Quebec's Bill 14: Protecting Land or Threatening Mines?

Published by EPCM World

Quebec’s 2011 Bill 14 (also called, An Act respecting the development of mineral resources in keeping with the principles of sustainable development) amends the existing Mining Act with the intent to ensure that mining projects are better integrated into the community. Bill 14 also claims “to optimize mineral potential in Québec’s regions.”

The Bill emphasizes the importance of social acceptability. All mining projects will be submitted for public consultation, in order to achieve as broad a consensus as possible. Several provisions in the Bill make dialogue necessary at an early stage in the process between the promoter, citizens and their municipal representatives.

Also, for social reasons, the Bill gives the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife the power to prohibit or restrict mining activities in certain sectors, like those considered being too close to urban centres or areas popular for vacationing.

Annie Blier, Director of Sustainable Development for IamGold in Quebec, says that one of the major challenges for the mining industry right now is gaining social acceptability for a project – or to obtain the “social license” to operate:

“If we lost our credibility as a mining company, we would not be able to win new projects. [It’s important that the] community accepts a project before we begin development.

Also, for all closures and reclamations, [the mining company] has to involve the stakeholders, as early as we can… Public consultation to obtain meaningful input from local residents is crucial to our success. We must address their ideas and concerns when developing final reclamations plans and continue to manage stakeholder's expectations throughout the project.”

The mining industry in Quebec faces a challenge, and a potential game-changer with Bill 14. Some Quebec engineers express concern that “because of Bill 14, Quebec will become less attractive for prospective mining companies.” IamGold is a mid-tier mining & exploration company operating out of West Africa, South America and Quebec, and seems keen to expand and develop new sites in Quebec. Steve Letwin, President and CEO of IamGold sees the province’s potential of untapped resources that he says “is completely unvalued by investors.”

IamGold announced last month that bringing its Westwood mine (80 kilometres west of Val d'Or) into production within the next year will play a major role in achieving overall production of more than one million ounces of gold in 2013 and 2014.

Westwood, fully-owned since IamGold’s 2006 takeover of Cambior Inc., lies in a well-known and lucrative gold-mining district of northwestern Quebec. The development will be mostly responsible for nearly doubling IamGold’s capital spending this year (up to $880M).

IamGold's other gold mines in Burkina Faso and Suriname will also be expanded, while their big niobium mine in Quebec is going underground to add capacity.

Note from the Editor: Check back next week for more from Annie Blier of IamGold, in a feature article about Sustainable Development for the Mining Industry.