MABC CEO Michael Goehring delivers keynote address at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event on Tuesday. Photo credit: Matt Brock.
British Columbia hosts massive, untapped mineral reserves that offer the province a generational opportunity to compete as a key player in global critical minerals markets, Mining Association of British Columbia CEO Michael Goehring told the audience at a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver on Tuesday.
Goehring emphasized that considering US president Trump’s tariffs that are roiling markets, “we need to take urgent steps to enhance our economic security, our economic resiliency, and our long-term prosperity.”
The mining industry is the path to securing British Columbia`s long term prosperity, Goehring argued, as he laid out challenges and opportunities for the province to compete in geo-politically charged global critical minerals markets.
British Columbia (BC) has 18 operating mines and two smelters and is home to 16 of the 50 minerals the US deems critical to its economy and national security, while the US is 100% reliant on imports for 12 critical minerals, Goehring said.
The province produces aluminum, germanium, indium, lead, and zinc from Rio Tinto`s Kitimat operations, and Teck Resources operations in Trail.
“Increasingly, countries are looking to Canada and BC as a viable supplier of responsibly produced minerals and metals,” Goehring said. “Especially European and Asian investors, who are now showing renewed and growing interest in our products. Our trade and investment data reflects this. In 2023 alone, we exported over $1.3 billion worth of minerals to the European Union,” he said.
“We’re also very well positioned within Canada. Unlike other provinces, we’re less reliant on the US market. Which bodes well for further efforts to diversify our economy beyond the US. For example, only 7% of BC’s exports to the US consist of critical minerals and metals. The majority of our minerals, metals, and steel-making coal are bound for Asia.”
Mining received bipartisan support in last fall’s provincial election, Goehring pointed out, while critical minerals and other major projects were featured prominently by both major parties in last week’s federal election.
Untapped opportunities
Last week, The Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) released its 2025 Economic Impact Study, which identified 27 mining projects representing C$90 billion ($65 billion) in potential economic activity for the province.
Goehring said building more mines can create jobs that will deliver nearly C$27 billion in income for BC workers, and that mining can be a powerful lever for balancing economic reconsolidation through First Nations participation in partnerships within the mining supply chain.
He highlighted as an example Artemis Gold’s Blackwater project in central BC, which last week achieved commercial production.
Blackwater’s crushing circuit reached a 17,700-tonne-per-day (tpd) rate, achieving more than full design capacity over the past 30 days. The mill has reached about 15,300 tpd or 93% of capacity.
“That’s a great start for mining,” he said. “They employ more than 450 people, most of them local, 30% are First Nations.”
In February, several mining projects were prioritized by the province for expedited review, including the Skeena Gold & Silver`s Eskay Creek project, Newmont`s Red Chris block cave extension, and Teck`s Highland Valley copper mine life extension.
Consultation, permitting challenges
But British Columbia’s mining projects have faced challenging permitting backlogs. Last year, the province’s exploration sector had over 60 critical mineral projects waiting for permits in a C$38 billion ($27 billion) pileup of economic opportunities.
“The system is too slow, too complex, and risks investment elsewhere,” Goehring said. “We must develop a streamlined, efficient, and predictable permitting framework. Reducing timelines dramatically to a few years, while maintaining world-class environmental protection, and respecting First Nations rights, can boost the sector in all the communities that depend on it.”
Goehring also said the province must make First Nations consultations more effective and efficient, and that ensuring meaningful engagement every step of the way will make sure referrals from government and responses from First Nations are timely.
“We find ourselves at a historic crossroads,” Goehring said. “While BC mining has what the world needs, mining has what BC needs.
“As the head of the Mining Association, I can tell you with confidence that mining can secure BC’s economic future and long-term prosperity. BC has the minerals, precious metals, and steel made in coal the world needs. Our mining sector can drive a new wave of economic growth and resiliency.”
