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Mining exploration near Smithers could increase after the release of a new map of mineral deposits in the area. Story below. Contributed photo
Boost for exploration By Alicia Bridges Smithers/Interior News
A new survey of mineral deposits in the Smithers area could lead to a spike in exploration in the Northwest, according to Smithers Exploration Group president Rob Maurer. Non-profit organization Geoscience B.C. last year used aerial magnetic surveys to detect concentrations of minerals in an area between Terrace, Kitimat and Smithers, including sites that had not been surveyed since the 1960s. Data from the survey was unveiled at the 2016 Minerals Roundup conference, held by the Association for Minerals Exploration B.C. (AME BC) in Vancouver last week. According to Geoscience B.C., the project was designed to identify mineral resource potential and to help guide land use decisions. “The data we have generated here will provide detailed insights into the bedrock and focus mineral exploration and investment in this area,” said Geoscience B.C. minerals and mining vice
Human rights ruling is win for Northwest: Blackstock
president Bruce Madu. Another survey is planned for the area between Smithers and Vanderhoof this year. Smithers Exploration Group (SEG) president Rob Maurer, who attended the AME BC conference in Vancouver last week, said similar surveys in stronger economic times had led to increased exploration. “When it’s been done in the past, when economic times were more plentiful, the aerial survey information being released has actually set off some little staking rushes where people are quick to get in there and stake claims in spots they think show promise based on the information,” said Maurer. Although exploration has slowed with the downturn in the mining industry, Maurer said the new information could still stimulate activity in the Northwest. He said the data would not specifically identify where to build a mine, but it helped narrow down the search for hidden resources.
By Alicia Bridges Smithers/Interior News
The Gitxsan woman behind a landmark human rights case, which ruled the federal government was discriminating against First Nations children by providing inadequate child welfare on reserves, says the decision will lead to better social supports in the Northwest communities where she grew up. Cindy Blackstock is a child welfare activist and executive director of the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada. The social worker, who grew up in Northwest B.C. and has family in the Hazeltons, last month won a long-running court battle with
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CHIEFS, LEADERS FIGHT LNG AT LELU Hereditary chiefs and politicians sign a declaration to stop LNG development.
STEELHEADS SCHOOL KITIMAT Smithers team swims ahead of Kitimat in first playoff match.
HUNTING DOWN LOCAL HISTORY Museum finds historical gold in yellowed pages of gun club minutes.
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the federal government over the provision of child and family services on reserves. Blackstock’s case, which was filed by the Caring Society, claimed that Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) was discriminating against aboriginal children in its provision of child welfare on reserves. In 2011, AANDC successfully applied to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) to have the case dismissed, claiming that the issues raised were beyond the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. However, in 2012 that decision was set aside by the Federal Court, which ordered a new CHRT panel to consider the case.
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