B.C.’s two main political parties have promised to fast-track permitting for mines that extract critical minerals — a sign, the sector says, that politicians are taking seriously the province’s potential to be a leader in the area.
NDP leader David Eby and Conservative leader John Rustad both travelled to rural B.C. in the first week of the provincial election campaign to make promises about mining.
“We also have a generational opportunity in terms of a significant number of mining proposals,” Eby said at an event in Terrace.
“We have a generational opportunity in terms of a significant number of mining proposals.”
David Eby
“To take advantage of this opportunity, both the resources that it will provide to our province, the employment it’s going to provide to our people, and the opportunity that it’s going to provide in communities like terrace, we need to make sure that we’re doing everything possible to deliver [a] proposed project and turn it into a real project on the ground, providing all those benefits.”
Canada has 31 critical minerals, but some of the best known are lithium, cobalt, nickel graphite, copper, aluminium, zinc and some rare earth elements. They are critical to the construction of solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines and other technology to help transition to more renewable energy sources.
B.C. is Canada’s largest producer of copper, second-largest producer of silver, and also has some of the world’s largest zinc, lead and aluminium smelters. The Golden Triangle region in the northwest of the province is estimated to have a range of minerals worth $800 billion.
Coal is the biggest player and revenue generator in the B.C.’s mining industry by a long shot and made up about 62 per cent of Canada’s production in 2021 through 2023.
In all, there are 17 mines and two smelters in B.C., employing more than 35,000 people and responsible for more than $1 billion in economic activity annually — 10 metal mines, seven steelmaking coal mines, an aluminium smelter in Kitimat and a lead-zinc smelter in Trail.
There are 17 more mining projects in the queue for approval in coming years.
NDP, Conservatives commit to streamlining permitting
“Here in British Columbia, it can take 12 to 15 years to get through a process to be able to do a mine,” said Rustad.
“That, to me, is unacceptable as a province, and as a world. We need resources. We need the copper. We need the critical minerals for everything that we’d like to do, not to mention we need the jobs.”
“We need resources… we need the jobs.”
John Rustad
The NDP promised “guaranteed permit review timelines for critical mineral projects” to help address the multi-year delays, which Eby said would give certainty to investors making capital decisions.
The Conservatives promised a “one project, one permit” approach.
“The commitments in both parties platforms to streamline the mine permitting process in B.C. are most welcome, in fact they are crucial,” said Michael Goehring, president of the Mining Association of British Columbia.
“Platforms to streamline the mine permitting process in B.C… are crucial.”
Michael Goehring
“We’re very pleased to see both of the parties recognize there is an urgent need for permitting reform.”
The association made no specific endorsement of either party.
“We very much like the idea of a guaranteed time limit for permitting, at the same time we also very much like the idea in the Conservative Party of BC platform about a review of regulations,” he said.
Conservatives promise review of taxes, regulations
The NDP rounded out their mining platform with a new critical minerals office that it said would coordinate with Ottawa and First Nations to streamline projects, as well as upgrades to the electrical grid, highway system and skilled trades training programs.
The Conservatives promised a full-scale review of mining regulations and the tax structure around mining.
The BC Greens said it wants future mining projects evaluated on a complete environmental and social impact understanding, and criticized the Conservatives for failing to accomodiate Indigenous rights. The Greens propose to modernize the mineral and mining staking regimes to respect Indigenous rights, reduce risks to watersheds, and establish an industry-levied fund to mitigate the costs of mining pollution and disasters.
The NDP and Conservatives differ in other areas.
The Conservatives have promised to eliminate the carbon tax. While the NDP abruptly changed its position to match this month, it has also said it would retain the commercial element of the tax in the form of the emissions-based industrial polluter tax structure.
The NDP said its mining platform is bolstered by a deal with the 21 communities in the Northwest BC Resource Benefits Alliance, which will split $250 million over five years to help compensate them for the strain on resources caused by projects, like mines, that operate outside of municipal taxation.
Supporting exploration is key, says mining exec
The Conservative platform promises to reverse NDP impediments to exploration of new mines — which earned high praise from the sector.
“I was disappointing that the NDP didn’t even mention exploration or greenfield, and the Conservatives, to their credit, highlight the importance of mineral exploration to the province,” said Keerit Jutla, president of the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C.
“This is the key item. And I think the thing a lot of BCers don’t understand is the world bank says by 2050 we’ll need a 500 per cent increase in critical minerals to meet our demand.”
U.S. vice-president Kamala Harris has vowed to create a national stockpile of critical minerals, to protect demand within the United States and continue to allow construction of key green technologies. Canada has not, and B.C. is not doing enough to encourage exploration of new mines to meet demand, said Jutla.
“That means that in B.C. and in Canada the mines that we have, and the ones in the queue, and what’s called brownfield exploration, expansions fo the current mines, that’s not going to be enough,” he said.
“[Exploration] is a huge opportunity in this province.”
Keerit Jutla
“We need mineral exploration and greenfield exploration. That’s an integral part of the critical minerals future. The BC Conservatives understand and acknowledge that, and have put that in their platform. We have yet to see where the NDP sits there.”
The value of mineral exploration in 2023 was $643 million.
“That is a huge opportunity in this province, particularly at a time when we are running a deficit, where investment is softening, where employment is softening,” said Goehring.
“We need critical minerals. They are and should play a key role for the economic vision for British Columbia.”