Mineral Exploration

AME BC past president Don Rotherham with Frank Woodside award winners Hans Smit, Jerry Asp and Barry Price. 26 S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 Photograph : Velour Produc tions /AME BC Frank Woodside Past Presidents and Chairs Award The Frank Woodside Past Presidents and Chairs Award is presented to three individuals. Jerry Asp is committed to enhancing the quality of life for Aboriginal people through the creation of new business opportunities and the development of skills and capacity in the community. Asp is an experienced consultant and negotiator, and one of his early achieve- ments was the first significant impact and benefits agreements for a mine in British Columbia. In 2010, Asp was awarded the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada's Skookum Jim Award, which recognizes Aboriginal achievements in the mineral industry. He is also vice- president of the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association. From 2006 to 2009, Asp was a member of AME BC's Stepping Stone Editorial Board. Barry Price is president of B.J. Price Geological Consultants. He is recog- nized as B.C.'s leading nephrite jade geoscientist and is also active in copper- gold porphyry exploration. Price has extensive experience in valuation of exploration properties and B.C. gov- ernment expropriat ions. He holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in geolog y from the Universit y of British Columbia, and is one of the leaders behind a fundraising campaign to revitalize the UBC Geological Field School near Oliver, B.C. Hans Smit specializes in guiding advanced exploration projects through resource estimations, economic evaluations and permitting. He is president of the Minerals North board of directors and has been involved on many boards and committees as a mineral exploration representative. As former vice-president of exploration for Grayd Resource Corp., Smit played an instrumental role in the discovery and advancement of the La India project in Sonora, Mexico, which entered produc- tion in 2014. Smit served on the AME BC board of directors from 1999 through 2007; during this time he also served on the AME BC Land Use Committee. AME BC Outreach Education Fund The AME BC Outreach Education Fund is a corporate endowment dedicated to increasing the public's appreciation and understanding of B.C.'s mineral exploration industry through the advancement of pub- lic education and community programs. The Britannia Mine Museum is granted $5,800 towards supporting the museum's education programs, which in 2015 accommodated 11,500 students from kindergarten to Grade 12. More specif- ically, the 2016 program will be focused on evaluating and updating the What Uses Are Minerals to Me program and the newly established Sea to Sky Geotour program, as co-ordinated with Don Ross Middle School in Brackendale. A new initiative will be developed to showcase specific metals in various minerals and in our water resources. This exhibit is scheduled for display from March to August of 2016. Also, a classroom/learn- ing zone has now been completed at the museum where students will have hands- on experience with minerals, rocks and metal specimens. The museum has also recently received an impressive collection of hydrothermal black smoker chimney specimens from the Juan De Fuca Ridge. The specimens will, in the near future, be showcased as an exciting display to dem- onstrate how these underwater hydro- thermal events related to the formation of the Britannia copper orebodies. The Centre of Training Excellence in Mining ( CTEM) is granted $4,600 for costs related to co-ordination and pro- duction of the second edition of BC Career Pathways Guidebook: Mining Careers. CTEM was created in 2013 with the aim of providing British Columbians access to education and training programs spe- cifically focused on careers in the mineral exploration and mining industries. A well- illustrated and informative guidebook was prepared and distributed in 2014 with the objective of communicating to prospect- ive students, jobseekers and the general public about opportunities in prospecting, exploration and development, operations and reclamation projects in B.C. In order to further advance the public's apprecia- tion and understanding of B.C.'s mineral exploration and mining industries and their related career opportunities, CTEM is planning to update and produce an enhanced version of the guidebook. It is anticipated that this edition will provide new perspectives and information on trades, career paths and education pro- grams. It is also hoped that the second edition will be distributed to a broader B.C. audience, including Aboriginal and remote communities. MineralsEd is granted $9,600 for co- ordinating the Kids and Rocks hands-on classroom workshop in 2016 for children and students in kindergarten to Grade 3 in the Lower Mainland schools of B.C. The main objective of this program is to introduce children to the basic properties of various rocks and minerals and how they are utilized to benefit our lives. The kids are very interested, curious and eager to learn about our earth and its materials. They are provided with a bag of about 25 rocks and minerals along with a hand lens, hardness kit, streak plate, magnet and flashlight to experience and learn the basic physical properties of their specimens. As the children advance, they are introduced to how our daily lives are dependent on the earth's non-renewable resources. In 2015, the funding grant provided for the delivery of the hands-on workshop to 25 classes totalling 548 children. This Kids and Rocks project is an important step- pingstone in the foundation and future of our mineral exploration industry. ■

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