MINERAL ECONOMICS SOCIETY

2000 Annual Report

Mineral Economics Symposium and other Conferences

The Mineral Economics Society held a successful one-day Symposium in Toronto on January 22, 2001, with the theme, Mining in Transition: Consolidation, Returns and Shareholder Value.

Speakers were:

Geoff MacDonald, Vice President, Investment AIM Funds Management - Funding the mines: A leading fund manager’s vies on the international mining industry.
Joyce Bish, Director Base Metals, Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. - Selling the deal to the market: Getting it right first time.
Douglas Bradham, Senior Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Aluminium.com - Metals trading, international markets and the Internet.
Ray Castelli, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, Quadrem International Ltd. - Quadrem: An e-procurement marketplace for mining.
Deborah McCombe, Chief Mining Consultant, Ontario Securities Commission - National Instrument 43-101: Corporate Practice in Scientific and Technical Disclosure.
Jim Cooney, General Manager, Strategic Issues, Placer Dome Inc. - NGO’s: Your new partner in mining; friend or foe.
Henry Brehaut, Global Sustainability Services - Tailings Management: A global issue.
Martin Whittaker, Senior Analyst, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors - Hidden risks and potential for strategic investors.
Bill James, Chairman, Inmet Mining Corporation; Vivian Danielson, Editor, The Northern Miner - moderators of panel discussion.

Funds generated from the Symposium (and from previous Mineral Economics Symposia) are used by the Society to support the teaching of mineral economics at Canadian universities and will also be used to support the publication of Karl Harries updated work on royalties and agreements in the mineral industry.

At Mining Millennium 2000 in March, 2000, a one-day session was presented under the auspices of the CIMVal Committee on valuation practice. The papers have been published by CIM as "Mineral Property Valuation, Proceedings".

The Mineral Economics Society will present two sessions at the 2001 AGM in Quebec City, on ore resources/reserves and on valuation procedures. In Vancouver, the Society is assisting in the planning of sessions for the 2002 AGM.

Committees

The Ore Reserves Committee saw the definitions of resources and reserves that it helped to formulate and draft (over a period approaching 10 years) incorporated by reference into National Instrument 43-101 which came into force in February, 2001.

The mandate of the CIMVal Committee is to develop standards for the valuation of mineral property.

Discussion Group

The Discussion Group of the Mineral Economics Society meets periodically in Toronto to provide presentations in an informal atmosphere with the purpose of promoting exchange of ideas among technical and non-technical participants in the mineral industry.

Education

The Mineral Economics Society renewed its support to the Lassonde Program in Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto for a three-year term. Support to a course in ore reserve estimation at the University of British Columbia continues.

Publications

Following discussions early in 2000, Karl Harries, author of a series of three handbooks on royalties and agreements in the mineral industry published previously by the Centre for Resource Studies, started work on revising the text for publication as a CIM Special Volume. The format of the revised work is to be decided, since the original volumes were soft cover and spiral bound and designed to be used for easy reference.

As of spring, 2001, the revisions to the text are well in hand and the Mineral Economics Society proposes publication before December, 2001.

Committee

The committee for the Mineral Economics Society from May, 2000 was as follows:

Chair: Jane Spooner, Micon International Limited
Vice-Chair: Brian Johnston, Fluor Daniel
Past Chair: Keith Spence, Export Development Corporation
Treasurer: Joyce Bish, Merrill Lynch Canada
Secretary: J.C. St-Amour, Haywood Securities Inc.
Education Committee: Jacqueline Allison, BMO Harris Investment Management
Ore Reserves Committee: Bernie Haystead, CIBC World Markets; John Postle, Roscoe Postle Associates
CIMVal Committee: Bill Roscoe, Roscoe Postle Associates; Keith Spence, Export Development Corporation
Discussion Group: Maryse Belanger, MRDI Canada; Andrew Abraham, Watts, Griffis and McOuat
Publications: Larry Smith, Billiton Base Metals

To the extent possible, members of the Mineral Economics Society committee serve a two-year term. For the year commencing May, 2001, however, both Joyce Bish and Jacqueline Allison will stand down. Individuals to replace them have yet to be confirmed.

Jane Spooner, Chair Mineral Economics Society