News views and opinions on the mineral exploration scene in Ontario March 2002 Issue Date: April 2002 The Explorationist Newsletter is brought to you as a ‘member service’ of the Ontario Prospectors Association. It’s purpose is to share news and information amongst it’s members and also to act as the association’s ‘Political Voice’. The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Ontario Prospectors Association, including all of it’s members and Directors. The writers accept full ownership of their contributions. NE AND NW SYMPOSIA skin Lake. I have a tentative meeting set up ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR for mid - June, in order to get to know them better and to discuss points for an MO U. I'm The organizers of the NE and NW symposia optimistic, I must say. deserve congratulations and a pat on the back I will try to look you up next time that I'm for producing smooth running informative through Thunder Bay. shows that presented the exploration high- Best regards, Doug Hunter lights of the past year. The OPSEU strike did In the NE, I personally was impressed by Ge- play a part in removing the delivery of some rald Riverin’s keynote address on the Risks of the recent geoscience programs but the in- and Rewards of VMS Exploration, Scott Mac- dustry explorers filled the gap with great talks Lean’s review of the North Rim Nickel/ and excellent displays. Copper Discovery and the fact that Kinross and Placer are forming a JV to take advantage In the NW the talks by Bob Middleton on the of each others property wealth in Timmins. Nipigon area and the exploration highlights of The Timmins show was well balanced high- Northwestern Ontario were excellent and lighting gold, Copper-Nickel, Diamonds and showed the variety of commodities being ex- Industrial Minerals. plored for and the success to date. The dis- plays were, as usual informative and well Both events were upbeat and presented the thought out. The NW also was the host of an wide range of commodities the prospectors Industry/First Nations/Government workshop and explorers of the province are exploring. on Partnering For Success. This workshop Pam Sangster presented at both events and was organized by D’Silva Parker Associates raised eyebrows with her presentation of the and supported by the OPA and the Northern value of mining in Southern Ontario (>$ 2.0 Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. The suc- billion) that equates to >35% of the value of cess of this event is expressed in an email we Provincial Mining. The content of the talk is received: something we need to get out to the Southern- ers so they see they are also part of the Mining “Just a note to let you know that Mark Hall and I really enjoyed the get together in Thunder sequence and that it isn’t only in the north. Bay last week. Thanks for your efforts and I can tell you that it was a real (and unex- The newly appointed Minister, the Honour- pected) bonus to meet the people from Bear- able Jim Wilson made time 3 days into his We’re easy to get a hold of Contact the Executive Director: Garry Clark By e-mail: [email protected] Phone: 807-622-3284 Fax: 807-622-4156 1 mandate to attend the Timmins event. The Min- Roger Poulin, Geologist Sudbury Prospec- ister walked through the posters/booth displays, tors & Developers Association meet with the PPDA/NPA/OPA representatives and attended a presentation by Bill McGuinty. Neil Westoll, Geologist Association of We compliment the Minister for getting into the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario mix early and look forward to a productive working relationship with him. Patrick Reid, President Ontario Mining As- sociation PA Annual General Meeting 2002 Andy Chater, Geologist Prospectors and The Annual General Meeting was held in Thun- Developers Association of Canada der Bay prior to the NW Symposium. Approxi- Directors at large mately 40 members attended in person. The OPA Auditor presented the Audited Financial Tor Jensen, Financial Advisor Statements for 2000 and 2001, the Directors-at- Wally Rayner, Geologist Large were elected and some general business Frank Tagliamonte, Geologist was conducted. The AGM minutes are pre- sented on the Website. One important business item discussed was Appointed Directors the Map Staking issue. A lively discussion Roger Dufresne, Prospector Northern Prospec- ensued with the introduction of the topic. tors Association At the end of the discussion the motion put to the meeting was vote d on. Garfield Pinkerton, Prospector Northern Pros- pectors Association The Motion placed was by Steve Stares and stated: Dave Hunt, Geologist N. W. Ontario Prospec- That the OPA oppose map staking. tors Association Seconded by Mike Stares. The resultant vote by a show of right Tom Trelinski, Prospector N. W. Ontario hands was: Prospectors Association In favour 21 Andrew