EDITORIAL PAGE — Happy Mining Week!

Rarely do mining organizations in Canada have cause to celebrate the actions of a political leader. Nevertheless, cheers are being heard across the country for Anne McLellan, who has persuaded the Governor General to proclaim the second week of May as “National Mining Week.”

The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) was the first group to congratulate Canada’s minister of natural resources for “a job well done.” Equally delighted was the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), which helped co-ordinate the initiative.

We, too, believe McLellan should be commended, and we share with mining organizations the hope that this proclamation will convince her cabinet colleagues to remove the barriers that affect the industry’s competitiveness.

According to MAC President George Miller, National Mining Week will make more Canadians realize that this industry is among the most advanced in the country. It should provide the opportunity for them to learn more about the high measure of technological sophistication which exists at all levels of exploration, development and production, and about the degree to which all companies have adopted stringent practices aimed at protecting the natural environment.

Like MAC, CIM is determined to dispel the outdated perceptions and stereotypes about mining held by many Canadians. To do so, it hopes to promote public awareness of such developments as “remote robotics” (also known as “teleoperation”), which enables operators to manipulate machinery precisely from considerable distances. Another innovation, known as the “Geographical Positioning System,” involves the use of handheld devices which receive signals from satellites for locational purposes, thereby replacing the prospector’s map and compass.

On the environmental front, the figures speak for themselves.

CIM points out that mining companies representing 83% of the value of base metal production in Canada are voluntarily committed to reducing annual emissions of major pollutants by 71% by the year 2000. It also draws attention to the fact that mining companies in Sudbury have spearheaded initiatives to reclaim 6,000 hectares of land. Once-vacant lands in the area are now home to 92 species of birds and 86 varieties of plants and wild flowers.

Most provinces already hold mining weeks at various times of the year. By co-ordinating efforts, mining representatives will now be able to draw greater attention to their industry.

It was to be expected that industry organizations would greet the initiative with enthusiasm. But the success of National Mining Week will ultimately depend on the support shown by local communities, mining companies and those who make their living from the industry.

Mining is the backbone of more than 155 communities across Canada, and National Mining Week should provide an opportunity for these resource towns to impress upon urban Canadians the contribution that mining makes to their standard of living.

For their part, mining companies can participate in Mining Week activities by demonstrating the sophisticated technology employed in exploration, mining and mineral processing.

There is even a role to be played by the 100,000 men and women directly employed by mining, and the many hundreds of thousands who service the industry. Each year, during the second week of May, all can consider themselves “ambassadors of mining.”