Mineral Exploration and Mining

HAIDA GWAII / QCI 

LAND USE PLANNING 

MINERAL EXPLORATION 

&MINING 

B.C. and YUKON CHAMBER of MINES 

MINING ASSOCIATION OF B.C.

MINING SECTOR 

• What is a mineral resource? 

• Mineral development interests in 

land use planning. 

• Exploration and Mine approval 

stages 

• Brief description of exploration 

and mining process. 



WHAT IS A MINERAL? 

• A mineral is any substance that has 

been formed by geologic processes 

and has a chemical composition 

expressible by a chemical formula. 

• Minerals can be in the form of 

metallic ie. Iron, gold, silver, copper 

and industrial ie. Coal, clay, argillite 

and aggregates. 



WHAT IS AN ORE BODY? 

• An Ore Body is comprised of a 

metal bearing mineral or industrial 

mineral, mixed with barren matter 

called ganque, and is capable of 

being mined at a profit. 



MINERAL POTENTIAL 

• Produced for use in land use 

planning processes 

• Ranks the land base by its 

potential for discovery of mineral 

deposits 

• B.C. was divided into ‘tracts’ of 

similar geology 




• Each tract was evaluated by panels 

of experts for the probability of the 

existence of undiscovered deposits 

of a specific type. 

• Mineral Potential evaluation is based 

on rigorous science and methods 

used by the United States Geological 

Survey. 




The limitations of the data are: 

• Dated 

• New theories and exploration will 

change map 

• New mining technologies and societal 

demands will change map 

• Analysis is regional in scale (1:100 000) 

• Only one of several maps needed to 

fully describe the mineral values in a 

region 



Map of Metallic Mineral 

Potential, Prospects and 

Showings – See Atlas map 



MINERAL OCCURRENCE IN 

HAIDA GWAII / QCI 

• 157 KNOWN MINERAL OCCURRENCES 

ON HAIDA GWAII / QCI - OF THESE 

THERE ARE: 

• 95 METALLIC MINERAL 

• 46 INDUSTRIAL MINERALS 

• 8 BITUMEN 

• 1 HOTSPRING - GEOTHERMAL 

• 7 COAL 



MINING HISTORY ON HAIDA GWAII / QCI 

• 21 Past producing mines on Haida Gwaii / 

QCI 

• 16 of these produced less than 500 tonnes. 

• Largest mines were: 

– Jedway 1962 to 1968 

– Wesfrob Mines @Tasu 1967 to 1983 

• Mineral tenure has declined from 207 in 

1999 to 104 tenures as of March 2003 

• No mineral notices of work in 2001 & 2002. 



INTEREST STATEMENT 

• To work closely with the Haida Gwaii / 

QCI Community Planning Forum to 

develop a sound LUP with consideration 

to social, cultural, environmental and 

economic values. 

• Promote mining and educate on the 

basis of present day standards and 

regulations. 



INTEREST STATEMENT 

• Promote sustainability with consideration 

of social, cultural, environmental and 

economic values. 

• Respect Aboriginal Rights and Title. 

• To develop a plan that provides maximum 

access to the land for exploration and to 

ensure that land tenure is secure to 

accommodate the development of an 

infrastructure for mineral extraction. 



COMMUNICATION 

• Communication with the sector will be by 

correspondence (minutes of meetings) 

and/or meeting with the represented 

organizations and groups as required. The 

Table member will consult with the land use 

committee of the B.C. and Yukon Chamber 

of Mines and Mining Association of British 

Columbia to ensure that the message 

delivered is consistent with other land use 

planning processes. 



EXPECTATIONS 

ACCESS TO AS MUCH LAND AS POSSIBLE 

ACCESS CORRIDORS 

SECURITY OF TENURE AND ACCESS 



ACCESS TO LAND 

• Mineral deposits are rare and despite the 

best resource assessments available, it is 

often difficult to reliably predict where the 

next potential mineral deposit will be 

found. Therefore, the industry needs as 

much land as possible open for 

exploration, knowing that it will use only 

a small fraction for mining. 




• As a result the government, in consultation 

with industry, has developed a Two Zone 

land use model that can be applied to 

subsurface resources in British Columbia. 

