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APGO Involvement in the NI 43-101 Revision Process
 By Andrea Waldie, P.Geo. Executive Director & Registrar, APGO
On January 20, 2009,
the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), in response to industry and regulatory concerns arising from the implementation of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) in 2001, launched an initiative to revise NI 43-101.
Areas being considered for revision are:
• Reducing the regulatory burden consents of qualified persons;
• Reducing the qualified person’s liability and responsibility for issuer disclosure;
• Reassessing technical report triggers;
• Creating broader and more flexible rules for disclosing previous resource and reserve estimates;
• Fixing a few perceived disclosure irregularities such as: o economic analyses of exploration targets and historical estimates; o first time disclosure of resources, reserves and preliminary assessments on websites and third party reports;
• A separate form of technical report for advanced mineral projects; and,
• Updating accepted foreign associations
The APGO is currently working with the professional geoscience national body, the Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists (CCPG), in formulating a response as it pertains to professional geoscience and the protection of the public and the environment. APGO’s representative on the CCPG Working Group, Deb McCombe, P.Geo., will be working closely with the APGO Executive and Executive Director in formulating a response, particularly as it pertains to acceptance of foreign associations.
If you have concerns or comments with regards to NI 43-101 as it pertains to professional geoscience and the protection of the public and the environment, please email Andrea Waldie, Executive Director & Registrar, at awaldie@apgo.net and the information you provide will be passed on to the APGO’s representative for NI 43-101.
Should you have comments or concerns with NI 43-101 that lie outside of the area of professional geoscience and the protection of the public and the environment, please contact the Securities Commission directly at
NI43-101@osc.gov.on.ca or one of the other |
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organizations dealing with concerns outside of the area of professional geoscience such as the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Securities Committee by contacting P. Bousquet, Senior Program Director, pbousquet@pdac.ca.
APGO Short Course Offerings on June 4th, 2009
By Andrea Waldie, P.Geo.
Executive Director & Registrar, APGO
This year the APGO has a brand new addition, actually two new additions, to the Annual General Meeting that will be held Thursday, June 4, 2009 at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto. Two short courses will be offered and held in the early afternoon immediately prior to the Annual General Meeting.
One short course offered pertains to National Instrument 43-101 and will be delivered by Craig Waldie, P.Geo., Senior Geologist with the Ontario Securities Commission. This is your chance to have your questions concerning NI 43-101 answered. Please submit your questions to awaldie@apgo.net with NI 43-101 APGO Short Course in the subject line. All questions submitted will be reviewed and the most common and/or those of particular interest will be covered during the course. Please keep in mind that this is a short course and not part of the Securities Commission review of possible amendments to NI 43-101.
The other short course to be offered will address the Brownfields Regulation 153/04 and its recent revisions. Details pertaining to this course are to be determined and further information will be available shortly.
Each course will be two hours long and will be held from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. The cost to attend a course will be $75 for APGO members and $130 for non-members. Refreshments will be available. Space will be limited. The Annual General Meeting will start approximately 30 minutes after the end of the short courses. A short reception will follow the Annual General Meeting and all are welcome.
Further information concerning the two courses will be available shortly and will be sent out by email to all APGO members. Should you know of individuals who are not members, but may be interested in the short courses, please feel free to pass on the information. |
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A Strong Online Presence: Celebrating the Launch of a New Website
 By Bernard Kradjian, Communications Coordi- nator, APGO
While the internet has undoubtedly become one of life’s necessities, the APGO has realized the need for a strong online presence to accommodate our valued members, councillors and the public. The APGO recently celebrated the launch of our new website – one that offers a fresh design, user friendliness, compatibility and advanced features that enhance the online capabilities of our visitors.
The first step was to map out a website that effectively identified and organized the appropriate data because one of the association’s key functions as an organization is to compile, store, and deliver information. The outcome included easy to use pull-down menus that compartmentalize content into their appropriate sections. Information is now easier to access, the navigational experience is enhanced, and services are more readily obtainable.
Feedback from users has been very positive. Among many things, the new website has been praised for its attention grabbing home page and the quality content it provides. The homepage features photo slides, provided by APGO members, as well as shortcuts to timely news and key features. The site targets audiences of different age groups and backgrounds; among these are the internationally trained, university students, teachers and even elementary school children aspiring to become future geoscientists.
