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FORT ST. JAMES > WHAT'S NEW > Minerals North brings opportunities in April

Minerals North brings opportunities in April

Minerals North is coming to Fort St. James.

By Rick Playfair - Caledonia Courier
Published: February 04, 2022 10:00 AM

The conference will be held on April 20-24. This year, the theme will be Exploration to Reclamation.

The first Minerals North conference, although it didn’t go by that name at the time, was held in Terrance in 1989.

There will be a pre-conference workshop at the Kwah Hall entitled, Working Effectively with Aboriginal Peoples with Bob Joseph. Joseph is the founder of Indigenous Corporate Training Inc.

“The trade show is going to be held in the arena,” Deb Hadwen, Fort St. James Economic Development Officer, said. “We have very few tradeshow booths that have not been booked at this time. The Minerals North conference in Smithers had 34 booths, and we have 87. We are anticipating with the overwhelming show of support and with the overall participation of the trade show that we will get 500 to 700 people coming into the community to attend both the tradeshow and the presentations.”

With the economic downturn, there has been some speculation that the Minerals North conference may not be successful.

“We are overwhelmed with the response,” Hadwen said.

“Some people had doubts as to the success of this conference due to the downturn of the economy, however, the fact that so many people are going to participate shows that we are just in a holding pattern with the mining industry in British Columbia. (It is going to be) coming back as strong or stronger when the economy starts to pick up. This is an excellent time for companies and business to take stock of what they do, and how they do it. (It is an opportunity) to make new contacts, especially with local companies, and learn about all the unique services that are here and that can provide those companies with those services that meet and exceed those expectations.”

There is a website that has been set up at www.mineralsnorth.ca.

“The delegate registration is now online and the whole community is starting to gear up to meet the needs of the people who will be attending the conference from out of town,” she said. “We have had a great response so far from the Home Stay program.

“If you have a room that you are willing to rent out to visitor, give the District a call. The conference delegates will have lunches provided (for them, as well as) coffee breaks. Banquet tickets will be available also. The conference committee wants to promote the local businesses as much as possible (and) to be used by the visitors.

“There are still opportunities for sponsorships from companies from small contributions to large contributions.”

Fort St. James is going to be a busy place April 21 to April 24.

“There is a lot of participation, and a lot of interest,” Hadwen said.