The CIM session on mining in British Columbia was dominated by the absence of a powerline.  Specifically a powerline up Highway 37 through the backbone of the Province.  The absence of this decade-long-promised powerline is a major impediment to the opening of new mines in the north of British Columbia. 

For example, Imperial Metals’ Red Chris property is bedevilled by two impediments:

• Power — which would be available were the powerline to be installed
• Federal Permits –which were rescinded due to a legal technicality.

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The uranium mining industry is part of the nuclear industry which produces about 16 percent of electricity worldwide.  Being part of the nuclear industry makes uranium mining totally different from other types of mining.  It is almost as though uranium miners, having to face the worst and the most difficult, having to operate in the focus of public and regulatory scrutiny, and having to deal always with extremes of health and safety related primarily to radioactivity exposure, are different. I submit they are different in this way: they are calmer and more stoic than other miners.  Those searching for and producing gold & copper are exuberant, excited, and almost cavalier.  But the average uranium miner is dour and sober, deliberative and thorough. 

These perspectives are prompted by comparing the CIM technical sessions this morning devoted to uranium mining in Saskatchewan and gold & copper mining in British Columbia.  Maybe the difference relates to the type of people who choose to live and work in Saskatchewan versus British Columbia?  After all they all still wear colorful ties and formal suits in Saskatchewan, whereas in British Columbia they all wear casual black and gray.  But I doubt that the cultures of the two provinces are the fundamental reason for the vast differences in attitude and approaches that prevail in the two mining sectors.

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