Page 4 Contd on pg 5 The backbone of the Canadian min ing industry is the junior exploration company states Glenn Dredhart Therefore their economic health is vital to the industry A junior mining company has no mining operations and is essentially a venture its exploration activities I say almost entirely because some juniors derive There is another category midtier producers These are generally junior com panies that have decided to go into production on properties that they have discovered The problem facing junior companies is raising the funds necessary to stay in business And this dilemma is not of the making by the juniors It is the worldwide credit crunch Fear is approaching an alltime high Clients around the world both individu als and institutions want to hold on to cash They want liquidity at all costs W e have entered an era where funds for the juniors are drying up W e re going through a very very challenging nior side of the gold companies and explorers For almost a decade Canada has captured the world s lar gest percentage of global explora tion investment Ontario s mineral reserves particularly in base metals are being depleted faster than they are being replenished As a result exploration is critical both to develop additional reserves near existing mining operations and for the discov ery of new ore bodies Most mines start out as showings discovered companies and then developed by intermedi ate or senior companies into viable mineral de posits Statistically only one in 10000 showings ever eventually make a big one that will make a Mining enriches our lives with everyday essen tials There are 30 mine sites in Ontario University of T oronto representative mine study shows that a mine in the province which directly employs 480 people creates more than 1100 indirect jobs in the supply and service sector and about 700 induced jobs in the retail sector for a total of 2280 wellpaying jobs Some 27000 are employed directly and an other 50000 indirectly in the fabrication and processing of minerals mining equipment and services sector employs more than 25000 The industry s annual payroll is 13 billion The T oronto Stock Exchange currently accounts G Plus Plastics Publishers Note Incre ase e quipme n t effici ency an d save ener gy cos t Meets fire s t a n d a rd CSA M42 7 M91 Bes t K fac t or o n the marke t Low transporta tio n cost s stand ard cra t ing fo r mariti me contai ners Ready Easy to In stall Impac t res i sta n t To inc rea s e ai r VOL U M E QU ALITY a daily ch allenge for pro duc tio n A I R D U C T Rouy nN o r a nda 1866 7979436 wwwpla sticmi ner c o m Sudbur y