THUNDER BAY -- Smaller players in the mining industry hope they won't be left by the wayside as Ontario proceeds with the modernization of the Mining Act.
A big change is set for implementation on April 10 when mining claim registration using online maps replaces the old system in which prospectors were required to hammer stakes at the four corners of their claims.
Some are concerned about the fees that accompany the new system.
"It's the cost of acquiring what's called a cell, which is the unit that we're going to acquire. In a lot of prospectors' eyes, and in some of the junior companies' eyes, it's a little high" at $50 a cell, says Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association.
In an interview at the Ontario Prospectors Exploration Showcase, being held this week in Thunder Bay, Clark said that while it is much higher than previous fees, it is also difficult to compare the new system with the old one.
"You used to have to go out into the field and put in your corner posts and blaze your claim, so it's an apples and oranges comparison. And part of the problem is that we've looked at all the jurisdictions in the country and tried to compare it with what theirs are, but each province has different ways of assessing and holding land, and a different sliding scale on acquiring the ground itself," Clark said.
Karl Bjorkman, owner of a prospecting and geological consulting firm, is concerned about how the changes might affect individual prospectors and smaller companies.
"If you're a small guy, it's a lot more than we used to pay. We used to use our sweat to go and get our claims. We didn't pay for them, we just worked for them," he said.
Bjorkman said that enabled newcomers to the industry, such as people coming out of school, to get some claims and show up at an event such as the current one in Thunder Bay "with a whole handful of claims."
"You could compete with people at a higher level than you financially. Now we have to pay the same as everybody else, which means if you're poorer, you just won't have as many properties."
Bjorkman called that "a downside" to the changes, adding that sometimes in an effort to make things better "the little guy does get hurt, and I think someone should be watching out for the little guy."
He noted that mines are often found by one individual working in the field, and said he feels that protecting the ability of a young person to make discoveries with "boots on the ground" will help foster a healthy industry.
Bjorkman plans to attend a seminar this week that will provide more details on how the new system will work.
Although he anticipates that online claimstaking will be fairly straightforward, he wonders if prospectors living in more rural areas will be at a disadvantage.
"In the old days, the fastest runner would get the claim. Now it's gonna be the fastest computer or someone who comes up with some way of getting ahead of everybody else by milliseconds," he speculated.
According to Clark, numerous players in the industry will be prepared when the changes take effect next week.
"We're all kind of waiting to get back into exploration and pick up some ground. A lot of people have been studying areas they want to pick up when the new system starts," he said.
