Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 37

BiMEess Journal EDITOR: PETE BREWSTER EDMONTON JOURNAL, Friday, April 6, 1979 C9 The alternatives: 'doing with less or without' N-plant accident a olt to energy plans Mr. Mueller said that Ontario will have an excess amount of power capability in the 1980s, which will delay indefinitely further nuclear power plant development in the province and stenj growth in domestic demand for uranium. Vancouver mining conference stories by Dave Pommer "But many experts doubt that after last week's event." Nuclear power is the Western World's antidote to the oil-producing countries' cartel and instability in the Middle East, he said. At present it provides 25 per cent of Ontario's electrical power needs, said Peter G. Mueller, a senior advisor, Ontario royal commission on electric power planning.

Even with the most optimistic outlook on future conventional energy supplies, Mr. MacNabb said that by the year 2020 nuclear power will have to meet one third of all energy demand. "I can only hope that when the causes and implications of the accident are analyzed, that the pressures which will exist for a non-nuclear society will be balanced by a public understanding of the realities of 10-year-lead times and the fact that the only real alternative to nuclear technology in the foreseeable future is doing with less, or in some cases, doing' without," he said. That mine wiB possibly be producing high-grade uranium by the mid 1980s. The product would probably find buyers in the export market.

The domestic market Mr. MacNabb said, will require about 15 per cent of the possible output from Canadian mines between 1979 and 1990, leaving most new producers dependent on exporting. Electrical energy need in North America is expected togrow at a rate 50 per cent faster than for total primary industry, he said. Nuclear power will meet 60 to 65 per cent of electrical needs by the year 2020. Based on these and other projections, the outlook for the uranium industry is bright, he said.

In spite of this well-documented need, nuclear power development is currently being scuttled everywhere in North America, he said. "When the results of our overreaction to recent events and our hesitation to built for VANCOUVER The silent, deadly release of radiation at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania has jolted energy development world wide, a Canadian expert said Thursday. Gordon M. MacNabb, president of Ura-j nium Canada Ltd. said the shock waves front the event will probably darken an already bleak energy outlook.

He told a Financial Post conference on mining in Canada in the 1980s that U.S. nuclear reactor design will change due to the near-disaster. A Canadian-designed Candu reactor probably wouldn't have spewed radiation into the atmosphere as the U.S. reactor did, he said. Asked about the safety of nuclear power produiction in light of the incident, he told a i panel discussion on uranium that "no matter what your view, you can find an expert to support it" Experts who have worked with nuclear energy for the last 20 years say it is safe, he said.

the future hits home in 10 years time, and people realize you can't have lights without generators, there will be an angry backlash" Global prospects aren't that gloomy, he said, although plans are going ahead at a much slower pace than expected. Assuming expansions of existing Canadian mines plus new production, 12,000 tonnes per year of uranium will be available in Canada in the 1980s, he said. Domestic plus existing export commitments will use about 7,000 to 8,000 tonnes a year of that, he said. Demand could swing upwards dramatically, though if the Middle East situation changes. Mr.

MacNabb rapped inaction on energy projects, and quoted the words of a U.S. observer who likened the inactivity to the rush of lemmings to the sea. He concluded by saying: "From those who are about to go over the cliff we salute you." Robert Pfister, president of Esso minerals Canada of Toronto, told the seminar about his company's plans to jointly develop a uranium discovery at Midwest Lake in northern Saskatchewan with Numac Oil and Gas Ltd. of Edmonton. Was 'stagnant9 for a decade Mining industry's future 'glittering' Ty- wmemsm Artist's impression of hew Canada Dry works Hesitation arose from bottle controversy Delay doubled cost of new plant Consolidated Gold Fields Ltd.

of London, England. He said that rising metal prices, already evident, will spark a revival of interest by mining firms, followed by more exploration. "To some extent, this revival will be handicapped by financial problems, as many mining companies are currently in a fairly fully-borrowed position." Due to third world instability, more mineral development in the 1980s will take place in the developed areas, as was the case in the 1960s and 1970s, he said. Higher metal prices, better earnings and a healthier tax climate have caused the Toronto Stock Exchange Metals and Minerals Index to surge about 60 per cent since December, 1977. The index hit a 15 year low at that time said J.

