A M E
Keerit Jutla was appointed in September
of last year as
CEO of the Vancouver-based
Association for Mineral Exploration. He
is the first visible minority
CEO of the or-
ganization, which has been active since
1912. Jutla has experience both as a lawyer
practicing in natural resource matters and
as a senior negotiation lead
for the B.C. Ministry of Energy,
Mines and Low Carbon Innova-
tion. We met at AME's Down-
town Vancouver office to talk
about the role mining plays in
the province today. by Nathan Caddell
Maybe you can
start by explaining
what exactly AME
does, because I
think there might be
misconceptions out
there from people
who aren't in the
mining industry.
For sure. When I first came in and would
talk about what I did, a lot of people
thought that
AME was an arm of govern-
ment, and that we were implementing or
echoing what government said. But no,
we're a member-driven organization with
over 5,000 members that represents the
interests of mineral explorers and pros-
pectors in or based in B.C. That can range
from a prospector who will go onto the
land and do non-invasive exploration of
the rocks to a big mining company. The
question is, how do we advance the min-
ing and mineral exploration industry in a
way that not only champions reconcilia-
tion and environmental stewardship but
also keeps the industry competitive and
economically viable? We get involved in
policy discussions with governments and
relationship building and joint initiatives
with Indigenous people here in B.C. And
we're involved in capital markets work and
talking to different investors worldwide to
really champion B.C.
So, the way it looks to me is
that you were working for the
government on the mining side.
And then the association saw the
work you were doing and said,
"Oh, we can have that guy on our
side." And now you're taking your
old employer to task on some
things. Is that correct?
[Laughs] Well, for me, I was looking
for that great opportunity. I'm
passionate about generating and
The
CONVERSATION