• Within the Two Zone Model, one zone 

pertains to parks where mining is not 

allowed. This is clearly understood by the 

mineral explorer and mineral investor. 




• The other zone (which is really numerous 

zones from the perspective of the land 

planner, forester or biologist) is 

effectively the rest of the land base where 

mining would be allowed, subject to 

meeting regulatory and legislated 

requirements. 




• The mineral industry would like to avoid 

being inadvertently affected by land use 

designations that are targeted to restrict 

the activities of other industries or 

recreational interests within a planned 

non park area. 



ACCESS CORRIDORS 

• Advanced exploration and mine 

development generally require road 

access 

• The industry would like to insure that land 

use designations in one area do not 

preclude mineral activity in an adjacent 

area due to access restrictions along a 

potential transportation corridor. 



SECURITY OF LAND TENURE 

• On average, mines cost $100 million to 

discover and another $100 million to $1 

billion for development. 

• Mineral investors need a high level of 

comfort that mineral tenure is secure before 

making significant investments. 

• Need assurance that access corridors 

remain open. 

• Mineral tenure expropriation require 

compensation. 



Permit 

Amendment 

if more ore is 

discovered. 

MINE CLOSURE AND 

RECLAMATION MODE 

FULLY PERMITTED 

OPERATING MINE 

Possible 

EAO 

Process 

PERMITTING PROCESS: 

All statutory permits required. Reclamation 

Bonds posted. Closure plan submitted. 

EAO recommendations to 

appropriate ministers.* 

Yes – Project Approval Certificate 

No – Project Ends 

Mine reclaimed to 

approved plan. 

Indefinite 

monitoring. 

Claim is staked 

and registered 

by Free Miner 

Permit holder 

The 

Development Path of 

a Mine 

* Mining proponent may seek EAO approval 

concurrently with application 

for Mines Act Permit 

= Public Input 

BC Environmental 

Assessment Office and 

Canadian 

Environmental 

Assessment review. 

Small Mine 

(75,000 tonnes 

per year). 


MINING ASSOCIATION OF B.C. 

Notice of Work Application 

Submitted 

What? Where? 

Needs 

Permit 

MEM assesses 

Notice of Work: possible 

referral to other 

organizations 

Needs No 

Permit 

AUTHORIZATION 

PROCESS 

Determine if the 

property is worth 

developing into 

a mine 

Submission of: 

APPLICATION 

FOR A MINE

PLANNING / PERMITTING 

• At the mine permitting stage, 

comprehensive environmental assessments 

are mandated to deal with environmental 

concerns of a proposed mine much better 

than generalized planning zone language. 

• These assessments are essentially a high 

level of EBM planning. 

• Haida Gwaii / QCI LUP will become a higher 

level tool in the planning process. 



FACTS 

• Approximately 10,000 B.C. residents 

directly employed and 20,000 indirectly 

employed in the mining industry. 

• Significant decline in Mineral 

Exploration. 

• Only about 1 out of a 1000 mineral 

showings are economic. 



FACTS 

• Mines produce high economic return 

for area disturbed. Average $150,000 

per hectare of land used. 

• Less than 0.03% of land base disturbed 

throughout the history of mining in the 

province, most of which has been 

reclaimed. 



AREA USED FOR EXPLORATION 

. 

AND MINING 



TOTAL AREA OF B.C. 

AREA STAKED 6.0% 

AREA LEASED 0.1% 

AREA DISTURBED BY 

MINING 0.03%

IMPACT 

Impact at Various Stages of Mineral Development 

HIGH 

LOW 

NONE 

AREA OF LAND INVOLVED 



MINING 

ADVANCED 

EXPLORATION 

EXPLORATION 

PROSPECTING

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT 

GIBRALTAR IN OPERATION FROM 1972 TO 1998 

TOTAL TONS MINED 700,000,000 TONS 

ORE MILLED 339,683,000 TONS 

COPPER IN CONC. 1,864,200,000 LBS. 

COPPER AS CATHODE 84,670,000 LBS. 

MOLYBDENUM 19,694,000 LBS. 

TOTAL REVENUE $1,662,000,000 

TOTAL AREA 1856 HA 

$ GENERATED /HA $895,474 / HA

Mineral Exploration and Mining

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