Anthone Hepburn, president and chief executive officer of Odium Brown and T.B. Read a financial house. The industry can't wait for sustained recovery in metal prices before developing a new capacity, he said. "Some economists are warning that if new developments do not materialize, there is danger that metal prices will accelerate in the interim to crisis levels for the world economy," he said. High costs of developing new mines have created consortiums of mining companies and banks.

New partners, such as cash-rich oil producing firms and nations have joined in what he called "this lubricating embrace." Over the next 10 years, Canada's total capital requirements could exceed $1 trillion he said. The mining industry may account for about $120 billion of that Canadas mining industry provides, directly and indirecdy, jobs for one in every 10 Canadians. Minerals account for 55 per cent of all freight handled by Canadian railways and 60 per cent of all cargo loaded on ships at Canadian ports. Mineral exports generate about billion in revenue for Canada each year one third of total exports of goods and services. About 300 mines exist in Canada, producing about 60 different minerals.

VANCOUVER Tarnished by a decade of stagnation, Canada's mining industry is perched on the threshold of what could be a glittering recovery, experts say. Speakers at a Financial Post Conference on Mining in Canada during the 1980s, held at the Four Seasons Hotel here Wednesday and Thursday are optimistic. They forecast mineral consumption world-wide about double current levels by the end of the century, renewed investor confidence and more favorable government regulations. The 1970s was characterised by investor uncertainty, stagnant exploration and lack of new mine development in Canada, third largest producer in the world, and largest exporter of minerals. H.T.

Fargey, executive vice-president of Cominco Ltd. said in a panel discussion that Canada's mining industry was built on a world appetite for metals that exploded since the Second World War. He had bright visions of the next decade in Canadian mining, but warned that a time lag between discovery and start of production is about 15 years, which means that the ill effects of the 1970s will persist into the 1980s, "The industry is encouraged by government action over the past year- to consult with management and labor, analyze the economic impact of tax measures and environmental regulation He praised federal government efforts to set up a consultative task force with Canadian mining firms, recent creation of a board of economic development ministers and efforts to review northern environmental policies blocking potential development of half of the North. Key element in hopes for the future of Canada's mining industry is world consumption. Speakers agreed it would continue to grow.

Low world-wide metal prices over the past five years, which have led to slashed exploration and development spending, will lead to shortages of metals and minerals even in a period of modest industrial demand and growth. So said Gerald J. Mortimer, director of held to a "relatively-stable" 15 per cent of the total. The trusty returnable glass bottle is still the mainstay and Mr. Hughes said the same bottle may last seven years and be be refilled more than 100 times.

But the future could still be with plastic. Mr. Hughes said a two-litre plastic container being used by bottlers in the U.S. is going over well although it has not been approved yet by Canadian governments. The plastic container is returnable but is ground up and re-manufactured before it is reused.

The main advantages of plastic, of course, are greater ease in handling (because plastic bottles won't break) and less weight Currently, cost would also be a factor as "the price of glass goes up every year," according to Mr. Hughes. But plastic is a petroleum byproduct and that cost advantage could disappear as oil prices continue to spiral upwards. The new plant, to go up in Sherwood Industrial Estates just west of Sherwood Park, will be a complex for production, bottling, warehouse storage, sales and custom-canning Operations. The building will be completed by next November and get into operation next spring.

"I have to say they (the new rules) were for the best," said Edmonton division manager Ralph Davis. He said Canada Dry officials got their backs up because "we felt the government was trying to tell us how to run our own business." Mr. Davis said the nub of the dispute was that the government ordered a deposit be placed even on "non-returnable" bottles as well as on cans and the ordinary glass bottles. Soft drink companies were forced to collect the non-returnable bottles from the retailers. Other government moves resulted in the establishment of "universal" collection depots for soft-drink and liquor bottles and soft-drink cans.

Company officials still say the moves amounted to a virtual ban on use of non-returnable bottles because of the extra costs involved in picking them up after use. But the industry has readjusted itself successfully and the trend towards cans and non-returnable containers has reversed. Manufacturing director Hughes said non-returnable bottles account for "less and less" of the market every year. The share of canned products has also been By JOHN FORSYTHE A few tears probably fell to the ground along with the spilt "bubbly" when Canada Dry Ltd. officially turned the sod Thursday for its new $2.5 million Edmonton bottling plant.

