EXPLORATION ’95 — Value of Canada’s mineral production rises

The latest figures released by Canada’s minister of natural resources, Anne McLellan, show a 9.1% increase in the total value of Canada’s mineral production in 1994 compared with 1993.

Preliminary estimates show that the total value of the production of all mineral commodities, including mineral fuels, rose to $39.9 billion in 1994 from $36.6 billion in the previous year.

“These figures demonstrate the importance of the mineral industry to a stronger Canadian economy,” the minister says. “Recent upward trends in commodity prices have improved the outlook for the industry. A prosperous mining industry committed to the principles of sustainable development is important to this government.”

McLellan adds that the government has made a commitment to economic growth through the Liberal Mining Agenda, and is also committed to “providing leadership to ensure a strong future for the Canadian mining industry.” All four mineral commodity groups (metals, non-metals, structural materials and fuels) recorded increases in the overall value of output. Results for individual commodities generally reflected these gains, with most showing gains in production value.

Leading the way were natural gas, crude petroleum, potash and gold. The value of non-fuel mineral production (excluding mineral fuels) increased to $14.5 billion in 1994 from $13.3 billion in 1993, a gain of 8.7%. The total value of metallic mineral production rose by 6.1%, to $9.4 billion from $8.9 billion. Gold, copper, zinc, nickel and iron ore continued to be the leading metals in Canada in terms of their values of production, with all but nickel demonstrating increased values of output.