Development Fund is a smart, strategic investment in the future of our industry," said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of MANS. "The provincial government has made a series of important policy decisions in recent years that are helping our industry grow and create jobs for Nova Scotians. The government's support helped us open three major new mines in 2017, representing hundreds of new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment in the province."

The budget includes $700,000 for the MRDF in 2018-19. The MRDF is expected to have seven funding streams this fiscal year:

* Prospecting and Exploration Grants: Maximum $20K

* Shared Funding Exploration Grants: >$20K up to $200K (50/50)

* Marketing Grants

* Research Grants: Maximum $90K

* Education, Outreach, and Engagement Grants: Maximum $30K

* Innovation Grants: Maximum $200K

* Major Project Grants: Maximum $500K or higher if required

More information is available at https://novascotia.ca/NATR/meb/mrdp.asp.

"The Nova Scotia Liberal Party promised in its 2017 election platform to fund the MRDF at $1.5 million per year," said Kirby. "The funding in this year's budget is an excellent start but we look forward to the program's budget increasing to $1.5 million next year."

MANS has applauded other recent government decisions affecting the mining and quarrying industry, including the fall 2017 budget extending the fuel tax rebate to the industry and the 2016 overhaul of the Mineral Resources Act. These policy changes are reducing red tape and unnecessary costs, while continuing to hold the industry to the highest environmental and operational standards.

Nova Scotia's mining and quarrying industry employs 5500 people and generates $420 million per year in economic activity.

January 31, 2018
MANS ANNOUNCES JUDGES FOR STUDENT VIDEO CONTEST
The Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS) announced today the judging panel for its “Mining ROCKS! Video Contest.”

“We are delighted to have such an impressive and diverse group of people serving as judges in this year’s contest,” said Sean Kirby, MANS’ Executive Director. “We really hope students will take advantage of this opportunity to learn about mining and put their creative efforts before this accomplished panel.”

“I am very pleased to be a judge for the video contest and to work in partnership with the mining association on educating students about the industry,” said Membertou Chief Terry Paul, one of the contest judges. “We all want to create more opportunities and a brighter future for our children, and the video contest is a good way to teach them about mining.”

The twelve judges are:

Hon. Margaret Miller, Minister of Natural Resources
Membertou Chief Terry Paul
Christine Blair, Mayor, Municipality of the County of Colchester
Bill Mills, Mayor of Truro
Rhonda Ann MacDonald, Manager, Eastlink TV Community Programming, Halifax
Martha Cooley, Executive Director, Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative
John Demont, Senior Writer, The Chronicle Herald; Author of Coal Black Heart
Sheldon MacLeod, Host, News 95.7
Cecilia Jamasmie, Editor, mining.com
Patrick McCarron, IT/AV Media Services Specialist, Nova Scotia Community College
Iain MacLeod, ad writer and marketing consultant
Ian Palmeter, Past President, Mining Association of Nova Scotia

The contest, which is open to all junior high and high school students in Nova Scotia, encourages kids to produce short videos about mining and quarrying.

Students will upload their videos to the MANS website and the panel of judges, who are mainly independent of the industry, will pick the winners for the Best Junior High School Video, Best High School Video, Best Comedy and Best 30-Second Commercial. The fifth category, the People’s Choice winner, will be decided by the public through an online vote.

The deadline for video entries is February 23, 2018. In addition, students who get their videos in by January 5, 2018 will be entered into a draw to win two $250 “early bird” prizes.

The winner in each category will be awarded $1000, with $500 going to the runner-up. There is a total of $8000 in prize money this year.

For more information, go to www.NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca/contest

January 12, 2018
PROTECTED AREAS PLAN PROPOSES PROTECTING ARTILLERY RANGE
Site likely contains unexploded ordnance

The provincial government’s protected areas plan identified an unusual site for protection – a World War II weapons range that likely contains unexploded bombs.

“When most Nova Scotians think of protected areas, they picture beautiful, pristine, natural lands,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS). “The truth is the protected areas plan includes many sites that do not live up to that expectation. In the previous government’s rush to release the plan, it included sites like clear cuts, logging roads, former mines, quarries and pits, and pipelines. It even included a former weapons range that is believed to contain unexploded ordnance.”

