EDITORIAL PAGE — Canada: a land teeming with hidden potential

Some junior companies base their exploration efforts on the premise that the best place to look for new mines is where mines have already been found. And indeed this strategy has resulted in many new discoveries in Canada’s historic mining districts.

But it is a good thing that not all explorationists adhere to this principle, for if they did, it is unlikely that the Voisey’s Bay and Kudz ze Kayah deposits, as well as the Lac de Gras diamond field, would have been found.

Until a few years ago, Labrador was perceived as prospective only for iron ore, a few small-scale uranium deposits, industrial minerals and dimension stone, and not much else. But all that changed when Albert Chislett and fellow prospector Christopher Verbiski, our Mining Men of the Year for 1995, discovered a significant nickel-copper-cobalt deposit near Voisey’s Bay. Today, a host of juniors, together with a few majors, are busy looking for Voisey’s Bay II in a region that was virtually ignored until recently.

A decade ago, the Lac de Gras region of the Northwest Territories was not considered a prime hunting ground for mineral deposits. Granitic rocks dominated the landscape and, as the story goes, government geologists viewed the region as unprospective and did little mapping in the region. It took 10 years of dedicated effort by prospector-geologist Charles Fipke before the diamond potential of this remote region was realized.

The Yukon has experienced many mineral rushes, starting with the Klondike activity almost 100 years ago. But until Cominco discovered the ABM deposit, now known as Kudz ze Kayah, the region near Finlayson Lake was not widely thought of as prime hunting ground for massive sulphide deposits. That view has changed now that a second discovery, the Wolverine, has been made in the region. More discoveries may come to light as work continues next year.

All this goes to show that Canada still has potential for a variety of mineral deposit types. It also shows that it is impossible, if not foolish, for governments to attempt to define areas with low mineral potential. While there may be a scientific pattern to where deposits are found, this does not mean there is no room for surprises. A case in point is the Hemlo gold district of Ontario, whose rich deposits did not fit the general model for gold mines in the province.

It is also important to remember that deposits that are uneconomic today may become economic in the future. Witness the Highland Valley camp of British Columbia, an area that previously was considered prospective only for small deposits of high-grade copper. A few visionary men saw potential in the larger deposits of low-grade copper mineralization and, despite many naysayers, several of Canada’s largest mines were brought to fruition.

Governments should be mindful of all this when they designate certain areas as exempt from industrial activity, with no possibility of their ever being explored for minerals. After all, to cite another time-honored adage of the industry, “mines are where you find them.”