Annual Mineral Production Survey

Detailed information for 2020

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Annual

Record number:

5246

The Annual Mineral Production Survey is a survey of the mining industry in Canada. The survey collects financial and commodity information used to compile statistics on Canada's mineral and metal industries.

Data release - July 19, 2021 (Preliminary); March 10, 2022 (Preliminary); August 1, 2023

Description

The purpose of this annual survey is to obtain information on non-fuel mineral production in Canada. It is intended to cover all establishments primarily engaged in mining or quarrying activities as well as establishments engaged in secondary business activity linked to the mining sector. Data are collected using many questionnaire types to cover different industries in the mining sector, such as Metals, Non-metals and, Aggregates, Clay and Refractory Minerals.

Principal industrial statistics, such as revenue, salaries and wages, cost of materials and supplies used, cost of energy and water utility and inventories, as well as information about the commodities produced and consumed are collected as part of this survey.

Statistics on non-fuel mineral production are essential to support informed decision-making by the federal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as the mining industry. The statistics are essential to a variety of data users, including individual business firms and trade associations; municipal, provincial/territorial and federal governments; international organizations; and private citizens. Within Statistics Canada, the data are used by the Canadian System of National Accounts to feed into the gross domestic product computation. The results of this survey are also used by Natural Resources Canada to conduct analysis to provide informed policy advice on investment, industrial and regional development, trade and tariff policies, as well as the development and management of natural resources.

Reference period: The 12 month fiscal period ending between April 1st of the reference year and March 31st of the following year.

Subjects

  • Manufacturing
  • Natural resources
  • Non-metallic mineral and metal

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The Annual Mineral Production Survey targets all establishments engaged, as a primary or a secondary activity, in mining, beneficiating or otherwise preparing metallic and non-metallic minerals.

Establishments engaged in sand and gravel and stone activities are also surveyed.

Under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), mining establishments for this survey are classified to NAICS subsectors 212 and industry groups NAICS 2122 and 2123.

Instrument design

The Annual Mineral Production Survey is administered as part of the Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP). As such, it is conducted online using a secure electronic questionnaire platform.

Sampling

This survey is a census.

All establishments within the scope of the metallic ore mining and non-metallic mineral mining industry in Canada are selected in this sample survey.

However, establishments engaged in sand, gravel and stone mining and quarrying as a secondary activity, the take-none population is all units outside of the mining NAICS with production value less than 10000.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: 2021-05-03 to 2021-09-30

Data are extracted from administrative files and derived from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources.

Data are collected primarily through electronic files sent through a secure mode of transmission, while providing respondents with the alternative option of replying by telephone interview. Follow-up for non-responses and data validation may be conducted by telephone and email.

Data may also be extracted from administrative files and derived from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s).

Error detection

Error detection is an integral part of both data collection and processing activities. Data submitted through the electronic questionnaires are subject to extensive edit processes, both by subject-matter analysts and by automated edits within the production system. These edits identify potential errors based on year-over-year changes in key variables, totals, and ratios that exceed tolerance thresholds, as well as identify consistency issues in collected data (e.g. a total does not equal the sum of its parts). When errors are found, they are corrected using the failed edit follow-up process during collection. Extreme values are also flagged as potential outliers, using automated methods based on the distribution of the collected information. Following their detection, these values are assessed for their reliability. When required, the respondent may be contacted to confirm the data.

Imputation

Data for the Annual Mineral Production Survey are imputed to account for partial survey data and non-response.

When non-response occurs or partially completed questionnaires are received, imputation is used to complete the missing information. Imputation generates a complete and coherent micro data file that covers all survey variables. Following imputation, the mining production program staff performs a thorough analysis of the imputed values.

Imputation for missing values is mainly based on historical data. Different types of imputation methods are used for this survey including values reported for the previous reference period, historical values using a trend, and imputation using similar records. Depending on the variable being imputed, there is an order of operations to ensure that the best available method is applied.

Estimation

All units in the observed population are surveyed, except for sand, gravel and stone mining and quarrying operations, where the take-non population consists of all units outside of the mining NAICS with production value < 10000.

Estimation of totals is done by simple aggregation of the values of all units that are found in the domain of estimation. Estimates are computed for several domains of interest such as mineral groups and provinces/territories.

Establishments for which sand and gravel mining and quarrying operations are a secondary activity and whose main business activity falls outside of the mining NAICS are left out of the estimates since their contribution has little impact to the overall total.

Quality evaluation

Most reporting and data entry errors are corrected through manual editing, automated edit checks, and complex data review procedures. Strict quality control procedures are applied to ensure that collection, coding and data processing are as accurate as possible.

Checks are performed on all data received. The survey final data sets are subject to rigorous analysis to ensure comparability with patterns observed in the historical data series, wherever possible. Additionally, mineral production statistics from various provincial and territorial departments as well as other statistical agencies are compared with mineral production aggregates from the Annual Mineral Production Survey to assess and ensure the quality and consistency of the data series.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. When necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis for financial and commodity variables is done using the G-Confid system. G-Confid is used for primary confidentiality as well as for the secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure or primary confidentiality occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

The most recent annual data are subject to a one year revision policy, based on updated information and to take into account late responses.

Data accuracy

The weighted response rate for the Annual Mineral Production Survey was 75.6% for reference year 2020 data collection.

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