24 BCBUSINESS NOVEMBER 2017
the details of what the regula-
tory process could look like,
and doing it so we capture this
pretty good cycle we're on
right now. We're on an upswing
where I think investment can
start owing into the province
in a big way.
Canadian mining companies
have a mixed environmental
and human rights record.
What needs to happen there?
This industry is full of passion-
ate people who are doing their
best and committed to the prov-
ince, and doing amazing things
at their projects, environmen-
tally and otherwise. Mining's a
very progressive industry when
you look at our operations and
where we're going. So I think it's
about communicating more to
British Columbians and Canadi-
ans about what the industry is.
There's also some legacy
issues. Modern mining is dif-
ferent today than it was 50, 70
years ago, and so we need to
communicate where mining is
at now and where we're mov-
ing to, especially in technolo‚y
and environmentally.
How can the mining industry
make itself environmentally
sustainable?
For mining, it's about tailings;
it's about water and how it's
managed onsite, especially
in a jurisdiction like British
Columbia where we have so
much water, we have so many
mountainous areas where you
have to deal with water on your
site, where you're dealing with
tailings impoundments. It's
how we deal with that moving
forward, through technolo‚y
and other innovations.
On the sustainability side,
we're contributing products
that will lead to a lower-carbon
economy, but they're going
to stay in the value chain for
generations. When you think of
copper and how easily recycled
it is, you could reuse it so many
times.
What big challenges lie ahead?
It's about ensuring that we have a
regulatory process with e†ective,
e‡cient timelines where if you're
going to invest in the province,
you know you're going to get a
decision in a timely manner.
People are waiting for those
opportunities to come forward,
but they're not going to invest
unless they can see certainty in
the process. And by certainty I
mean a decision. Maybe other
industries have done themselves
a disservice by saying, "Let's
get to yes." Let's get to the right
answer. That puts the trust
back in the institutions to say,
"Yeah, we have really robust
institutions, and guess what? The
answer's not always yes." And it
shouldn't always be yes, but you
should be able to get an answer
by X time.
B.C. minerals by net
revenue in 2016
SOURCE: BUILDING FOR
THE FUTURE: THE MINING
INDUSTRY IN BRITISH
COLUMBIA 2016, PWC.
BASED ON A SURVEY OF
28 COMPANIES
DIGGING DEEP
METALLURGICAL
COAL ..................40%
COPPER .............25%
ZINC ...................12%
GOLD ..................9%
SILVER ...............8%
LEAD AND
MISC. .................5%
MOLYBDENUM 1%