The reason for the mixed feelings, as company brass quaffed their Canada Dry Champagne of Ginger was that the firm planned on building the plant about seven years ago to replace the current aging bottling quarters on the South Side. It Would have been a lot cheaper then. Peter Hughes, the firm's director of manufacturing, said increased land costs and general inflation has about doubled the price tag since 1972. The costly postponement resulted from company fears that business would be badly hurt by then-new provincial environmental-protection rules for non-returnable bottles. But there has been no slackening of thirst for Canada Dry's products in Alberta.

"Now that the dust has settled," company officials will admit they may have over-reacted to the restrictions imposed in the early '70s on cans and non-ref illable bottles. Canadian coal export expected to quadruple 4T Canadians 'too generous' iii their tax overpayments 4 2 depends largely on sales contracts for coal from the producing region it would serve." Larger coal shipments to eastern Canada via Thunder Bay are hindered by little except distance and terminal capacity, he said, although siding lengthening and other improvements would have to be made to handle increased tonnages. Alternate transportation techniques, such as slurry pipelines, have been examined but only seem feasible at a relatively large -minimum scale of operation, about 10 million tonnes per year, he said. The bulk of Canadian coal exports to -date has been in metalurgical grades, which poses problems of reconstitution at the buyer's plant site, as well as cleaning up of oil or water in the pipeline. Physical separation processes have been studied for both metalurgical and thermal coal as well as direct coking of delivered slurry into oil products and solid boiler fuel.

Studies 'have also taken place of techniques to dry and bricquette low quality coal into higher-energy products, with the objective of lower transportation cost per unit of energy transported. This coal could thus be converted into a fuel directly usable in boilers designed to burn high-rank coals. The symposium concludes today. VANCOUVER Canadian coal exports can be boosted fourfold by the year 2000, Garnett T. Page, president of the Coal Association of Canada said Thursday.

Mr. Page told a symposium at the Hotel Vancouver on coal transportation and distribution that Canada can increase exports to about 60 million tonnes a year by the end of the century. There are enough deep-water ports to handle the traffic and rail links could be adequately developed along with storage facilities, to meet the demands. But, he warned, "it is likely that it will be increasingly difficult to obtain approval for new rail lines and port facilities," due to opposition from environmentalists. He said serious transportation-related concerns confront the coal industry today.

They include cost of transportation, buyers paying indirectly for moving other commodities within Canada, government legislation and need for more government participation to build more transportation facilities. Another Pacific Ocean deep-water coal loading port may be built at Prince Rupert, B.C., he said, which would require upgrading of the relatively low-traffic C.N. rail line to that port But the construction of such facilities Not keeping track of expenses incurred in moving to a different community to take up a new job (a particularly common mistake on Alberta tax returns since so many people are moving to this province). For an average fee of about $16, Mr. Bloch said his company helped 775,000 Canadians do their returns last year, about six per cent of the total.

Based in Kansas City, the company does the bulk of its business in the U.S., where last year it prepared 10 million returns, about 11 per cent of the total The company is the largest of its kind in the world. "We feel there is a lot of growth potential, particularly in Canada," Mr. Bloch said, pointing out that last year Revenue Canada sent back 500,000 returns to be re-done Canadians are paying too much income tax, says Thomas Bloch of the Block income tax firm. Mr. Bloch isn't necessarily advocating tax cuts, however.

He's just saying that many people, in preparing their own returns, miss out on a lot of legitimate deductions and tax "It's becoming harder and harder to be a once-a-year tax expert," says the 25-year-old Mr. Bloch, son of company co-founder and president Henry Bloch (the corporate name was changed to Block for "easier "The biggest problem is that people tend to over-pay taxes," he said in a recent interview while visiting local Block outlets. People have trouble preparing their returns because, Mr. Bloch said, American and Canadian tax systems are among the most complex in the world. He defended that complexity (not necessarily, he said, because Block did more than $200 million worth of business preparing returns last year in Canada, U.S.

and other countries). The tax system would be simple, he said, "if all types of incomes were treated exactly the same." In other words, preparing tax returns would be a breeze if mere were no special deductions or other provisions to give low-income earners a break, for example. Mr. Bloch outlined some of the most common mistakes Canadians are likely to make in income tax matters: Failing to take advantage of the new child tax credit for low-income earners. Missing out on claiming for day care expenses for children.

Not realizing that eye glasses, dentures, dentist's and orthodontist's expenses can be legitimate medical expenses. A 4 Thomas Bloch and corrected mathematical errors on five million of the 12 million returns filed last year in Canada..