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(2008 to 2012) to guide its activities, services and partnerships. As part of the plan, <strong>AME</strong> <strong>BC</strong> staff develop and implement an annual operating plan to focus the association’s priorities. Components of the strategy include taking part in government processes related to: access to land, streamlining of regulations, land and resource management planning, regional land-use permits and roads. <strong>AME</strong> <strong>BC</strong> is also committed to identifying and addressing barriers to grassroots exploration; investigating opportunities to further support the assaying, mapping, reporting and marketing needs of prospectors; and continuing to encourage geoscience. <strong>The</strong> Chamber of Mines of Eastern British Columbia, with headquarters in Nelson, is a non-profit organization that not only advocates <strong>for</strong> the mining industry, but also has an in<strong>for</strong>mation and resource library with an extensive collection of geological in<strong>for</strong>mation, maps and rock and mineral specimens. <strong>The</strong> chamber’s office is open to the public five days a week. President Jack Denny says the CME<strong>BC</strong> was <strong>for</strong>med in 1925 and has between 100 and 200 members, depending on the time of year. <strong>The</strong> chamber hosts elementary and high school classes and offers courses, such as prospecting. Denny says its graduates have had great success “and are responsible <strong>for</strong> bringing millions of dollars worth of investments to the Kootenay-Boundary region.” Recently the CME<strong>BC</strong> has been sharing the hosting of the Minerals South conference with the East Kootenay Chamber of Mines. <strong>The</strong> next conference is slated <strong>for</strong> November 2010. <strong>The</strong> Cranbrook-based East Kootenay Chamber of Mines was <strong>for</strong>med in the early 1990s. <strong>The</strong> advocacy group represents 200 members on legislative and regulatory issues. President Ross Stanfield says the EKCM takes a special interest in provincial government land policy and plans, including the recent Flathead Valley decision, land access and proposed changes to Mineral Titles Online. In addition, the chamber and its members stay on top of environmental issues, endangered species and public geoscience. “We’re in close touch with <strong>AME</strong> <strong>BC</strong> and MA<strong>BC</strong> and, through them, the network of regional conferences in the rest of the province,” Stanfield says. President and director Mike Cathro says Kamloops Exploration Group was founded around 1972. With approximately That’s not a rock, this is a rock: Leo Lindinger, a longtime advocate of mineral exploration in B.C., holds a high-grade sample at Copper Mountain. 1,000 members, KEG’s claim to fame is an annual technical conference that has been taking place since 1987. “It’s one of B.C.’s highest quality and most inexpensive mining conferences, with a focus on mineral exploration and geology,” Cathro says. <strong>The</strong> two-day conference highlights exploration successes and issues and attracts 500 attendees and 70 exhibitors. For the last eight years, the conference has focused on B.C. projects and geology. <strong>The</strong> theme of the 2010 conference, which took place in April, was “explore locally, impress globally.” KEG also sponsors three scholarships and a twicea-month lecture series in the winter that is open to the general public. Prince George Exploration Group is a new regional association, <strong>for</strong>med in spring 2009 and led by Ken MacDonald. According to PEG director Tracy Savident, the group is modelled on the KEG. PEG’s mandate is to promote prospecting, mineral exploration and mining to the general public, to provide an industry discussion <strong>for</strong>um and to hold prospecting classes and promote other educational projects in connection with mining and prospecting. PEG has approximately 30 members and is growing, Savident says. <strong>The</strong> membership includes individuals, juniors and a few mining operators. “Most people don’t think of Prince George as a mining centre, but there’s a history of mining and exploration in the area,” Savident says. “For example, the Endako Mine is nearby and the Mt. Milligan Mine is moving closer to construction.” Smithers Exploration Group has been in operation since 1971 and represents about 250 members in northwestern B.C. <strong>The</strong> group is very active. President Rob Boyce says the group sponsors field trips and short courses, organizes technical and general-interest talks and hosts conferences and social events. SEG is a partner in the Northwest Community College School of Exploration and Mining, which trains students <strong>for</strong> work in exploration and mining in the region. <strong>The</strong> school is funded through grants from the provincial and federal governments and donations from the minerals industry. SEG has put together the Northern Cordilleran Rock Collection, a large collection of rock suites representing regional geological units, mineral deposits and alteration assemblages. Vancouver Island Exploration Group was founded by Jacques Houle and is located in Nanaimo. Houle says VIX, as it is known, is an ad hoc group of approximately 250 members that was established in 2002. “Our mandate is professional development only,” he says. “No political advocacy.” In addition to providing a <strong>for</strong>um <strong>for</strong> Photograph: Bruce Madu SUMMER 2010 29