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PDAC President Jon Baird on Resource Intelligence TV

 

President Jon Baird Discusses PDAC2010, Mining Industry

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is more than the world’s most attended mining convention. The PDAC represents the interests of the Canadian mineral exploration and development industry as a whole. The association was established in 1932 in response to a proposed government regulation that threatened the livelihood of Ontario prospectors. Today, 77 years after its founding, the association is a national organization with 6,000 individual members and 950 corporate members. President of the PDAC Jon Baird, joined us in our Vancouver studio.

Resource Intelligence: Jon, why was the PDAC formed?

Jon Baird: The PDAC was formed back in 1937 by a group of prospectors who had some issues in common. In fact, it’s not unlike the issue with the qualified persons that we’ve tackled in Canada in the last few years because the government of Ontario wanted the prospectors to have to use engineers to speak for them and the prospectors felt that wasn’t necessary, so they started to defend their interests and it all started from there.

RI: Is your membership exclusively Canadian?

JB: No. Our membership is really global. They may be Canadians who live and work in Canada, Canadians who work outside of Canada, or foreigners who simply want to benefit from the convention that we run and all of the various activities that the PDAC undertakes. There are 10,000 Canadian exploration and mining projects in the world; only half of those are located in Canada. So Canadians are all over the world prospecting, exploring and involved in other mining activities. Most people from abroad know that Canadians are leaders in mining activity, so they want to be part of the PDAC as members and come to our convention as well.

RI: As a non-profit organization, what are the goals and the vision of the PDAC?

JB: The goal of the PDAC is to promote the exploration and development industry, both in Canada and around the world. We serve our members as any good association does, wherever they are. So while it has an important mandate within Canada, it also has an international aspect to it as well.

RI: There are many problems facing the resource industry. One of them is the public perception. Could you talk briefly on that subject?

JB: It’s a shame that the public doesn’t understand as much about this wonderful industry as it should. On the other hand, those of us in the industry sometimes think that the public likes us less than they actually do. A few months ago the PDAC commissioned a professionally carried out survey on this subjet. 2,500 Canadians were asked their opinions about the industry. Ninety-six percent said that the industry was either important or very important to the Canadian economy. On that basis, while they don’t understand a lot of the details of the industry, Canadians do understand the importance of the industry economically.

RI: What percentage of Canadian GDP does the mining industry represent?

JB: The whole mining industry is rated at about 4.5% of GDP. Within that there are some of the best jobs in terms of wages, benefits and security. The 4.5% doesn’t capture everything: About 60% of railway revenue comes from the mining industry and a huge percentage of our port revenues come from mining. Also, what is not captured in the supply side of the mining industry is that all of the companies that provide services and equipment and so on, to the mining industry. There are a huge variety of services and products used by the mining industry, going all the way from exploration right through to production and then reclamation of the mines. The economic impact of the mining industry in Canada is far greater than what the statistics show.

RI: To lead this organization, you need staff and people. Approximately how many volunteers and staff does the PDAC count on?

JB: There is a board with 48 members from all over Canada. Some of them are lawyers and some of them are tax experts as well as geologists. And I happen to be the current chief. The position of President of the PDAC has a two year term.

Then we also have a permanent staff that runs the convention. There are about 20 people who work for the PDAC full-time. Around half of those work on the convention full-time, year round. We also have a subsidiary called Mining Matters that teaches students in school about the mining industry and encourages them to seek a career in this industry. There are senior program managers that handle environmental issues, aboriginal issues and land access issues, all of these things we have been talking about. So the PDAC works year round for its members in advocating the industry to government. The PDAC is more than just a convention. The convention is a big part of it and is our most important source of revenue. Members pay dues as well and so in addition to the full-time staff, we often hire consultants and specialists in legislation or tax matters to beef up our ability to advocate.

RI: By comparison to the US congress, we are not talking about that type of a lobbying budget?

JB: It is important, I think, that the industry have proper spokespeople to approach senior politicians, ministers and senior bureaucrats to tell them about the industry because most politicians really know very little about the industry. We have to have a means of informing them and to some degree persuading them of what is required to keep this industry competitive in a world that is changing us all the time.

RI: Indeed, the industry is changing rapidly as we run out of resources and countries seek to find and hold those precious resources.

JB: The term “run out” I don’t quite agree with. I think that there is huge potential in the crust of the earth that is becoming more and more difficult and more expensive to find, because the outcropping rocks of the world have been pretty well looked at by now. For example, just 10% of Canada is rock outcrop—the rest is covered. So we need geophysical methods and geological thinking which will allow us to find resources deeper. Whether we’re running out of resources is a question of some debate. I think it’s there to be found.

RI: It’s there, it just may be more expensive.

JB: The prices of commodities will go up and that will fuel the exploration industry to go out and spend all this extra money to find what still remains.

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