The Yukon has a social responsibility to nurture its mining industry, Premier Darrell Pasloski said this morning.

Pasloski told those attending the 41st Yukon Geoscience Forum the demand for metals in the world is not going anywhere.

What comes from the ground is part of everyday life, from cell phones to skates for kids, from bicycles to the pots and pans for the kitchen, Pasloski said in the remarks at the Coast High Country Inn.

As the saying goes, Pasloski reminded the audience: "Before it's yours, it's mined.”

The premier said the Yukon has a regulatory regime which ensures mining is done responsibly.

To dismiss mining in the Yukon and expect the resources Yukoners depend on everyday to come from somewhere else – perhaps a country where environmental and employment standards may not be treated with the same regard as here – would be irresponsible, Pasloski told delegates.

"We cannot profess to being responsible global citizens if we are willing to abdicate our responsibility to develop resources in Yukon, and pass it off to other countries in Asia, South America, and Africa, for it is impossible that we will stop using the very resources some would have us refuse to produce,” he said.

"I am comforted knowing that the copper in the wires that send electricity through my house may have been produced in the Minto mine, where I know Yukoners are employed and well cared for, and where our regulations ensure the environment is respected.”

The Yukon, he said, is not immune to the global downturn that has hit the industry.

"We are aware of the challenges you are facing, and we are facing them with you,” Pasloski said.

He assured delegates the free entry system which allows access for prospectors and exploration companies searching for new ore bodies is very much alive in the territory.

Territorial government staff have been working with the Yukon Water Board to see how and where the regulatory regime can be streamlined to address industry concerns about the time it takes to get through the licensing process, he said.

Similarly, said Pasloski, the government is working with the federal government to examine the process under the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board to ensure accountability and consistency.

"The federal government has indicated that it will establish a working group to discuss these and other proposed amendments to the act including assessable activities, exceptions and Executive Committee Projects Regulations within the fiscal year,” he said.

"Ultimately, these changes are intended to ensure certainty, predictability and timeliness which, in turn, make Yukon an even better place in which to work and invest.

"For we know that although government cannot control world commodity prices, we can continue to make improvements in other important ways.”

Pasloski told delegates the mining industry has been the lifeblood of the Yukon right back to the days of the Klondike Gold Rush.

So far this year, Pasloski pointed out, the territory's placer mining industry alone has produced $56 million in gold.

Mining is key to a vibrant economy, and the Yukon government is committed to doing what it can to see that it receives the support it deserves, he said.

Pasloski pointed to a number of ongoing programs and new initiatives such as the $450,000 it has contributed to investigate what is involved with upgrading the Freegold Road east of Carmacks for year-round use.

"The mining industry remains a cornerstone of our economy, and a proud part of our territory's history,” he said. "The Yukon government intends to keep it that way.”

Quite noticeable this morning was the substantial drop in the audience numbers, compared to the last few years when investment in mineral exploration and mine development in the Yukon hit heights not seen in decades, if ever.

Rob McIntyre, president of the Yukon Chamber of Mines, acknowledged this morning what he referred to as the headwinds currently buffeting the Yukon and the world commodity prices.

But when the Yukon is judged by investors from Outside, it still does fairly well, he said in a brief opening address to the geoscience forum just before Pasloski took the podium.

McIntyre, however, asked the government to use extreme care in the current revision of the Quartz Mining Act, in obvious reference to fulfilling the requirements of last year's court case involving a legal challenge by the Ross River Dena Council. (See story, p. 4.)

The Quartz Mining Act is the all-important book of laws which enshrines the rights of the exploration and mining industry, the chamber president emphasized.

It is, he said, the industry's Magna Carta.

As the government moves forward to amend the mining act to keep pace with the evolution of First Nations in the Yukon, McIntyre said, it must ensure there is no collateral damage to the mining industry.