British Columbia mining on the march

The evidence continues to indicate that British Columbia's mining industry is on the road to recovery.

Exploration spending edged up last year to C$55 million, from C$40 million in 2002 and a rock-bottom C$25 million in 1999, although the B.C. Mining Association has set a C$100 million target for the province to replace mines that will shut down over the next few years.

But the feared demise of the industry just four years ago has been postponed.

At that time, the province was in dire straits after losing an estimated C$750 million in exploration spending during the 1990s because of the policies of the New Democratic Party government of that time, according to mining association chief executive officer Gary Livingstone.

He told the Financial Post that the spending shortfall could have yielded eight new mine discoveries, generating more than C$2 billion in additional capital spending and more than 7,000 new jobs.

Livingstone said British Columbia was viewed as unstable at the time, prompting many mining companies to move elsewhere.

The turnaround started with the election of Gordon Campbell's Liberal government in 2001 and promises of drastic cuts to bureaucratic red-tape.

Instead of different regions scattered through the province, the Campbell government has promised, but not yet fully implemented, a "two-zone system" that clearly established where mining can and can't be done.

The government's pledge is that the change will be in place by the end of 2004.

The C$100 million exploration goal might even be exceeded this year, the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines has predicted, setting its sights on C$110 million, boosted by the C$800 million British Columbia-based companies raised in 2003.