President's Report 2001-2002 - Francis Chartrand

This past year, the Geological Society continued to focus on serving its members in the mining, exploration and earth science communities by concentrating its activities in core areas as laid out in our mission. These activities revolved around the advancement and promotion of geoscience in the search for new ore deposits, as well as the promotion of public awareness of the mineral industry. Some of our activities are highlighted below.

The Society is particularly pleased that our field conference series was reinitiated this year following a three-year hiatus. Superior PGE 2001, hosted by the Thunder Bay Branch of the CIM, brought together more than 180 geologists, prospectors and other delegates in Thunder Bay, Ontario last September for a five-day event focussed on platinum-group element deposits and prospects in northwestern Ontario and northeastern Minnesota. The conference was capably chaired by Andrew Mitchell and featured a one-day technical session with numerous pre- and post-conference field trips. By all accounts, the conference was a technical and financial success. A detailed report of Superior PGE 2001 is included in the January 2002 issue of the CIM Bulletin.

Planning is underway for the next Geological Society field conference. Discussions have been held with the Porcupine Prospectors and Developers Association to serve as the local organizers for a field conference on the geological considerations of deep ore deposits. Tentatively, this meeting will run concurrently with the 2003 CIM Underground Operators conference to be held in Timmins.

Late in 2001, Robert Linnen agreed to join Phil Olson as the co-chair of the Symposia/Field Conference Committee. His addition to the committee will strengthen the Society’s ability to deliver sought-after field conferences.

The Society organized two conference sessions chaired by Tom Schroeter and Nick Carter at the CIM annual general meeting in Vancouver. These sessions were conceived and organized by Tom Schroeter, the Vice-President for 2001-2002. Ten papers dealing with exploration and mining of base- and precious-metal deposits in British Columbia and Nunavut were presented. The CIM recently reaffirmed the important role that technical sessions play in the AGM, and the Society is already involved in the planning of several technical sessions and workshops for the upcoming AGM in Montreal in 2003. Dave Lentz, the Vice-President of the Geological Society, is the person responsible for the Society’s participation in Montreal.

Publications continue to be a mainstay of the Society under the guidance of Dave Sinclair, the Publications chairman. Jim Franklin and Jeremy Richards continue to oversee the publication of many interesting articles in Exploration and Mining Geology. The final issue of Volume 8 (for 1999), a double issue on seafloor deposits, was distributed in 2001 along with the first two issues of Volume 9, which included a special issue on “Great Canadian Ore Deposits”. The final issue of Volume 9 (nos. 3&4) was distrbuted in early 2002. Another special double issue on new mineral discoveries and developments in northern Ontario (Volume 10, nos. 1&2) is in advanced stages of preparation for distribution later in 2002.

On the business side, the subscription base has increased to more than 800 for Volume 9 (2000) from less than 500 for Volume 8. The EMG web site (http://www.cim.org/geosoc/indexEmg.cfm) has been augmented with information about forthcoming papers and the availability of back issues.

This year, the Society produced its timely Special Publication 54 on platinum-group elements, edited by Louis Cabri. Publication is anticipated for the first half of 2002. The volume has been promoted at various meetings and other venues. A prepublication brochure and order form has been distributed in hard copy and in a downloadable pdf format on the CIM web site.

George O’Reilly continues to manage the imput of geological papers in the CIM Bulletin. The February 2002 issue of the CIM Bulletin had four geology-related Technical Papers under the banner “Mineral exploration in a changing industry”. Two dealt with current advances in geophysical exploration techniques, and two with the issue of acquiring of mineral properties as opposed to exploring for new properties. Mr. O’Reilly expects these high-quality papers to be well received by the readership. As indicated in the President’s report for 2000, the trend towards increased submission of geology-related papers to the CIM Bulletin seems to be continuing in 2001-2002, and several more geology articles are anticipated before the end of 2002.

The Geological Society contributed expertise to several CIM committees. New appointments for this year were Larry Cochrane and Phil Olson to the Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions (SCRD), Phil Olson to the Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves committee (EMRMR), and Jeremy Richards to International Affairs. Draft guidelines from the EMRMR committee were posted earlier this year on the CIM website for comment.

The Society was one of the co-sponsors of Sustainable Mining in the 21st Century (SUM21). This two-day workshop that followed the AGM in Vancouver examined the role of geoscientists in sustainable development for the mineral industry. Topics that the Society recognizes as important to the mineral community, such as the concepts of sustainable practices in exploration and mining and total resource utilization, were discussed by the workshop participants. A report by Jeremy Richards, one of the conference chairs, will appear in an upcoming CIM Bulletin.

The Saskatoon Section had another solid year in providing its membership with exposure to nationally recognized speakers. In the fiscal year September 2001 to August 2002, the events list includes the following:

October 18, 2001	Keith Firmin	Muskeg River Mine Project
November 1, 2001	Deborah McCombe	National Insturment 43-101: Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
January 18, 2002	Gary Yeo	A Pattern of Islands: Looking At Southwest Pacific Geology
February 14, 2002	Andre Gauthier	Gold Deposits in the Andes
February 28, 2002	Steve Halabura	The Devonian: Saskatchewan’s Oil Patch

In addition, there will be the Student Night presentations in March and two more regular presentations in April and May, with speakers to be announced. Total number of meetings for the year will be eight with attendance varying between 30 and 70 members.

The Julian Boldy Memorial Award was presented posthumously to Dr. Daniel Robert Boyle of the Geological Survey of Canada. The Barlow Memorial Medal for the best geological paper was given for “The Vazante Zinc mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil: Constraints on Willemitic mineralization and fluid inclusions” that appeared in Exploration and Mining Geology.

Lastly, I would like to report the nomination of Reg Olson of the Alberta Geological Survey as Vice-President for 2002-2003, and of Michele Winton, James Moorhead and James McCann as councillors through to 2004.

I wish to thank the the councillors of the Geological Society for their time and effort over the past year. The Geological Society relies upon these dedicated volunteers, on volunteers of the various branches and sections of CIM, those on the AGM committee, as well as the staff at CIM headquarters in Montreal, to provide quality services for its members. At a time when many organizations are suffering from volunteer burn-out, it is important to acknowledge these individuals and this special relationship that exists within CIM. The existence and growth of the Society depend upon it.