Weblinks
BC Government
British Columbia Geological Survey (BCGS)
The British Columbia Geological Survey (BCGS) is the ministry branch responsible for producing and housing the public geological and geoscientific information about mineral resources and mineral potential in the province. Its core staff is made of professional geoscientists who carry out the systematic inventory and assessment of the varied and complex geology of British Columbia. Its role was initiated in 1895, and it functions today as a highly technical institution in answer to the continuing information needs of government, business, and the general public.
MapPlace
MapPlace facilitates easy access to selected maps and databases of the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines (formerly Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources). Create your own maps using interactive data sets. Create reports and download data from selected themes and objects.
ARIS Assessment Reports
The British Columbia Geological Survey (BCGS) has over 33,500 approved mineral exploration assessment reports filed by the exploration and mining industry since 1947. These reports provide information on geological, geophysical, geochemical, drilling and other exploration-related activities throughout B.C. These reports have been scanned and are now available for viewing/printing from this website.
ARIS (Assessment Report Indexing System) greatly assists users in locating specific assessment reports for viewing or downloading, and provides brief report summaries including the ability to import text files containing assessment report numbers.
The ARIS MapBuilder can be used to quickly produce maps to partially fulfill assessment reporting requirements. This map can also be used to create basic maps for the Mineral and Coal Exploration Notice of Work Application.
MINFILE
MINFILE contains geological, location and economic information on over 13,070 metallic, industrial mineral and coal mines, deposits and occurrences in BC.
BC Ministry of Energy and Mines (Main Site)
The Ministry of Energy and Mines main site. Written in a blog format, the site reports on mining activities in British Columbia.
Mineral Title Forms (PDF)
Forms available for Free Miner’s License, Assessment Report Title Page and Summary, Physical Work Report, Complaints.
Mineral Titles Homepage
Mineral Titles Home Page
BCeID (Needed to administrate claims on Mineral Titles Online (MTO)
A BCeID account is required to administrate mineral and placer titles on Mineral Titles Online.
Mineral Titles Online MTO
British Columbia’s complete online tenure management system. The system allows individuals or companies to acquire and manage claims, leases and renew free miner’s licenses. You can also view maps with configurable layers and search a database of all tenure in British Columbia.
Ministry of Energy and Mines Directory
Find detailed contact information from every branch of the Ministry of Energy and Mines throughout British Columbia.
Mining Groups and Societies
Kamloops Exploration Group
The Kamloops Exploration Group Society (KEG) is a registered society that serves to generally promote the interests of mining and prospecting for minerals, metals and petroleum.
American Exploration & Mining Association (formally NWMA)
American Exploration & Mining Association (formerly known as the Northwest Mining Association until 2013) is a 119 year old, 2,300 member, non-profit, non-partisan trade association based in Spokane, Washington. AEMA members reside in 42 states and are actively involved in prospecting, exploring, mining, and reclamation closure activities on USFS administered lands, especially in the West. Our diverse membership includes every facet of the mining industry including geology, exploration, mining, engineering, equipment manufacturing, technical services, and sales of equipment and supplies. AEMA’s broad membership represents a true cross-section of the American mining community from small miners and exploration geologists to both junior and large mining companies. More than 90% of our members are small businesses or work for small businesses. Most of our members are individual citizens.
Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada
The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) represents the interests of the Canadian mineral exploration and development industry. The association was established in 1932 in response to a proposed government regulation that threatened the livelihood of Ontario prospectors. A timeline of the association’s history is available here, along with a written history that can be found here. Today, 81 years after its founding, the association is a national organization with 9,000 individual members (including prospectors, developers, geoscientists, consultants, mining executives, and students, as well as those involved in the drilling, financial, investment, legal and other support fields) and 1,254 corporate members (including senior, mid-size and junior mining companies and organizations providing services to the mineral industry).
The Mining Association of Canada
Since 1935, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has been the national voice of the Canadian mining industry. Working alongside our members, MAC promotes the industry nationally and internationally, works with governments on policies affecting the sector and educates the public on the value mining brings to the economy and the daily life of Canadians.
Calgary Mineral Exploration Group Society
The Calgary Mineral Exploration Group Society is a non-profit association incorporated under the Societies Act of Alberta. The mandate of the Calgary MEG is to foster a recognition of the importance of mineral exploration and the development of mineral resources to the province of Alberta.
The Mining Association of British Columbia
The Mining Association of BC, one of the oldest associations in the province, represents the collective needs and interests of coal, metal, industrial mineral companies and smelters in British Columbia. In doing so, MABC has come to be regarded as the predominant voice of mining in British Columbia. We invite you to explore the numerous resources we have on our site all designed to showcase the many facets of the mining industry in BC!
Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum
Founded in 1898, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) is the leading technical society of professionals in the Canadian Minerals, Metals, Materials and Energy Industries. CIM has over 14,600 members, convened from industry, academia and government. With 10 Technical Societies and over 35 Branches, our members help shape, lead and connect Canada’s mining industry, both within our borders and across the globe.
Chamber of Mines of Eastern British Columbia
The Chamber of Mines of Eastern British Columbia is a non-profit organization located in Nelson, BC providing authentic, reliable information to the general public and the mining industry. Our members include everyone from individual prospectors to large mining and engineering companies.
Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia
AME BC is the lead association for the mineral exploration and development industry based in British Columbia. Established in 1912, AME BC represents, advocates, protects and promotes the interests of thousands of members who are engaged in mineral exploration and development in BC and throughout the world. AME BC encourages a safe, economically strong and environmentally responsible industry by providing clear initiatives, policies, events and tools to support its membership.
They host the Mineral Exploration Roundup in annually in Vancouver.
