One might assume a new provincial critical minerals strategy announced today would be greeted by the mining and exploration sectors with full-throated enthusiasm.
And while the Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) has welcomed the – unveiled this morning by Premier David Eby at the AME’s Roundup conference – the association representing 小蓝视频’s miners is criticizing it for failing to address the fiscal obstacles that 小蓝视频 miners face – particularly with respect to a new carbon pricing scheme for industry.
“While the Mining Association of 小蓝视频 supports the direction of Phase 1 of the 小蓝视频 government’s new Critical Mineral Strategy, our sector is concerned the strategy is missing a foundational element: competitive fiscal policy,” MA小蓝视频 president Michael Goehring said in a press release, in response to today’s announcement.
小蓝视频 miners already operate in a high cost jurisdiction, the MA小蓝视频 notes. The 小蓝视频 government’s new carbon pricing scheme for industry -- output based carbon pricing – will make it even worse, after it comes into effect in April, the MA小蓝视频 says.
The new output based carbon pricing system applies to industries that emit 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year or more. It will use a performance-based system to reward those emitters that can operate at emissions that are lower than established industry standards with lower carbon pricing, and penalize those that exceed standards with higher carbon pricing.
One way for the mining sector to avoid carbon taxes, as per the output based pricing system, would be to convert their mine haul fleets to electric drive. The problem is that these vehicles are not yet widely available, the MA小蓝视频 says.
“小蓝视频’s mining and smelting industry supports a carbon price signal, but currently pays the highest carbon tax in Canada and the world, while having the lowest GHG emissions globally – with no opportunity to decarbonize further because zero-emission haul truck technologies are not expected to be commercially available before the end of the decade, at best,” the MA小蓝视频 says.
“It’s imperative existing and prospective critical mineral mines in 小蓝视频 pay a carbon tax that is competitive with Ontario and Quebec. If not, the OBPS will negatively impact investment decisions in 小蓝视频 and undermine the goals of the provincial government’s Critical Minerals Strategy.”
Provinces have had some flexibility in setting carbon pricing for their respective industries, and according to the MA小蓝视频, 小蓝视频 went with carbon pricing that is higher than in Ontario and Quebec.
"By 2030, the average copper mine in 小蓝视频 will pay three times what that same mine in Ontario or Quebec will pay," Goehring told BIV News.
