{"id":1144993,"date":"2019-10-21T12:45:48","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T17:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1004812"},"modified":"2019-10-21T12:45:48","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T17:45:48","slug":"gold-rush-in-canadas-nova-scotia-unearths-opportunities-and-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1144993","title":{"rendered":"Gold rush in Canada\u2019s Nova Scotia unearths opportunities and criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has been<br \/>\nattracting local and international companies lured by its untouched gold riches<br \/>\nand the easy access to most assets, located nearby existing highways, some<br \/>\ngroups warn of potential impacts to watersheds and communities.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cNova Scotia has a golden opportunity to create jobs in gold mining,\u201d said&nbsp;Sean&nbsp;Kirby, executive director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS) said while opening an <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/web\/nova-scotias-new-gold-show-set-to-whet-investors-appetite\/\" >industry conference last week<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne gold mine opened in 2017, four are in the permitting process and there is a lot of exploration taking place,&#8221; Kirby noted. \u201cThis activity is bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to the province and creating hundreds of jobs for Nova Scotians, mainly in rural areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But locals groups, including the Ecology Action Centre, argue the amount of potential jobs and revenue to be created wouldn\u2019t offset the damage caused to waterways and unique wilderness of the province.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cOne gold mine opened in 2017, four are in the permitting process and there is a lot of exploration taking place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><cite>Sean\u00a0Kirby, executive director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>They also argue that there has been a lack of public<br \/>\nconsultation on the rising number of open-pit gold mines, adding that a significant<br \/>\nnumber of exploration companies have been found at fault of abiding by the<br \/>\nprovince&#8217;s regulations. <\/p>\n<p>The violations revealed in documents <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/nova-scotia\/mineral-exploration-nova-scotia-1.5265779\" >released to&nbsp;<em>CBC&nbsp;News<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;this summer include drilling without approval, excavating outside their licence areas and, in some cases, cutting trees right down to a lakefront.<\/p>\n<p>Miners and researchers alike agree that modern mining<br \/>\ntechniques and rules allow for the responsible extraction of minerals with little<br \/>\nto no negative effects on the surroundings.<\/p>\n<p>Nova Scotia&#8217;s 21st century gold industry also differs from the underground operations in gold rush lived in the province <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/gold-mining-comes-back-to-nova-scotia-31974\/\" >during the late 1800s and early 1900s<\/a> in other ways. Geologists are now seeking tiny flecks of the precious metal in the folds of ordinary, &#8220;host&#8221; rock that held the quartz, rather than exclusively in the quartz veins that characterize underground gold mines.<\/p>\n<p>Northern Shield Resources is a good example of the new trend.<br \/>\nThe company recognized a unique opportunity that came its way in 2017, which<br \/>\nled to the discovery of a large, low sulphidation epithermal gold system in<br \/>\nNova Scotia, the first of its kind in the province. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/current-gold-exploration-nova-scotia-1024x788.png\" alt=\"Gold rush in Canada\u2019s Nova Scotia unearths opportunities, criticism\" class=\"wp-image-1004814\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/current-gold-exploration-nova-scotia-1024x788.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/current-gold-exploration-nova-scotia-300x231.png 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/current-gold-exploration-nova-scotia-768x591.png 768w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/current-gold-exploration-nova-scotia.png 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Map courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/novascotiagold.ca\/theme\/exploitation_de_lor-mining\/districts_auriferes_actifs-active_gold_districts-eng.php\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nova Scotia Gold.<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Such systems area highly prized for their potential to host \u201cbonanza\u201d gold and silver grades. \u201cNew district-scale opportunities do not arise very often, especially within sight of the Trans-Canada Highway,\u201d Ian Bliss, president and chief executive said at the conference last week. <\/p>\n<p>The company has just acquired <a href=\"http:\/\/northern-shield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/NRN-Press-Release-October-18_Final1.pdf\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">two new epithermal discoveries<\/a>&nbsp;made by local prospector Patrick Bellefontaine&nbsp;in Cape Breton.<\/p>\n<p>Bliss noted that Australian miners are picking up these opportunities much faster than Canadians and cited the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/australias-st-barbara-grabs-canadas-atlantic-gold-536m-deal\/\" >recent acquisition of Atlantic Gold<\/a> by Australian gold producer St. Barbara (ASX: SBM)\u00a0as an example. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Geologists are now seeking tiny flecks of gold in the folds of ordinary, \u201chost\u201d rocks rather than exclusively in the quartz veins that characterize underground gold mines.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Through the C$722 million deal, the Melbourne-based\u00a0company gained access to the Moose River complex , which comprises one producing open-pit (Touquoy) and three others in development (Beaver Dam, Fifteen Mile Stream and Cochrane Hill).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAustralian producers currently hold the upper hand in valuation, FCF generation, and market cach\u00e9 to purchase Canadian assets, many of which have struggled mightily of late,\u201d BMO Metals analysts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/australias-st-barbara-grabs-canadas-atlantic-gold-536m-deal\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">wrote at the time<\/a>.&nbsp;\u201cWe view the consolidation of Australian and Canadian mid-tier miners as inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The buyout came after Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM) acquired a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/newcrest-grabs-majority-stake-canadian-copper-gold-mine-806-5m\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">copper and gold mine in British Columbia for $806.5 million<\/a> in March and said it had the firepower for more acquisitions.<\/p>\n<p>Based on MANS\u2019 figures, the mining and quarrying industry<br \/>\nemploys about 5,500 Nova Scotians and generates $420 million annually in<br \/>\neconomic activity.<\/p>\n<p>The number of mineral claims in the province doubled from<br \/>\n2017 to 2018 \u2013 most of it focused on gold.&nbsp;Exploration drilling in Nova<br \/>\nScotia surged 2,641% from 2016 to 2017 to over 200,000 metres drilled \u2013 again,<br \/>\nmost of it looking for the yellow metal, the mining association says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Local and international companies are being lured by the area&#8217;s untouched gold riches, but groups warn of potential impacts to watersheds and communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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