Perhaps the most notable change, however, is the website’s technical functionalities. It is no longer just HTML based and a significant part now functions in a portal environment. This use of database technology puts us in line with a new generation of automated websites. A user can now securely register online, make payments that are processed in “real-time,” update personal information and even participate in discussion forums. This new drive for customization and community features keeps users coming back regularly to acquire useful information, communicating with both the organization and one another. The association has essentially developed a member management system that is time saving, secure, and interactive.
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Book Review-Three Planetary Science Books: The Planets Written by Dava Sobel (2005) Published by Penguin Books 276 pp; $16, The Quirks and Quarks Guide to Space Written by Jim Lebans (2008) Published by McLelland & Stewart, Toronto 240 pp; $23, Gems of Hubble Written by J. Mitton & S. P. Maran (1996) Published by Cambridge University Press 123 pp; $20 By Claudia Cochrane, M.Sc., P. Geo. Communication Committee
A three year-old child recently asked me if I could tell him the names of all the planets - in order from the sun. He had the first three already in mind but needed help with the remainder. And no, this anecdote is not an excuse to boast about grandchildren. Indeed, I don't think this child was much more precocious than most - well, maybe a little. The point is that the Space Age has truly permeated the consciousness of our whole society and planets have supplanted dinosaurs in the imaginations of the play-school set.
 And the interest has infected adults as well. Meteorite fever gripped Alberta recently when a meteor exploded high above the Alberta Tar Sands scattering debris over the prairie near Lloydminster. One farmer can hardly believe his popularity and the citizens of Edmonton are still talking about the fiery ball that lit up their skies in the early winter twilight.
University Earth Science and Geology lectures now routinely introduce planetary science into the curriculum. Whole courses are dedicated to the subject and some departments consider themselves to be earth and planetary science disciplines while others are in close collaboration with Physics and Astronomy Departments. Seldom do we hear colloquia speakers who do not include some application of their research to worlds other than our own.
This growing interest in planetary science has created a little challenge for our more experienced, but earth-bound, APGO members, who graduated before astronomy entered the geo-science curricula. Some may have a little catching up to do. Three new publications, aimed at a general readership, should help to bridge this educational gap, in a relatively painless manner.
Dava Sobel's The Planets is a good start for a systematic, well-organized, and comprehensive discussion of our solar companions. This graceful little book with its inventive illustrations reads like a luminous travel-guide to the solar system. Planet by planet, the reader is taken through a history of human scholarship. Classical mythology is the starting point. Then, medieval earth-centred concepts of astronomy which were followed by the struggle for fresh ideas during the Renaissance. And finally a whole new space-age description of the sun and its satellites as beamed back to us by contemporary spacecraft.
In the interest of continuity, foot notes are avoided, but a glossary and further details are located at the end. |
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| Colluvium |
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CGEN: Useful powerpoints and education aids on WELCOME TO WEB GEOLOGY http://ansatte.uit.no/kku000/webgeology/
 2. MP 7: Ottawa's Building and Monument Stones - A Walking Guide by Quentin Gall - Ottawa's Building and Monument Stones offers residents and visitors alike an opportunity for outdoor discovery of the dimension stones and natural and built heritage in Canada's capital. The book contains maps, photographs and descriptions by Quentin Gall, a geological consultant and teacher who has lived in Ottawa for over 30 years.
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 3. Scientific American - Feb. 12, 2009 - Charles Darwin's birthday celebrated 200 th year. Click here for more details.
 4. A virtual exhibit of A.P. Coleman's (1852-1939) life and work. Click here
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Headliner
Dr. Michael Easton 2008 Provincial Geologists Medal
 Michael Easton has been dedicated to public service and geoscience in Ontario for more than 25 years and is an exemplary professional Provincial Geologist. Mike is meticulous in his methodology and extremely productive in his research and mapping. His expertise and cutting edge research contributions to Precambrian geology, metamorphic and igneous petrology and Ontario’s Grenville Province are recognized nationally and internationally. Less-well known is the tremendous service Mike has performed since 1990 in his role as the Geological Association of Canada representative on the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature.
