Mining Month — May 2023

MINING MONTH

A MESSAGE FROM THE MINES MINISTER CAPTURING CARBON A MAIN FOCUS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE

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B U I L D I N G & P O W E R I N G A B E T T E R W O R L D

W e ’ r e h e l p i n g o u r c u s t o m e r s m e e t t h e i r s u s t a i n a b i l i t y g o a l s b y u s i n g

t e c h n o l o g y t o r e d u c e e m i s s i o n s a n d p r o v i d i n g c l e a n e r p o w e r s o l u t i o n s .

To g e t h e r, w e ’ r e m i n i n g b e t t e r.

L e a r n m o r e a b o u t o u r i n i t i a t i v e s i n s a f e t y, a l t e r n a t i v e f u e l s , r e m a n u f a c t u r i n g a n d m o r e i n o u r r e c e n t S u s t a i n a b i l i t y R e p o r t a t f i n n i n g . c o m / s u s t a i n a b i l i t y

Sustainability, economic opportunity in mining

B.C. Mines Minister Josie Osborne on Mining Month 2023:

“During the month of May, we recognize the economic and social importance of the mining and mineral-exploration sector, a foundational part of British Columbia’s economy that generates more than 30,000 good, family-supporting jobs for people in communities throughout the province.

“Already a world-leading mining jurisdiction, in recent years, B.C.’s mining sector has grown and evolved to place high value on environmental, social and governance principles, and strong and collaborative partnerships with Indigenous communities.

“This is what makes British Columbia a destination of choice for investors that prioritize environmental sustainability, economic opportunity and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

“First Nations have a crucial role in British Columbia’s mining sector.

Our approach to natural-resource development must be done in collaboration and partnership with the rightful owners of the land.

“And through the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan, we are committed to modernizing the Mineral Tenure Act to continue to build and strengthen our work together.

We have already initiated a process of consultation and cooperation with First Nations to advance this work, consistent with the interim approach from the Declaration Act secretariat.

“Natural resource development in our province is undergoing profound shifts as demand for more environmentally sustainable operations soars and the world transitions to a cleaner, low-carbon economy to meet climate goals.

“B.C.’s mining sector is an essential part of this change as we provide the critical minerals and metals needed to fight climate change. We are Canada’s largest producer of copper and only producer of molybdenum. These and other critical minerals are integral components of emerging technologies, such as electric cars, wind turbines and solar power that will help drive a cleaner, healthier future.

“A recent survey commissioned by the Mining Association of BC

shows British Columbians overwhelmingly want to see the province become a leader in supplying these critical minerals.

“I also want to see the province of B.C. as a leader in this space, which is why we’ve set aside $6 million over the next three years to develop a critical minerals strategy and to further unlock B.C.’s potential to produce additional critical minerals and develop new opportunities through the supply chain.

“The province’s mining sector is already taking a leading role in the clean-energy transition. An excellent example is Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Mine southwest of Vanderhoof.

“As B.C.’s first new open-pit mine in almost a decade, the Blackwater Mine is a role model in a thriving, future-focused mining sector. It received its operating permit in just 10 months, from final application to green light. Connection to the BC Hydro grid will provide the mine

with a sustainable source of lowcarbon hydroelectricity and the potential to produce gold and silver with some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in the world.

“In 2022, we saw record-breaking numbers with a forecasted annual production value of more than $18 billion and exploration spending at a record $740 million — up $80 million from 2021.

“We continue to make progress to reduce permitting wait times and we are looking forward to three gold mines beginning production within the next year.

“I want to recognize the dedication and efforts of everyone in the mining and mineral exploration sector who has helped us to achieve such success.

“I look forward to continuing to work together to support and encourage progress, and the viability and growth of the mining sector and the communities that rely on it.”

Mines Minister Josie Osborne

Numerous proposed mines in South Central B.C.

New mines are navigating the permitting process, millions of tonnes of copper was harvested and mineral exploration spending in South Central B.C. amounted to about 15 per cent of the record-breaking $740 million spent across the province in 2022.

Mines Ministry South Central region geologist Cary Pothorin said the most common economically significant mineral deposits in South Central B.C. include copper, silver and gold.

Exploration expenditures in South Central B.C. in 2022 totalled $108 million, with drilling work amounting to $243,000.

As per third-quarter statistics, South Central mines produced millions of pounds of copper in 2022. Pothorin said Mount Polley mine near Williams Lake produced more than six-million pounds of copper and 12,000 ounces of gold,

while Gibraltar mine produced 97-million pounds of copper and just over a million pounds of gold.

