A colorful infographic entitled Data Mining prepared by CTV BC gave a visual summary of the impact of the coal mining boom in the province of British Columbia. Coal revenues for 2011 reached $5.2 billion, which accounts for 59 percent of B.C. mining revenue. Gross mining revenues have gone up by 25 percent, from $7.9 billion in 2010 to $9.9 billion in 2011. The $2 billion increase is attributed to the coal prices and shipments. At the Port of Vancouver, 38 percent of coal volume moves shipments to Asian markets. The province currently holds the distinction as being home to the most number of exploration companies in the world, which have reached 1,200 in 2011.
The infographic also revealed that the financial benefits have trickled down to the government. The mining industry has already paid $805 million to government, up by $114 million in 2010. Employees of mining companies have also increased. In 2010, companies employed 8,195 people but last year, employment increased to 9,310 workers. The average earnings of a mining employee in 2011 also reached $115,700, representing a 7 percent increase.
Aside from coal, the colorful visual depiction also featured the other sources of revenue in British Columbia. During game and hunting season, it is frequented by out-of-town hunters. One of the province’s salmon-bearing rivers, the Skeena River brings in an estimated $110 million per year because of commercial and sport fishing, which are major revenue contributors to the local economies.
Stikine River and Nass River are the two other rivers where salmon can be found and together with the Skeena River, they form the subalpine basin known as the Sacred Headwaters. In North America, this region has one of the largest intact predator-prey systems, giving it the moniker as the "Serengeti of the North." It is the traditional territory of the Tahltan First Nation.
Despite the economic impact of the coal boom, Sacred Headwaters, Sacred Journey: A Photographic Documentary of the Sacred Headwaters, a group which aims to raise awareness of the Sacred Headwaters, reveals that the region is now the "centre of a dispute between the Tahltan, resource industries, government and environmental groups. Competing interests concerning land use, mining and hunting have created divides and put the future health of the Sacred Headwaters at risk."
According to Sacred Headwaters, proposals from Shell for a coalbed methane (CBM) gas field and Red Chris’ open-pit gold and copper mine are contentious issues. Even hunting has become a touchy subject as the decline in game has prompted the Tahltan to post road blockades to protest overhunting and unwanted resource developments. Fortunately, they have successfully worked together with the government to revamp hunting policies and issue a temporary moratorium on Shell’s CBM development. The Tahltans are not against mining per se. They welcome development so long as "environmental risks don’t outweigh the benefits."
