Nominees tie for top Mining Week honor

An environmental products maker and a British Columbia Native group have jointly won the western Canadian province's 2008 Mining and Sustainability Award.

The honor is awarded annually by the Mining Association of British Columbia and the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources to organizations that show exceptional commitment to advancing and promoting sustainable development in the B.C. mining sector.

Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the MABC, presented the awards May 4 to Absorbent Products Ltd. of Kamloops, B.C., and the Upper Similkameen Indian Band based in Keremeos, B.C., at a reception in Vancouver as part of BC Mining Week 2009 celebrations.

"We congratulate Absorbent Products Ltd. and the Similkameen people for showing leadership in, and commitment to, advancing and promoting sustainable development in our industry and the province of B.C.," said Gratton. "After considering a very competitive slate of candidates for this year's Mining and Sustainability Award, the adjudication committee decided that both of these organizations deserved to be recognized for their different but equally compelling contributions to sustainability in mining."

Manufacturer makes mark in reclamation

Absorbent Products produces more than 140 branded and private-label pet, agricultural and industrial products including a diatomaceous earth deposit approved for use in organic production and sold throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The materials it mines are used in manufacturing agricultural deodorizers, consumer products such as cat litter, animal feed additives, pellet binders, pond liners, industrial absorbents, sand blasting mediums and ice melt. Many of these have been approved for use in organic production through listings with the Organic Material Review Institute.

More than 15 years ago, Western Industrial Clay Products developed a mine site close to Red Lake near Kamloops, B.C., where it produces diatomaceous earth and bentonite. Absorbent Products Ltd. purchased the assets of Western Industrial in 2005.

Absorbent's customer base includes Wal-Mart, Tractor Supply, Home Hardware and PetCetra, and it ships products to Canada, the United States, Asia and Europe.

The company employs 38 people directly and estimates its economic benefit to the community totals about $20 million annually. The company has not had a single lost-time accident at the mine sites in the last 15 years. This impressive safety record speaks for itself.

Absorbent has demonstrated a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, according to the MABC.

Gratton said Absorbent takes its reclamation obligations seriously and is ahead of schedule in completing its mine reclamation.

Throughout the years, the company has improved its processing efficiencies and now uses about 6 percent less natural gas per metric ton and about 10 percent less electricity in terms of kilowatt hours per metric ton than in 2002. The company also has a large percentage of First Nations employees and enjoys a close working relationship with the Tk'emlups Indian Band of Kamloops.

Group preserves mining history

The other award winner, the Upper Similkameen Indian Band, has taken its 69 members' understanding and vision and applied it to creating and expanding an economic base to allow people to pursue a balance between a traditional and contemporary lifestyle, according to the MABC.

Renowned as traditional miners and traders of ochre, the Upper Similkameen Indian Band survived the gold rush, the discovery of rich mineralization near Hedley in southern British Columbia, and the end of that wave of mine development in the late 1950s.

Today, the Upper Similkameen Indian Band is one of the largest employers in the Hedley, B.C. area.

The group's achievements include the preservation of the former Mascot Mine and Tulameen Ochre Bluffs and the development of the Snaza'ist Interpretive Center. "Snaza'ist" in the language of the Similkameen Indians means "striped rock place."

"Their accomplishments have become a model of success for sustainability in mining in the Province of British Columbia," Gratton added.