New Gold’s New Afton Mine about 10 kilometres west of Kamloops pulled 31-million pounds of copper and 271,000 ounces of gold. Highland Valley Copper near Logan Lake produced 262-million pounds of copper and a million pounds of gold.

Copper Mountain in the Similkameen produced 53-million

pounds of copper, 21,000 ounces of gold and 247,000 ounces of silver.

Pothorin said there are five mines either proposed or in various stages of the permitting process in South Central B.C. at the moment.

He said the Cariboo Gold project had a positive feasibility study released earlier this year, with probable reserves of two-million ounces of gold and a 12-year mine life.

The project is currently ion the environmental certification process.

Spanish Mountain near Likely in the Cariboo is also in the environmental certification process and has probable reserves of 2.3-million ounces of gold and two-million ounces of silver over a projected 14-year operation.

The Ruddock creek mine project, near Avola and 155 kilometres northeast of Kamloops, is in the pre-application phase.

The New Prosperity mine, 125 kilometers southwest of Williams Lake, has probable mineral reserves of 831-million tonnes of copper and gold and its operators are in negotiations with the Ts’ilhqot’in First Nation.

Pothorin also noted the proposed Ajax mine near Kamloops, which has a projected 18-year mine life, recently had an office reopen in Kamloops and the companies behind the project are

looking to restart negotiations and resubmit an application for the project.

Part of the Ajax site was mined in the late 1980s by Teck as part of its Afton operation. Abacus acquired the Ajax project from Teck, with KGHM buying into it in 2010.

The Ajax mine application was rejected by the provincial government in 2017 and the federal government in 2018. Approval from both levels of government is needed for the mine proposal to proceed.

Upon the initial rejection, KGHM and Abacus did not pursue the option of appealing the decision at the Supreme Court level.

As of late 2020, KGHM and Abacus were in the process or working on a new application and opened an office on Victoria Street in downtown Kamloops after hiring Michael Wypych as project manager.

MINING MONTH

BC GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY AN AGENCY IN TRANSITION

The B.C. Geological Survey is an agency on the move in more ways than one, according to Adrian Hickin, its chief geologist and executive director.

He said the B.C. Geological Survey is an organization in transition, having seen plenty of turnover during the height of the pandemic, with retirements and departures.

He said the agency has had 13 new staff members since 2019 and now has 11 vacancies, with it growing and recruiting.

The B.C. Geological Survey is the oldest science agency in the province, having been founded in 1895, and creates and disseminates information that supports effective minerals extraction, land-use management and responsible government, Hickin said.

He said the agency has moved to a new facility, with staff taking the opportunity to catalogue, archive and properly curate the samples in the archive.

That included 41,000 rock samples and 600 boxes of geochemical samples — each box containing hundreds of samples.

“It’s an incredible resource to look at reanalyzing some of those samples,” Hickin said, noting the project will help with the B.C. Geological Survey’s interest in critical minerals.

Critical minerals are non-fuel materials that are essential for economic security and serve essential functions in manufacturing products, but Hickin said they are also linked to transition to a lowcarbon society.

“The world cannot tackle climate change without adequate supply of raw materials to manufacture clean technologies,” he said.

Where mining may have been seen previously as a “blight,” Hickin said, more and more people realize it is needed to combat climate change as the world will need adequate supply of raw materials to manufacture clean technologies such as magnetics in windmills, steel for carbon infrastructure and lithium and nickel and magnesium for electric vehicles.

“That’s a change around the narrative I think we can carry forward,” Hickin said.

One of the most important roles of

Industry

the B.C. Geological Survey is to track and monitor what is happening in the mining sector. Hickin said the agency publishes annually a couple of reports highlighting activity in the province.

In 2022, mining production values exceeded $18 billion, with 67 per cent of that related to metallurgical coal, followed by copper and gold.

“That’s pretty substantial,” Hickin said.

Metallurgical coal is used to make steel and B.C. is the largest producer of if, Hickin said.

He said last year’s mining exploration of more than $740 million was a record for the province, noting copper exploration was up 80 per cent.

Hickin said mineral titles were given exemption orders during the pandemic, which enabled people to postpone submitting assessment reports to the B.C. Geological Survey, leading to a backlog now being worked through.

“We’ve got 1,308 submissions in 20212022 and we’re slowly working those through the system right now,” Hickin said.

We proudly salute everyone in the Mining

Congratulations on your commitment to doing an excellent job and your dedication to our families and communit y.

Geoscience BC focuses on capturing carbon

A B.C. non-profit agency is on the cutting edge of new research aimed at pulling greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere as one of a myriad of mining projects with which it is engaged.

Geoscience BC minerals manager Brady Clift said the organization is researching carbon capture and storage, such as mineralizing carbon in rocks and developing green energy projects in the province.

