Ontario ranked tops for exploration.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: Brief Article

Ontario is ranked as the best place in Canada for mining companies to put down exploration stakes, according to a survey released by the Fraser Institute.

Now the president of the Porcupine Prospectors and Developers Association only hopes that ring of endorsement eventually translates into investment dollars for mining exploration.

Andrew Tims says despite Ontario's acknowledged wealth of mineral potential, a stable political environment, tax cuts and government packages of mining-incentive goodies, he finds exploration at the grassroots level "quite discouraging."

Outside of the platinum group metals exploration rush in Sudbury, Tims finds many junior mining companies simply don't have the money for exploration anymore and find it difficult to raise speculative capital. "There used to be seven dedicated offices just in Timmins, four years ago," Tims says. "There's none now. The last office closed up in December."

A reintroduction of the Ontario Prospectors Assistance Program, eliminated last year, would be a "big step" towards encouraging more grassroots exploration, he says.

In addition, cutbacks to the resident geologist program and to mining recorder offices, along with some closings of core-sample libraries have undermined the local industry, he adds.

With gold prices sagging and only a limited number of viable targets for base metals such as copper, lead and zinc, exploration in the Timmins region is limited and Tims fears some gold-producing centres like Red Lake could become ghost towns.

The Fraser rankings were based on a region's geological potential combined with the effects government policies - such as regulation and land use - have on encouraging new exploration.

The Vancouver-based government policy think-tank polled 157 international senior and junior mining companies for their annual survey rating mining jurisdictions in North America and around the world. Ontario was the top-ranked Canadian jurisdiction and finished third overall in the world rankings, finishing just behind Nevada and Chile.

Laura Jones, a Fraser Institute researcher, says Ontario's taxation policies, infrastructure, environmental and labour regulations, all scored well with survey respondents. But what's keeping Ontario from achieving an even higher ranking is the uncertainty over what lands are considered protected areas. About 25 per cent of respondents cited Ontario's controversial Lands for Life - Living Legacy Trust planning process as the primary...