Mike is committed to client-focused work and providing the best possible objective and technically current geological data and information to the public and explorationists. Mike frequently establishes productive collaborative linkages with academia, industry and other geological surveys to solve geoscience problems. Mike is a mentor to numerous undergraduate and graduate level students and is a leader in contributing to a new generation of geoscientists with expertise in field mapping techniques.
 
Mike is very active in the geological community and gives tirelessly to the national geoscience community. He has been instrumental in major programs of the Geological Association of Canada and in actively promoting Canadian geoscience for the benefit of all.
View Dr. Michael Easton's remarks |
| From Far Afield |
 1.Volcanoes are in the science and political news! a) March 28, 2009 Alaska Redoubt Volcano Eruption b) ALASKA VOLCANO PHOTOS: Redoubt Spurs Huge Mudflow c) Bobby Jindal and volcano monitoring: What was he talking about? Well, Congress authorized some of that $140 million to be spent on volcano monitoring, but not all of it, ProPublica notes in a blow-by-blow of the economic recovery package. That line, ProPublica says, is directed to “U.S. Geological Survey facilities and equipment, including stream gages, seismic and volcano monitoring systems and national map activities.” Click here for more d) NASA site March 26, 2009 Hunga-Ha'apai erupts in Tonga making new islands - click here for more.
 2. a) March 17, 2009 NASA Asteroids: Asteroid 2009 FH to Fly By Earth on March 18 Near Earth Object Program - Cick here for more details b) NPR Science Friday Year of Astronomy (broadcast Friday, February 27th, 2009) Messier 101 in a composite of views from the Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Hubble/Chandra/ Spitzer teams 2009 is a big year for science anniversaries. Biologists recently celebrated Darwin's 200th birthday. But 2009 is also the International Year of Astronomy -- this year marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of a telescope to study the skies, Kepler’s publication of Astronomia Nova. and Huygen’s 1659 publication of Systema Saturnium. In this segment, we'll talk with Mario Livio, a senior astrophysicist at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute and the Head of the Institute’s |
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Office of Public Outreach, about the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy. We'll also talk about current events in astronomy and what's ahead for the Hubble Space Telescope - click here for more details. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.
c) March 31, 2009 - Spying into the future Greg Smye-Rumsby explains how the 28-inch telescope in Greenwich works. The 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations made using a telescope by Galileo Galilei - the forefather of modern astronomy - is being marked by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Click here for more.
 3. March, 2009 - National Geographic: The Canadian Oil Boom - Scraping Bottom Once considered too expensive, as well as too damaging to the land, exploitation of Alberta's oil sands is now a gamble worth billions. By Robert Kunzig
 4. January 22, 2009 - Road salt shortage in Windsor- But independent distributors who buy from salt mines around Canada and U.S. and then resell the product, have dramatically increased prices. The price of salt in the last two weeks has shot up to $150 a ton. By Monica Wolfson, The Windsor Sun
 5. Smallest Meat-Eating Dinosaur in N. America Discovered - Matt Kaplan for National Geographic News March 16, 2009 - North America's newest dinosaur had the makings of a monster: razor-sharp claws, a runner's body, and similarities with the Velociraptor of Jurassic Park infamy.
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Field Notes is sponsored by:
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Contributors
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Andrea Waldie, P.Geo., Bernard Kradjian,
Claudia Cochrane, Dr. Michael Easton
Editor:
Wendy Diaz, M.Sc., P.Geo.
Contributing Editors:
George H. Wahl, M.Sc., P.Geo.
Andrea Waldie, P.Geo., Executive Director & Registrar
Publication Team Members:
Claudia Cochrane, M.Sc., P.Geo.
Chris Kimmerly, P.Geo.
Production
Bernard Kradjian, Communications Coordinator
Banner Photograph Courtesy of Steffen Schmidt, P.Geo.
See members of the 2008-09 APGO Council here.
For more information on APGO, please contact info@apgo.net or see www.apgo.net. Field notes is published 6 times per year. If you have comments
or wish to contribute material to this newsletter,
please contact Wendy Diaz, P.Geo., or
Andrea Waldie, P.Geo., Executive Director/Registar. |
Copyright 2009, Association of
Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO) |
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