Electronic Bulletin No. 2 of the Canadian Geoscience Council
In this issue:
In this issue:
The Board of Directors of the Canadian Geoscience Council intends to keep you informed regularly about CGC activities, through this new series of bulletins. I would like to thank Antoni Lewkowicz for editing the bulletins, distributing them, and maintaining the associated CGC Listserv.
This edition includes a couple of items. One is about a 'nitty-gritty' geoscience issue which is of concern to the community – an instrument to "enhance the accuracy and integrity of disclosure in the mining industry". The second is about our relationships with the outside world – in this case, the efforts of the Canadian Geoscience Education Network to organise the GEOSCIED IV conference to take place in Calgary in 2003. This international conference is one of a series on geoscience education at various levels, especially schools (K-12). Support of GEOSCIED IV is an integral part of CGC's first priority – enhancing public awareness of geoscience.
CGC has determined to pursue public awareness at two levels – the school system, exemplified by CGEN and GEOSCIED IV, and decision-makers, with an initial focus on the federal government. The Board of Directors is presently studying the feasibility of a CGC office in Ottawa to allow us to engage more effectively with politicians and senior bureaucrats. In this way, perhaps, we may pursue effective advocacy of the role of geoscience in advancing the health and welfare of Canadians. We expect to tell you more about this soon: stay tuned!
Jeremy Hall, President, Canadian Geoscience Council, Memorial University of Newfoundland
As geoscientists, we don't usually concern ourselves with rules and regulations implemented by the Canadian Securities Administrators. However, National Instrument 43-101 (43-101) that became law on February 1, 2001 will directly impact many Canadian geoscientists practising in the field of mineral exploration. The instrument does not apply to disclosure concerning petroleum, natural gas, bituminous sand, shale, or groundwater. The purpose of 43-101 is to "enhance the accuracy and integrity of disclosure in the mining industry". What does this mean to the geoscientist community in general? In essence, it means that all technical reports pertaining to mineral projects must comply with 43-101 standards if we intend to have any of our work accepted for public disclosure.
Some of the most important changes that have been incorporated in 43-101 are:
The instrument states that all disclosure of a scientific or technical nature must be based upon a technical report prepared by a QP. A Qualified Person as defined in 43-101 is an engineer or geoscientist with at least five years of experience relevant to the subject matter of the mineral project and is a member in good standing of a professional association. Canadian jurisdictions that do not currently have professional associations of geoscientists; Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Yukon, will be excused from the professional association requirement until February 1, 2002 for Ontario and until February 1, 2003 for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Yukon.
All disclosure of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves must use the Standard Definitions adopted by the CIM council on August 20, 2000. Under these definitions, Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories. A Mineral Resource is a concentration or occurrence of natural, solid, inorganic or fossilized organic material in or on the Earth's crust in such a form and quantity and of such a grade or quality that is has reasonable prospects for economic extraction. Mineral Reserves are sub-divided in order of increasing confidence into Probable and Proven categories. A Mineral Reserve is the economically mine-able part of a Measured or Indicated Mineral Resource demonstrated by at least a Preliminary Feasibility Study.
Technical reports prepared by a QP must be filed whenever a material change occurs. The reports must be in accordance with the detailed outline defined in Form 43-101F. The QP must states that the technical report is in compliance with 43-101F and that he/she has read the instrument.
I recommend that you get a copy of NI 43-101 and read it thoroughly before completing your next technical report for public disclosure. You can get a copy of NI 43-101 by contacting your nearest securities commission or you can access a copy on-line through the links from the Canadian Geoscience web site at www.geoscience.ca
Gilles Arseneau, Ph.D., P. Geo. Financial Director, Canadian Geoscience Council
The Canadian Geoscience Education Network (CGEN) is the main educational outreach activity in Canadian geoscience. CGC supports this important activity by funding CGEN directly and through having an Education Director who is generally the President of CGEN.
Over the next two years CGEN will be preparing to host the Fourth International Geoscience Education Organisation (IGEO) Conference in Calgary from August 10 to 14, 2003. The IGEO meetings (more informally known as GeoSciEd's) commenced at Southampton, England in 1993. The second Conference was held in Hilo, Hawaii, in 1997 and the third was in Sydney last year.
Calgary was chosen for of a variety of reasons, including its superb situation at the junction of the Cordillera, Foothills and Prairies. The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology and the badlands with dinosaur remains are within easy reach. To the west are the foothills with the economic implications of oil, gas and coal developments. The Rockies allow easy access to structural geology, magnificent geomorphology and scenery and to the world famous Frank Slide and Columbia Icefields. Additional bonuses include BC sites at the Burgess Shale and open pit coal extraction in the Natal/Sparwood area. To the south of Calgary are the Turner Valley, interesting Quaternary features at the former junction of the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets and the World Heritage site at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. Any one of these would be a major attraction for overseas geoscience educators, but conference delegates will have the chance to visit all of them!
The University of Calgary has excellent accommodation and conference facilities, but most importantly the region has a hard-core group of distinguished geoscience educators who will drive the conference! More information on the conference can be seen at: www.science.uwaterloo.ca/earth/geoscied.
CGEN believes that GEOSCIED IV will serve as a catalyst to pull together many of the disparate educational activities across Canada into a common national theme. The different initiatives include educational outreach by EdGEO, by the Museums, the mining information thrusts of BC and Ontario, Geoscape, EarthNet, the educational books and videos produced by the Atlantic Geoscience Society and other activities. The latter include Provincial geological road maps and educational materials, WAT ON EARTH a newsletter for teachers, as well as more local initiatives in the various Provinces and Territories. CGEN activists are involved in many of these enterprises and wish to share their successes with teaching and educational colleagues in the IGEO and especially amongst other Canadians.
If you are interested in participating in GEOSCIED IV, regional committees are being established across Canada. Please contact avmorgan@uwaterloo.ca for more information.
Alan V. Morgan, Administrative Director, Canadian Geoscience Council
