This year's Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium in Sudbury will have an environmental bent to it.
Monte Hummel, president of the World Wildlife Fund Canada will bring an olive branch to the estimated 300 to 400 delegates in discussing "Is Peace Possible" between environmentalists and prospectors.
He is one of the speakers at the December 9-10 event at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Sudbury. Ontario's Far North planning process of the boreal forest will become a major issue for mining, environmental and First Nation stakeholders in the next decade.
On the agenda are technical talks outlining activity in historic and emerging mining camps in northwestern Ontario, Red Lake, McFaulds Lake, Kirkland Lake and Sandy Lake. There are also workshops on the latest mineral-detecting techniques and technologies.
Michael Barnes, author of Gold in Ontario, is the dinner speaker at the November annual award dinner. The global financial investment crisis has trickled down to exploration activity in the North.
"There's going to be a lot of availability of geologists and drills," said Ontario Prospector Association executive director Garry Clark of the upcoming winter exploration season.
Many junior companies will likely take a wait-and-see approach this winter, waiting for markets to stabilize. "When your stocks at six cents, or lower, it's pretty hard to raise money," said Clark. But solid companies with solid projects should proceed.
The pre-registration deadline for symposium is Nov. 21. For details go online at www.ontarioprospectors.com
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