Page 44 This bat shows the fungus that gives white nose syndr ome its name By Gregory Reynolds The mining industry creates jobs and wealth for the regions of Quebec Nearly 900 facilities about 50000 workers and many communities count on it for their development The commodities extracted from Quebec s bedrock including gold iron niobium copper titanium salt Copper and zinc commodities play key r o le in Quebec economy chrysotile graphite dimension stone and construction materials contribute to Quebec s economic growth There are approximately 200 active mines quarries and sandpits through out the province Of that number about 20 are metal mines including sev eral worldclass producers the Raglan nickel and LaRonde gold zinc cop per silver Mines Copper and zinc are also vital to the provincial economy In 201 1 revised spending inten tions for exploration and deposit appraisal activities increased con siderably reaching 718M trend for exploration and deposit appraisal that has been observed since the early 2000s In 2010 nearly 300 mining compa nies reported exploration or deposit appraisal work in Quebec as proj ect operator Expenditures totalled 512M of which 201M was for major companies 299M for junior companies and 12M for public corporations As in every year exploration and deposit appraisal work is lar gely fo cused on precious metals 277M 54 and base metals 87M 17 Nevertheless within the past few years exploration and development started up for some other metals for the growth in expenditures for substances that Quebec does not yet produce This is true of the expenditures for among others uranium lithium and rare earth elements these amounted to 80M in 2010 compared to a to tal of less than 5M in 2005 Interest in these substances for which there is ever increasing de mand notably for hightechnology products rechar geable batteries and green technologies should con tinue to grow for years to come In 2010 most of the 512M in ex ploration and deposit appraisal ex penditures was divided between three administrative regions Nord duQuebec 261M 51 Abitibi Temiscamingue 182M 36 and CoteNord 45M 9 Therefore more than half the ex Contd on pg 45 Forestry Hydro Mining Exploration Support Staking Sampling S u rveyin g Environme n tal Asse ssments Precision Dr ill Move s Airbo r ne Geop hysic s Road A l location Timber Cru isi ng Wi ldlife Surveys Hydro Li ne Inspect i o n s P o le E r ectio n Tents Modular Units Camp Equipment Rentals TurnKey Camps Catering Services Camp Managers Service Crews All Transporta tion Needs Steel Products Mining Equipment Agricultura l Equip ment Modular Buildings Over Dimensional Loads Pilot Ca r Services Winch Truck Servic es Scissor Neck Trom bone Step Deck Log Tra i lers Super B