Drilling for metals
  

September is when summer officially ends for most of us. But for our staff, September starts in July. Thats when we start on our mining and exploration edition that you now have.

Mining and exploration for minerals is a quiet industry. Mining geologists and private drill rig owners are the backbone of the industry but youll not likely see then at lunch. Their work is in remote Manitoba shield country where most of the base metals hide in the granite. Thats what diamond tipped drills are for. To find them.

From camps, both winter and summer, two man drill shack teams log long days retrieving core samples for crating and assaying.

In order to do that, junior exploration companies need a lot of money because they have no income except the potential of their property.

Its a time honored hunt that was responsible for the Thompson nickel belt 50 years ago. Things havent changed much. Show and tell conferences of land holdings seek investors or people who want to take an option on the property to drill.

It takes millions of dollars in shares. But in the end, it can earn ten fold the investment.

In November, those kinds of deals will happen at the 38th Manitoba Mining and Mineral Convention. Coordinator Shirley Henri of the Department of Science Technology and Mines, about 800 people from the tight knit mining community will show up.

Of all the provincial mining conventions, Henri says Manitoba consummates the most business deals because it is small and focused.

This years seminars will be on the hunt for nickel in Manitoba with several junior nickel exploration companies making pitches to possible investors.

Gary Ostry, manager of minerals policy and business development with the Manitoba Government, says flow-through shares in junior mining companies are an established currency. Investors in flow through shares of Canadian companies drilling in Canada, can use those expenses as a write off against their regular taxable income.

There couldnt been anything more Canadian than searching for metals. In this edition there are several juniors whose profiles are raised. One day, maybe not today, or tomorrow, all that drilling and risk taking is going turn up something thing big, likely very big.

Fifty years ago, after more than 700 km of drilling, the Thompson find showed up. That launched a town of renown and 50 years of good paying jobs for miners and their families. Thats what Canadian exploration and mining can do.

The same happened last year when the San Gold property at Bissett came on stream creating more than 200 jobs.

There is no doubt what mines can do to a province. Theyre like oil in solid form. We wish all those juniors the best of luck in turning in the big find in Manitoba.