Thank you.
Just for the record, we weren't late. We were just outside waiting to be called in, and I guess we missed the call.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you. I wanted to begin by acknowledging--because we don't always get the opportunity to do this--that many of the recommendations we brought last year were implemented by the government. Notably, and most importantly, I suppose, is the federal funding for Highway 37 infrastructure, which is a hugely significant infrastructure program for British Columbia.
Also, recent amendments to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the renewal of the super flow-through program last year were other recommendations we brought forward, and they were acted upon. So thank you for that.
I'll give you just a quick outline of the mining industry in B.C. and of who MABC is. We represent the mining producers in this province. We are a $7 billion industry in the province, employing almost 8,000 people and paying the highest average industrial salaries in the province. We are the largest producer of steel-making coal. I think people often associate coal with thermal power, but 90% of our production is used to make steel. Just by way of reference, there are 140 tonnes of steel-making coal in each modern windmill. So it's important to recognize that you need coal to produce windmills that produce green power. We are also a major and growing employer of first nations in British Columbia.
We are on the cusp of a major renaissance. After years of relative stagnation, we are seeing a number of new mines come into production. There is new excitement here in British Columbia. There are two major mines in construction now, with several other projects nearing completion and representing some $3 billion to $4 billion in new private sector investment and thousands of new jobs. Most importantly, a lot of these jobs and projects are in regions of the province that have been hard hit by the downturn in forestry. So we are in many ways the solution to the hardship you're seeing in certain regions of the province.
I turn now to recommendations. First, to echo what the PDAC has already recommended, we'd like to see the renewal of the super flow-through mineral exploration tax credit. I would point out that this has been renewed every year going back to the 1990s, and I think that's only good for the lobbying business in the province. You might as well maintain this on a longer term and either make it permanent or do what the B.C. government has done and provide industry with a three-year horizon so that we can make plans appropriately and continue to allow exploration to rebound after the economic crisis that hit us a couple years ago.
Second, we recommend a deep-drilling tax credit. Here in B.C. there are a few examples one could point to. Two of the new major mines in construction now, Copper Mountain and New Afton, are redevelopments on old mine sites. Arguably, if the deep-drilling tax credits had been around, those two areas might never have closed. They might have continued to operate. New exploration has led to their redevelopment.
Also, perhaps even more significantly, one of the most exciting new exploration finds has been at the Red Chris Mine in northwestern B.C. There have been some major copper and gold discoveries. Each drill hole costs $750,000. That's a major investment. That discovery is leading a lot of other sites along the same geological belt to wonder if there might be some similar results deeper, well below their open pits. That's a major investment, so a tax credit in that area would, I think, potentially allow a number of our existing projects to go much longer with those kinds of discoveries.
We also recommend that you stay the course with your planned corporate tax rate reductions. Canada is becoming one of the most competitive tax jurisdictions in the world. We welcome that. B.C. in particular is one of the most tax-friendly jurisdictions in Canada.
Lastly, we'd like to urge the government to support the Canada Mining Innovation Council, an important research initiative that involves the partnership of the industry, including financial contributions from the industry through the Mining Association of Canada. This is research to make us more competitive, more responsible and we'd like to see it move forward as a true partnership.
Thank you for the opportunity to present.