Publications (February 01, 2007)
Following the Boulder Train
Award-winning author Tom Henry explores the role that mineral exploration has played in the development of British Columbia in Following the boulder train: Travels with prospectors and rock doctors. He describes his travels around the province to talk with geologists, stay in prospecting camps and attend a prospecting school. His reverence is evident for those who use their wits and dogged determination to ‘suss’ out where the valuable minerals lay hidden. The descriptive prose is almost poetic.
Following the Boulder Train
Author: Tom Henry
ISBN: 1-55017-377-4
Hardcover, 6-in x 9-in, 192 pages
$34.95
Copyright 2006
Harbour Publishing
Madeira Park, B.C.
Tel 604-883-2730
Mission Possible: A Canadian Resources Strategy for the Boom and Beyond
The second volume of the Canada Project Final Report is now available from the Conference Board of Canada. Mission possible: A Canadian resources strategy for the boom and beyond by Gilles Rheaume and John Roberts suggests how Canada can make the most of its opportunities over the next 10 to 15 years, to achieve longer-term prosperity and well-being. The 144-page report released in January 2007 focuses on four major natural resource sectors: forest products, agri-food, mining and energy–sectors with considerable global market opportunities that can be exploited in a sustainable way.
The report comes to four main conclusions regarding the mining sector. Greater mineral exploration efforts are required to replenish our declining reserves, and governments have a major role to play through tax incentives, provision of basic geoscience, better land use decisions and improvements in permitting. Some of Canada’s major mining companies may become the dominant producers in their own commodity; the large number of junior exploration companies in this country is a strategic advantage. Industry and governments share the responsibility to ensure that all companies reduce environmental risks. Mining companies and Aboriginal communities need to work together to ensure that mining is practised responsibly.
The four-volume hardcover set costs $85. The report is publicly available at www.e-library.ca or call Brent Dowdall at 613-526-3090, ex 448.
Adaptation to Climate Change in Canada
Politicians, the public and the media are missing an important part of the debate on climate change–adapting to the effects of a changing climate–according to a report published in February. In the area of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, there has been a lot of talk but little action. However, there has been very little talk and almost no action on developing climate change adaptation strategies.
The Conference Board of Canada’s second report on adaptation issues, Operationalizing Adaptation to Climate Change, identifies specific actions for the private and public sectors to help integrate adaptation to climate change in decision-making.
The report is based on discussions held by the Private Sector Roundtable on Adaptation to Climate Change, a group of business leaders convened by the Conference Board in 2006 to kick-start a dialogue on the immediate steps required for Canada to adapt to climate change. Roundtable members agreed first and foremost that experts must seize the attention of Canada’s corporate leaders about the importance of adaptation, and ensure that firms consider the commercial risks from climate change when business decisions are made.
The report is publicly available at www.e-library.ca or call Brent Dowdall at 613-526-3090, ex 448.
Metals Environmental Risk Assessment Guidance
The International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) based in London, U.K., has released a new publication titled Metals Environmental Risk Assessment Guidance (MERAG). It is the result of a three-year project developed in response to the growing trend of reversing the burden of proof that metals are safe. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in Europe, as demonstrated by the European Union’s new chemicals management legislation, REACH. Ensuring that risk assessment methodologies are adapted to reflect the specificities of metals and minerals is therefore vital to allow fair assessment and comparison in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
The MERAG project developed a comprehensive set of the most advanced and appropriate scientific concepts for assessing the environmental risks posed by metals and inorganic metal compounds. These concepts are presented in a series of eight fact sheets that have been peer-reviewed by a panel of leading independent scientists. The fact sheets are intended to be ‘living documents’ and will be updated and supplemented as the science continues to evolve.
For mining and metals companies, this initiative is an important aspect of materials stewardship, whereby companies are extending their interest beyond the plant gate and considering the whole life cycle of their products.
For additional information, contact benjamin.davies@icmm.com.
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