Prospectors should forget the glitter of gold and start looking for rare earth metals, the head of the Nova Scotia Prospectors Association says.
“All that glitters is not gold,” Russ Hazelden said in an interview Thursday. “Most prospectors don’t make money off gold. The biggest money right now will be made off graphite.”
A mini gold rush has mesmerized prospectors in the province as the precious mineral soars to nearly US$1,740 an ounce — up 171 per cent from five years ago, he said.
“A prospector looking for gold could be standing right on a rich deposit of indium, shovelling it out of the way,” Hazelden said.
Rare earth elements like graphite and indium are used in electronics such as computers, televisions and speakers.
“The more rare earth elements we get, the smaller we can make everything and the more efficient we can make things,” he said. “They are the secret to efficiency and really the future of prospecting in Nova Scotia.”
Hazelden said because most prospectors have been blinded by the quest for gold, it’s hard to know the amount of rare earth elements in the province.
However, he said Cape Breton has an incredible deposit of graphite, and indium seems to be abundant.
“We’ve been spending our time looking for gold, but I’m very confident we have some enormous deposits of rare earth elements.”
Yet prospectors face an uphill financial battle when it comes to raising funds and analyzing samples, Hazelden said.
One sample will cost a minimum of $75 to analyze, he said, noting that often prospectors will gather hundreds of samples from one small area.
“If we could remove the barrier between prospectors and access to affordable technology, we could certainly encourage more thorough prospecting in the province.”
For example, Hazelden said the province could provide prospectors with a credit or voucher to take to a university geology student who could analyze the sample.
Also, because the findings of prospectors and mining companies are turned over to the province and held in a library for posterity, he said government support would help encourage greater public knowledge.
“Education and access to technology would be the biggest bang for your buck,” he said. “Because when we’re finished, we’ll turn it all over to our province anyway.”
Unlike other provinces, Hazelden said Nova Scotia does not offer any formal training program.
“We’re a simpler province; we’re not too overly regulated right now,” he said. “It’s very clear what you should and shouldn’t do but when it comes to holding your hands and carrying you forward, we don’t have much there.”
Pat Mills, president of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia and general manager of National Gypsum (Canada) Ltd., said Nova Scotia could implement an incentive program for prospectors.
“In other provinces, if a prospector or junior exploration company invests in prospecting, the government will match the expenditures they make,” he said.
“If a small prospector puts $20,000 into it, the government will match it.
“What they found in New Brunswick is by doing that, the prospector generates more money, taxes and economic development.”
Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker said prospectors are an important part of the mining process.
“Prospectors are on the front end of exploration and provide a very valuable service,” he said.
Parker said the department is considering a program that would help prospectors attract investment.
“There are a number of things we do to support our prospectors and exploration companies in the province.”
He said the province has extensive in-house expertise that can provide advice to prospectors. It also defrays the costs of an annual prospectors conference in Toronto and hosts a conference that brings prospectors and industry people together, he said.