Premier Tim Houston is pitching Nova Scotia as mining country. Convincing investors may be easier than convincing Nova Scotians

The signs line the roadsides across rural Nova Scotia—“No Uranium,” “No Mining”—lettered reminders of where many residents stand. Premier Tim Houston is betting he can change their minds. Convinced that mining is central to provincial prosperity, Houston has made himself the province’s lead pitchman, carrying the message to investors that Nova Scotia is open for extraction.

It’s a hard sell in a province carrying a $146-million cleanup liability for abandoned mines—a figure the auditor general warns will keep growing—and a mining history written as much in disaster as in dividends.

Yet the potential prize is substantial.

New and revived projects already on the books, from NexGold’s Goldboro gold mine to reopened gypsum quarries in Antrim and Little Narrows, promise thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity (see “New and Revived” sidebar). Beyond them lies the global race for critical minerals: Nova Scotia has known potential deposits of copper, lithium, rare earth elements, tungsten and more—the raw ingredients of wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles. The International Energy Agency estimates that reaching greenhouse gas reduction targets will require six times more minerals for clean energy than the world produces today.

The question is whether Nova Scotia can square its future with its past.

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