He said carbon mineralization involves injecting gaseous carbon dioxide into mafic rocks — silicate minerals rich in magnesium and iron — that is then turned into carbonate minerals to be stored permanently.

“This stuff is pretty cuttingedge,” Clift said.

He said ultramafic rocks work even better in the process of carbon mineralization, noting Geoscience BC wants to build a plant where it can pull CO2 out of

the atmosphere and be mineralized in that type of rock.

“The problem with ultramafic rocks is they’re not quite as porous,” Clift said. “Nobody’s done it in ultramafic rocks, so we’re looking at the ultramafic rocks and how we could do that there.”

Geoscience BC also assisted

in a pair of local masters projects at Thompson River University — one looking at how healthy topsoil remains after being removed in reclamation projects and the other determining whether insects are returning to soils when they are disturbed. For the past few years, Geoscience BC has also cata-

Commitments to a lower carbon economy are creating an increased demand for independent public geoscience to identify and assess potential for geological carbon capture and storage in B.C.

logued places around the province where there is potential for direct-use geothermal projects in the process.

Clift said one such recent project involved helping build up the geothermal resource potential in an area where the Nelson First Nation was able to construct a geothermal plant with a large government grant.

“This is an area where there isn’t just that much research that’s done or available and we’re hoping to fill in that gap a little bit and help more information out there and projects,” Clift said.

He said Geoscience BC has a number of new project concepts “floating around the office” for

which the agency is trying to find government and industry partners. Two of these are related to geothermal assessments in northwest B.C., where there are many volcanoes and mineral deposits. There is also the geothermal potential of a hot spring in the Kootenays.

Geoscience BC also recently produced a map showing where in northwest B.C. the best sedimentary layers are for potentially storing carbon.

Clift said the project has been well received and Geoscience BC wants to build on that success and do the same in the north, central and southwest parts of the province.

“It gave a great basis to build this industry off of,” Clift said. Geoscience BC is a non-profit society established in 2005 that produces independent, public earth science research in minerals, water and energy projects.

MINING MONTH

New Gold celebrates Mining Month in Kamloops

In 2022, New Gold’s New Afton Mine just west of Kamloops celebrated the milestone of 10 years of commercial production while producing 31.1-million pounds of copper and 41,551 ounces of gold.

For our C-Zone production area, we took receipt of our mining permit and conducted our first bell blast, major steps towards production beginning there later this year.

We also started our new thickened and amended tailings facility, which is expected to lower the site’s overall freshwater consumption.

As well, we introduced two autonomous scoop loaders, resulting in positive impacts to the health and safety of our operators, and two battery-electric haul trucks, which aided in reducing our emissions equivalent to that of taking 180 cars off the road, while also reducing heat, diesel

particulate and respirable dust in the underground working environment.

In line with our culture of zero harm, New Gold in 2022 launched its Courage to Care program, which focuses our attention on its three pillars: to never compromise on safety, to look out for one another and to stop work if it’s not safe.

As a result of our relentless focus on health and safety and the introduction of the Courage to Care program, New Afton last year achieved a 58 per cent reduction in the total reportable injury frequency rate.

In recognition of our outstanding safety record and for achieving the lowest reportable injury rate among metal mines in the BC-Yukon region, we were awarded the John T. Ryan Regional Metal Trophy by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.

With more than 80 per cent of our employees coming from the Kamloops region, we understand the importance of investing in sustainable community development. In 2022, New Afton donated $292,000 to 34 charities and non-profits, including $21,000 to local volunteer fire departments. New Afton employees also raised more than $80,000 for 12 charities and non-profits, including

Highland Valley Copper 2040

Teck ’ s Highland Valley Copper Operations is proposing the Highland Valley Copper 2040 Project (HVC 2040) to ex tend the life of the operation to at least 2040, through an ex tension of the existing site infrastructure.

HVC 2040 allows for the continuation of social and economic benefits, such as sustaining approximately 1 ,300 jobs, while also helping to meet the growing demand for copper driven by the transition to a low-carbon future. HVC 2040 would yield approximately 1 .95 million tonnes of additional copper over the life of the Project

Learn more: hvc2040.teck .com

Share your feedback: HVC2040.feedback@teck .com

donations of $22,724 to each of the Chris Rose Therapy Centre for Autism, Kamloops Hospice Association and Hopewell Clinic and Pregnancy Centre.

In 2022, New Afton conducted four sustainability-focused projects, including the continued restoration of local wetlands and bird and bat habitats, and recycling 580 tons of steel milling equipment.