Tims, Geologist Porcupine Prospec- Opposed 2 Abstentions 5 (Garry Clark, Wally Rayner, tors and Developers Association Vivienne Côté, Ken Tylee and Patrick Reid) Bill Waychison, Geologist Porcupine Prospec- tors and Developers Association New Minister of Northern Devel- Vivienne Côté, Prospector Sault and opment and Mines - The Hon- District Prospectors Association ourable Jim Wilson Ted Shellhorne, Prospector Sault and District MPP, Simcoe Grey Prospectors Association Jim Wilson has been active in poli- Fred Swanson, Geologist Southern On- tics all of his life. During university and upon graduation, he was an as- tario Prospectors Association sistant to former Ontario Manage- Andrea Rae, Geologist Southern Ontario ment Board Chair George McCague. Prospectors Association Federally, he was Special Assistant to Perrin Beatty in both the National Bob Komarechka, Geologist Sudbury Pros- (Continued on page 3) pectors & Developers Association 2 Defence and Health and Welfare port- the arguments for and against map stak- folios. ing and also the significant dollars that Raised and educated in Alliston, On- they generate pursuant to option agree- tario, Mr. Wilson studied political sci- ments. ence and Christian studies at the Uni- versity of Toronto where he also If someone completes a survey of how served on the university's Governing many properties private prospectors have optioned to junior mining companies and Council. how many millions of dollars they He was first elected to the Ontario have generated because of their pros- Legislature as the member for Sim- pecting efforts I think the numbers would coe-West in September, 1990. When knock the socks off the sceptics including he was returned in 1995 to the new those politicians who are marginal at riding of Simcoe-Grey, he was ap- best in their support of mining. pointed to cabinet as Minister of Health. In October of 1997, Premier There are several comments in the most Mike Harris assigned Mr. Wilson to the recent Explorationist Newsletter relative newly-formed Ministry of Energy, Sci- to putting stakers and prospectors out of ence and Technology. He was re- work but there is no mention of how turned to that position after his re- much those prospectors and stakers election in June, 1999. spend on each block staked as an argu- Mr. Wilson is probably best known for ment emphasizing the importance of their having begun and implemented On- contributions. What the little guy spends tario's health care reform process and discovers weighs heavily against re- while he was Minister, and more re- stricting his efforts by introducing map staking. cently, for championing electricity competition as sponsor of the govern- I am a grass roots independent prospec- ment's Energy Competition Act. He is tor and I feel it is important that I show the first Ontario Cabinet Minister to just how much I contribute out of my have been given specific responsibility pocket to the economy of my province. I for Science and Technology, where his don,t want decision makers to think that role is to keep the province on the all there is to lose by converting to map leading edge of technological and sci- staking is the employment offered to entific advancement. claim stakers. Minister Wilson is a member of three Cabinet committees. He sits on the I stake for myself and explore my proper- Economic and Resource Policy Com- ties and If I find sufficient mineralization I mittee, the Privatization and Super- try to option the properties off as opposed build Committee, and the Environ- to others in the field who stake for wages ment Committee. or on a contract basis as often mentioned in the arguments for and against map The following comment is against staking. map staking in the province of On- tario. An average day staking for myself would include the staking of about 8 units. I realize I missed the April 4 deadline but I My costs for staking of these 8 units av- will forward the following comment anyway erages out to be approximately $450 and because I believe it represents a large this cost is based on the following: group of prospectors that have been over- looked with regards to what they spend in The cost of purchasing a 4x4 pickup, 3 snowmachine, all terrain vehicle, boat and play booths at regional symposiums and motor, chainsaw and related insurance, li- attend the main show and tell in Toronto censing and maintenance would be ap- at the annual Prospectors and Develop- proximately $200 per outing. Average dis- ers Convention to show my samples as tance travelled each time out approx 70 well as pay to list my properties in the miles each way or 225 kilometres round trip classified section of the Northern Miner I for a fuel cost of $40 and meals for myself also travel to various com- total approximately $20 for a total travel pany exploration offices to show and cost of $260 per day.