Mapping Resources
GeoBase
GeoBase is a federal, provincial and territorial government initiative that is overseen by the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG). It is undertaken to ensure the provision of, and access to, a common, up-to-date and maintained base of quality geospatial data for all of Canada. Through the GeoBase portal, users with an interest in the field of geomatics have access to quality geospatial information at no cost and with unrestricted use.
Note: The GeoBase website will no longer be available by the end of December 2014 – however, you will still be able to download all GeoBase products, without fee, from the GeoGratis website.
University of Maryland (Landsat imagery)
Landsat (name indicating Land + Satellite) imagery is available since 1972 from six satellites in the Landsat series. These satellites have been a major component of NASA’s Earth observation program, with three primary sensors evolving over thirty years: MSS (Multi-spectral Scanner), TM (Thematic Mapper), and ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus). Landsat supplies high resolution visible and infrared imagery, with thermal imagery and a panchromatic image also available from the ETM+ sensor. The collection of Landsat available through GLCF is designed to compliment overall project goals of distributing a global, multi-temporal, multi-spectral and multi-resolution range of imagery appropriate for land cover analysis.
DataBC
DataBC encourages broad data sharing with the public and across government, as open data whenever possible. The DataBC Catalogue provides easy access to public government data, applications and web services. These datasets are under multiple license types, with thousands of datasets under the BC Open Government License. Our geographic services can help you to map and analyze data, find tools to help you conduct your own research, develop applications, or to simply satisfy your own curiosity. These services are part of the provincial Spatial Data Infrastructure – a shared resource of geographic data and platform services.
GeoBC
GeoBC creates and manages geospatial information and products as well as provides consultation services across all natural resource sector (NRS) agencies. While this may sound like a complicated and purely technical role, in practice the group has four very tangible areas of focus directly tied to NRS business functions:
- To create and maintain a standard set of base spatial data (e.g. roads, hydrology, terrain, etc.) with the goal of progressively making this information open and accessible for use by all,
- Providing assurance for two of the Provincial Crown land registries, the information repositories of Provincial rights and obligations – specifically Tantalis and the Integrated Land and Resource Registry (ILRR),
- Offering Crown land research expertise to other government agencies, both rights-granting and otherwise, and;
- Offering a service for custom solutions to NRS business issues (e.g. developing mapping products and visualization for avalanche awareness, providing assistance to treaty teams, spatial design and project management support for clean energy projects, etc.)
Field Resources
Geoscience BC
Geoscience BC is an industry-led, not-for-profit, applied geoscience organization. Geoscience BC works in partnership with industry, academia, government, First Nations, and communities to fund applied geoscience projects with the objective to attract mineral and oil & gas exploration to British Columbia.
Geoscience BC’s mandate includes the collection, interpretation, and delivery of geoscience data and expertise, to promote investment in resource exploration and development in British Columbia.
Magnetic Declination Calculator
This calculator may be used to calculate the magnetic declination. The International Geomagnetic Reference Field is used to compute values within Canada and elsewhere in the world.
Mineral Summary
USGS Commodity Statistics and Information
Statistics and information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials essential to the U.S. economy, the national security, and protection of the environment.
Mineral Commodity Reviews
Each year, the Minerals and Metals Sector (MMS) of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) undertakes a comprehensive review of developments in the minerals and metals industries and publishes the results as commodity reviews.
MMS has made commodity reviews from the past few years available on this web site or provided information on how to obtain them. These reviews are posted as they become available. You can subscribe to our site to receive an e-mail notice when we release a new publication, plan an event, or have important news to share with our stakeholders. Additional sources of information and statistics on minerals and metals are also available in the menu on the left.
Mining Education
Mineral Resources Education Program of BC
MineralsEd, established in 1991 as a teacher-industry partnership program, is a not-for-profit educational organization operating in British Columbia that is dedicated to encouraging and supporting Earth science, mineral resources and mining education in school. Our goals are to foster a well-informed public through school education based on accurate and balanced information, and to stimulate young peoples’ interest in minerals industry careers.
Geology 101 – The Northern Miner
Brief summaries of various types of deposit models.
Landsat Science
Landsat images are more than snapshots from space. Scientists, farmers, and historians are only some of the people who use Landsat data in their careers, but many people benefit from the information that Landsat reveals about our planet. These resources can be used to showcase some of the important work that Landsat makes possible.
Mineralogy
Web Mineral Mineralogy Database
The Mineralogy Database was last updated on 9/5/2012 and it contains 4,714 individual mineral species descriptions with links and a comprehensive image library. Visit the “What’s New” section for details.
Each mineral has a page linked to tables devoted to crystallography, crystal structures, X-Ray powder diffraction, chemical composition, physical and optical properties, Dana’s New classification, Strunz classification, mineral specimen images, and alphabetical listings of mineral species. There also are extensive links to other external sources of mineral data and information.
Athena Mineralogy
Extensive photo library of common and rare minerals. Searchable database.
Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU)
The Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) is a collaborative venture between the mining industry and The University of British Columbia (UBC). The unit, which was established in 1989 with support and financial assistance from the mining industry and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), is an important part of the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences and an internationally recognized research group devoted to solving mineral exploration-related problems.
Corporate
Stocks
Yahoo Finance
Press releases and other information pertaining to international metal-mining news.
SEDAR
www.sedar.com is the official site that provides access to most public securities documents and information filed by public companies and investment funds with the thirteen provincial and territorial securities regulatory authorities (“Canadian Securities Administrators” or “CSA”) in the SEDAR filing system. The statutory objective in making public this filed information is to enhance investor awareness of the business and affairs of public companies and investment funds and to promote confidence in the transparent operation of capital markets in Canada. Achieving this objective relies heavily on the provision of accurate information on market participants.