We also funded three local biodiversity-related initiatives, including making a $25,000 contribution to the BC Wildlife Park to help build an aquatic rehabilitation centre for injured waterfowl.

New Afton is certified ISO 14001 in our environmental management system, which guides our site-level activities and initiatives, and was recently recognized with a Towards Sustainable Mining Environmental Excellence Award by the Mining Association of Canada for innovative projects and initiatives that expand and

promote sustainable development within the mining sector.

In 2022, New Afton’s energy management system was recertified to ISO 50001:2018 and we remain the only mine in North America to be certified to this stringent, internationally recognized standard. Over the past year, we exceeded our annual energy objective by 70 per cent, with a total energy reduction equivalent to the average annual electricity needed to power 304 average houses in B.C.

We extend our thanks to our employees, Indigenous partners, vendors and the Kamloops community for their contributions to our successes.

By ensuring responsible operations, the health, safety and wellbeing of our people and meaningful community partnerships, New Gold will continue to contribute to the local community for years to come.

MONTH

More projects expected later in 2023 as mining year gets off to a slow start

New mining projects are off to a slow start so far in 2023, but many more are expected later in the year.

According to the Association of Mineral Exploration BC (AME), which tracks mining projects and finances, there have been 51 projects announced across B.C. as of March 26, down from approximately 250 announced last year at that time.

“That’s people who have put news releases out saying, ‘We’re going to build this year,’” AME president Kendra Johnston said. “Relatively low in the grand scheme of things.”

More projects are expected to be announced this year, she said, adding that of those announced so far, 26 involve critical minerals such as copper. She said only seven of the 51 projects involve drilling, totally 71,400 metres.

Of the projects to date, development financing totals $681 million and exploration financing totals $237 million.

Johnston said AME is involved in assisting the Ministry of Energy and Mines with the project permitting process and has seen a decrease in the number of backlogged project applications from the ministry’s new intake process.

“Which is a huge win,” Johnston said.

She said AME has also seen a faster turnaround time getting those documents to the referral stage to local First Nations and other government bodies that must provide comment from the ministry’s new intake process.

Johnston also noted that AME took on a recent public engagement process in the last six months — a new project to gauge opinion of the mining industry in B.C.

Through an Angus Reid poll of 640 respondents, only 39 per cent felt more mining projects are needed in B.C. Men were twice as likely as women to agree that more was needed, however, with Johnston noting 53 per cent of men agreed more

projects were needed versus 27 per cent of women.

She also said respondents had “significant doubts” that the mining industry is inclusive, is a partner in reconciliation with First Nations and is environmentally responsible.

“That one was really disappointing for us ,to see that that message is not getting across to the public,” Johnston said, noting those are areas in which the industry strives to do its best.

She said AME’s goal is to now increase the number of people who agree that mining projects are essential for the lowcarbon future of B.C.

AME is the lead association for the mineral exploration and development industry based in B.C.

Established in 1912, AME represents, advocates and promotes the interests of nearly 5,000 members engaged in mineral exploration and development.

MINING MONTH OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE C

ritical minerals — notably copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt — are the building blocks of the net-zero future and essential to aerospace, defence and communications technologies.

China is currently the dominant global refiner of critical minerals and the world’s largest producer of EV batteries and clean technologies like solar cells.

Western governments recognize that dependence on countries governed by authoritarian regimes for critical mineral supplies is a strategic vulnerability. That’s why countries like Canada, the U.S. and others are working independently and in partnership to build up their own critical mineral supply chains.

In Canada, the federal government has launched the Canadian Critical Mineral Strategy to capitalize on the rising demand for

critical minerals, which could grow sixfold by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.

Critical minerals from B.C. and across the country are the crucial ingredient in new EV battery plants like St. Thomas Battery Cell Gigafactory in Ontario.

According to a recent public survey, 75% of British Columbians would like to see the province become a world leader in supplying critical minerals essential to clean technologies and fighting climate change.

There is an understanding that critical minerals have an essential role to play in helping us reach our climate goals.

This strong level of public support aligns with the growing recognition of critical minerals as strategic assets that are the essential building blocks of a low carbon future.

— Mining Association of B.C.

CRITICAL MINERALS & CLIMATE ACTION

Critical minerals are essential to clean technologies that help fight climate change, such as solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles. Which is closer to your view?

• I want B.C. to be a world leader in providing the critical minerals the world needs:

• I don’t care that much about whether B.C. provides these critical minerals:

– source: Abacus Data/Spark Insights

73% 27%

BC mining is a world leader in producing the critical minerals essential to developing clean, modern technologies that help fight climate change — like electric vehicles.

Let’s seize the opportunity, right under our feet.