Prospectors urge Timmins politicians to pressure the province for support.

• Author: Nash, Jeff
• Position: Mining Report

Prospectors in the Timmins camp say there is only one real issue when it comes to the Timmins' municipal election, and the issue is creating the political climate necessary to stimulate exploration.

With ore reserves continuing their dramatic decline in Timmins, Steve Parry, president of the Porcupine Prospectors and Developers Association, says it is up to city council, and in particular the mayor, to turn the situation around.

"They (council) have to put direct pressure on the provincial government to either change some of their policies or to encourage exploration through some of the province's incentive programs," explains Parry, who doubles as exploration manager for Total Energold Corporation.

Although the province has both the Ontario Mineral Incentive Program (OMIP) and the Ontario Prospectors Assistance Program (OPAP) in place, the monies in the programs are not easily accessed, says Parry.

"The OMIP program, which is the one for companies, is funded to a total of $8 million. It's a fairly small number and it was underfunded," he charges.

Even so, Parry says the province "is telling us that there is not sufficient exploration going on even to take up $8 million of essentially free government money."

"That's extraordinary," he comments, claiming that the program has failed to encourage exploration.

Parry charges that potential investors have been scared away from Ontario by tough new environmental laws (Bill 220) as well as negotiations for Native self-government which affect potential exploration projects.

And there is no help coming from "a preoccupied" federal government, he complains.

"Maybe I'm being overly cynical, or maybe I'm being overly pessimistic, but I feel the federal government is so buried under other issues that it really is not giving this (exploration) the type of attention it deserves," he says.

While he applauds Timmins Mayor Dennis Welin for sending a letter to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney asking him to stop selling Canadian gold to prop up the dollar, Parry believes now is not the time to approach the feds for help.

He maintains that municipalities must put pressure on the province.

"If the local people put pressure on the mayor and the mayor puts pressure on the provincial government, eventually the province will start to pressure the feds," he says.

Parry compares the strategy to one used by the East Coast fisheries industry.

"The pressure started at the bottom with the fishermen. They started having...