While in Smithers, I attended Friday’s hotstove event featuring local resource exploration companies Garibaldi, Metallis, Sassy, Etruscus and Ontario’s Canada Cobalt Works. Held at the Hudson Bay Lodge and hosted by Bullmarketrun.com, the event kicked off a series of public events built around this weekend’s charity hockey games between the Smithers’ Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks’ alumni team, lead by Canucks’ greats Dave Babych, Kirk Maclean, and Cliff Ronning.
As expected, each company was afforded time to promote the potential of their resource but I was surprised at how open the companies were in explaining their business practices. With the exception of Ontario’s Canada Cobalt Works, literally all the resources are clustered in the Eskey Creek region of BC’s Golden Triangle. The proximity to one another and their shared distance from Smithers has created a cooperative environment where geotechnical information as well as some of their physical resources – like the Metallis core shack – are shared to support the greater good. By sharing knowledge, each company gains a greater understanding of what many argue to be the greatest mineral resource deposit in the world. For me, this translates to shareholder value as, overall, investment dollars are being purposefully directed.
If Northwest BC is mining country, Smithers is the heart of it. According to statistics sourced from AMEBC, the mining industry pumped at least $ 164 Million into the region in 2018 – a $ 65 Million increase from the year before. $35 Million of that is estimated to have gone directly into the Smithers economy. Add to this wages and salaries not included in these numbers, and a bigger picture is revealed: roughly half of BC’s mining expenditures are being spent in this region.
Considering the obvious economic impact and the great potential for growth, the afternoon’s discussion turned briefly to discuss looming threats to the industry. A well-organized environmentalist agenda has co-opted already convoluted Government policy and soured the international investment community. For the first time in a decade, no Canadian province ranks among the Top 10 jurisdictions for mining investment attractiveness according to the Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies. British Columbia now ranks 19th.
Despite the cautionary notes, made more significant by the ongoing Wet’suwet’en negotiations taking place in the community, the event ended on a high-note. After all, the gathering was about hockey. Together, the companies put up $50,000 to secure the event and seek to raise more than $ 100,000 in total this weekend. Already, there was talk of turning this into an annual affair.
I’ve attended a number of mining events over the last few years but this one was different in that it was small and engaging and gave plenty of time for questions from the floor. I’d give the afternoon a A-Grade – when you can keep people engaged and off their smartphones for 90-minutes you’ve done something right! Something you won’t see at PDAC this week.
For details on the companies mentioned in this article, go to:
bullmarketrun.com
Canada Cobalt Works
Garibaldi Resources
Etrustcus Resources
Sassy Resources
Metallis Resources
