SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknife geologist has been recognized for his visionary advocacy work for the exploration and mining industry in Canada's North.
Lou Covello has worked in exploration in Yellowknife for almost 40 years. The geologist has been recognized for his work with the declaration of an honourary membership in the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines during the organization's annual general meeting Nov. 14. - photo courtesy of Gary Vivian |
Lou Covello, who has worked in mineral exploration in Yellowknife since arriving in 1973 and founded what is now Aurora Geosciences Ltd., was declared an honorary member of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines during the chamber's annual general meeting on Nov. 14.
"I would say Lou's biggest input has been his ability to visualize infrastructure and the potential for infrastructure in the future," said Gary Vivian, secretary-treasurer for the chamber and a past business partner of Covello's.
"He's quite a visionary person, to be quite honest. A lot of the things he envisioned 30 years ago are beginning to happen now."
Covello said he was both flattered and honoured by the award and looks forward to continuing to work at reviving and strengthening exploration in the NWT.
"My main concern right now is to try and restore the exploration industry to what it was for the last 80 years," he said.
"Exploration has always more or less boomed in the territory, right from the '30s onwards. (Over the past four years), of course, it's fallen off considerably."
On the top of the territory's to-do list should be more power plants and cheaper power, he said.
He recommends nuclear power for all NWT communities because it would be cheaper than what is used now and remove the need to ship in fuel oil from the south every year.
Mine life would also increase by "several years" with cheaper power because mine companies could afford to convert what is now considered waste into ore, he said.
He added cheaper power would mean a lower cost of living, which could alleviate staffing issues for the industry.
"The cost of living in Yellowknife is spiralling out of control and, as a result, we're having great difficulties attracting workers to the North," said Covello.
"This just exacerbates the problem of fly-in, fly-out operations where people are flying from down south more so than they ever have been and we only have ourselves to blame for it."
Covello also has recommendations for Yellowknife's access to the Arctic coast, another important area of investment, he said.
"Currently, there are plans for a road from Izok Lake ... due north of Yellowknife, up to the coast through High Lake," he said. "What we should be doing is building a connecting road to that. An all-weather road directly from Yellowknife up to Izok, that will give us uninterrupted access to the coast, which is critical for shipping out concentrates, which we wouldn't be able to treat here."
In the more immediate future, Covello said he hopes to see some legislative reform regarding exploration and more education to get NWT residents and land claimants aware of the realities of exploration and mining.
