http://www.thesudburystar.com/2016/02/26/time-is-ripe-for-mine-investment-sudbury-panel

Time is ripe for mine investment: Sudbury panel

By Jim Moodie, The Sudbury Star

Friday, February 26, 2016 12:49:10 EST AM

Chris Hodgson, president of the Ontario Mining Association, takes part in a mining panel discussion hosted by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce at Dynamic Earth in Sudbury, Ont. on Thursday, February 25, 2016. John Lappa/Sudbury Star/Postmedia Network

'In an unstable economic environment, regulatory uncertainty makes it that much more difficult for Ontario miners to access capital'

The iron might not be exactly hot in the mining world right now -- and the Ring of Fire has scarcely been kindled -- but industry champions still feel it's an opportune time for policymakers to strike.

"Globally, the mining sector is obviously in a bit of a downturn," said Scott Boutilier, senior policy analyst with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. "From an Ontario perspective, though, there are a lot of things we can be doing right now to position the industry for greater success in the future."

Boutilier was in Sudbury on Thursday to kick off a panel discussion at Dynamic Earth on "strengthening Ontario's mining advantage."

That was the theme of a report Boutilier authored last year for the chamber titled Digging Deeper, which has since been circulated among media, industry stakeholders and government circles.

Boutilier said the round table in Sudbury was one of several organized by the chamber of commerce to reiterate points raised in the paper and create more dialogue on mining issues.

"We released the report in December, and wanted to keep the conversation going," he said. "The province released its own Mineral Development Strategy a couple of weeks later. So we just wanted to make sure the mining sector remained on the radar into the new year."

One of the main recommendations of the chamber report is for the province to pump more money into infrastructure in the North and to better coordinate how access to mineral troves is planned among miners, First Nations and local interests.

The latter could be partially accomplished, the report argues, by broadening the mandate of the Ring of Fire Infrastructure Development Corporation "to seek out these opportunities."

Ontario has already committed $1 billion to Ring of Fire infrastructure and transportation -- regardless of a matching federal contribution -- although little, if any, of that money has so far been spent.

Boutilier said the time is ripe to push for more investment in mining-related infrastructure.

"Both the federal and provincial governments presently have pretty big infrastructure commitments, and seem to have a better working relationship," he noted. "To unlock a big opportunity like the Ring of Fire, co-operation between governments is key, so we have a real opportunity here."

The industry has been rocked lately by low commodity prices and other global forces, but Ontario's mining picture remains relatively rosy, according to the Digging Deeper report.

In 2014, the value of mineral production in the province reached its highest level in a decade, the document notes, and deposits like those found in the James Bay lowlands "hint at future opportunities for mineral production."

Ontario is still the country's mining king, with 40 active mines generating $11 billion in product in 2014, compared to $8.7 billion in Quebec and $7.1 billion in Saskatchewan.

It's expected the market for metals will rebound in coming years, spurring more mining investment and activity in the province.

But it's not enough, said Boutilier, to simply wait out the slump.

"We need to reposition ourselves so that when the global industry goes through its next upswing, Ontario becomes the premier destination for new investment and new development opportunities," he said.

While part of that repositioning requires a monetary injection from Queen's Park, Boutilier said there are other, more administrative steps the province can take to support and grow the industry.

"Regulatory uncertainty is one of the most commonly cited barriers by the mining community," he said. "One of the things we heard is that it's hard for a company to even get a clear idea of who, exactly, they should be communicating with -- to know which communities they should consult."

Developers "interface with a few different ministries" in advancing their projects, he noted, but can encounter "conflicting consultation lists, depending on which ministry they're speaking with."

That confusion can end up protracting the process of getting a mine into production and cost the mining firms much more than they had expected.

"In an unstable economic environment, regulatory uncertainty makes it that much more difficult for Ontario miners to access capital," the Digging Deeper study points out.

Boutilier said a single list indicating which Aboriginal communities a miner must consult would be of great help to the industry.

Equally important, though, is to "implement a resource revenue sharing framework to allow First Nations to derive clear benefits," he said. "We need to make it more clear what benefits will be derived from the outset, so it's more clear for the industry in terms of their consultations, as well."

Also presenting at the chamber panel discussion Thursday were Ontario Mining Association president Chris Hodgson; Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association president Hans Matthews; Stephen Lindley of SNC-Lavalin, a firm conducting a regional corridor study in the Far North; and Douglas Morrison, president and CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation in Sudbury.