Camp Debert was a major military training facility that housed over 300,000 troops during WWII and included multiple ranges and training areas. Canadian troops would typically get one month of intensive training at Camp Debert before being deployed overseas.

The Staples Brook Range was a satellite facility of the camp that was used for weapons training. Grenades, mortars, anti-tank artillery and anti-aircraft munitions were used at the Range. The site is considered a medium risk for unexploded explosive ordnance (UXO), according to reports from the Department of National Defence’s “Director Ammunition and Explosives Regulation.”

In the provincial government’s Parks and Protected Areas Plan, the Staples Brook Range is included in a pending protected area called the Staples Brook Nature Reserve.

The previous provincial government chose protected areas under a tight timeline because it wanted to protect 13 percent of the province’s land mass before calling the 2013 provincial election. The protected areas plan was released on August 1, 2013 and the election was called on September 7.

According to 2013 media reports, approximately 2500 UXO were found and cleared from various Camp Debert lands in 2012. The Department of National Defence’s web site contains the following warning about the former Camp Debert lands: “Be advised that there is a chance of encountering unexploded explosive ordnance (UXO) while in these areas. UXO is the term for military explosives that were used but failed to function properly.”

DND posted danger signs in 2012 warning people against entering the Staples Brook Range due to the potential for UXO.

Another area of the Staples Brook Nature Reserve overlaps a coal deposit that has been mined in the past and could potentially become a future mine if it is not blocked by the land being protected.

MANS recently released a report which details how the protected areas plan harms dozens of potential mineral projects and makes it harder for the industry to create new jobs for Nova Scotians. The report is entitled “A Better Balance: How we can protect jobs and land for Nova Scotians.”

MANS is asking the provincial government to strike a better balance between protecting jobs and protecting land by adding a “land swap” mechanism to the protected lands regulatory regime. This would allow mining and quarrying companies to access protected land by purchasing land of at least equal size and ecological value outside of the protected areas and arranging for it to be protected instead. This would ensure that the total amount of protected land remains the same or grows; the ecological value of protected lands remains the same or grows; and Nova Scotians would continue to be able to access the minerals they need to create jobs and grow the economy.

Proposed land swaps would be fully regulated by the provincial government, on a case-by-case basis, to ensure there is a net benefit to the province. The government could even require that the land being swapped in by the company be larger and/or more ecologically valuable than the protected land being swapped out. This creates the potential to not only maintain but also improve the government’s portfolio of protected lands, creating a win-win for both the economy and the environment.

Nova Scotia’s mining and quarrying industry employs 5500 Nova Scotians.

January 3, 2018
PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT CHOSE PROTECTED AREAS UNDER TIGHT DEADLINE
"Plan released just weeks before 2013 election"

The Mining Association of Nova Scotia has released a video that answers a question many Nova Scotians may be asking: why do the province’s protected areas include so many economic sites?

“The previous provincial government wanted to protect a huge amount of land, very quickly, with limited budget,” said Sean Kirby, Executive Director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS). “That’s why protected areas include things like clear cuts, logging roads, former mines, quarries and pits, and pipelines.”

“The mining and quarrying industry supports protecting land but this is not what Nova Scotians expect of their protected areas,” said Kirby.

MANS’ video explains that the previous provincial government wanted to protect 13 percent of the province’s land mass before calling the 2013 provincial election. The government’s protected areas plan was eventually released on August 1, 2013 and the election was called on September 7.

The video, called “How were protected lands chosen?”, features images of protected areas that have traditionally been economic sites.

The video is at http://tmans.ca/protected-land-process.

MANS is asking the provincial government to strike a better balance between protecting jobs and protecting land by adding a “land swap” mechanism to the protected lands regulatory regime. This would allow mining and quarrying companies to access protected land by purchasing land of at least equal size and ecological value outside of the protected areas and arranging for it to be protected instead. This would ensure that the total amount of protected land remains the same or grows; the ecological value of protected lands remains the same or grows; and Nova Scotians would continue to be able to access the minerals they need to create jobs and grow the economy.

Nova Scotia’s mining and quarrying industry employs 5500 Nova Scotians.

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