Mining industry champions First Nations partnerships, technological advances at annual KEG Conference in Kamloops

Russell said exploration work includes talking with First Nations communities to try to bring them on board with potential projects. It also involves working with the provincial government, which he noted can at times be a bigger bottleneck when it comes to processing claims with 120 days.

“That’s if you’re lucky, honestly,” Russell said. “And you can’t work until they’re approved. And then, when they’re approved, generally they want a bond, so now you’ve got to come up with money – and if you’re just a little guy it’s not cheap.”

There’s also the matter of Premier David Eby’s plan to suspend sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), which is now on hold.

“It’s one of those things that has got to be fixed by the government working with the First Nations,” Russell said, when asked what that move – should the government follow through with it – could mean for the mining industry.

“Once they do that, we can move forward on things without wondering what’s going on. One way or the other, people will work here in British Columbia. They just want clarity.”

With more of a push these days around advancing critical minerals projects to try to boost Canada’s non-U.S. exports, there also appears to be a desire to revisit some old projects that were put on the back burner. Russell says it’s all to look for minerals that, in the past, may have been deemed harmful or overlooked as waste.

“Now those projects may be coming into fruition again, which is good,” Russell said. “It’s similar to what happened at New Afton over the years. And also Abacus was looking at Ajax and that may or may never be a mine, but it’s there, if necessary.”

As the mining industry looks to change with the times, there is also a growing effort being made to try to bring more young people like Olivia Ferguson into the fold. The Valleyview Secondary graduate took the time to wander the halls hoping to soak up as much information as she could.

“I want to get into the industry and look at some different jobs opportunities I could get,” Ferguson told CFJC Today. “I’m hoping to ask some questions and figure out what I want to do because I don’t really know just yet.”

“I definitely can tell I’m the youngest person here, but I’m also excited for that. It want to be hands-on and I want to get in there and do some hard work, so I want to figure out what kind of job that would be like.”

Added Russell, “It’s nice we get younger people in and we’ve got so many new ideas. This business has just evolved to the point where it’s fascinating. When I started out 40 years ago, it was a compass. Now you take a laptop in and you’re getting information straight from drones and the like.”

“A lot of the change is hard for us older guys, you know? But it’s good change. It honestly is. We know you can’t change things sometimes, so you move with them.”

by Victor Kaisar

Mining industry champions First Nations partnerships, technological advances at annual KEG Conference in Kamloops

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