Yellowknife, NT – January 20, 2011.
The Chamber of Mines has submitted its recommendations that important mineral resources in the 10,000 square kilometre Ts’ude niline Tu’eyeta, or Ramparts area of the Northwest Territories be protected for its future development potential. The area is a candidate protected area under the NWT Protected Areas Strategy.
Geoscience studies reveal that large parts of the Ramparts area have the potential to host deposits of zinc, lead, copper, diamonds and oil & gas that could create socio‐economic opportunities for the K’asho Got’ine people, for the Sahtu region, and for the Northwest Territories. To maximize the opportunities, the Chamber recommends that the moderate to high mineral potential areas not be included under any protected area designation that blocks development forever.
The Chamber recommends the Sahtu Land Use Plan be the tool used for protection as it can be modified by future generations to accommodate their needs, it provides a more flexible approach to balancing environmental values and economic development, and it provides more control to local communities.
“Mineral deposits rich enough to mine are rare and hard to find, being found where Mother Nature put them, not necessarily where we might prefer they be located,” says Pamela Strand, President of the Chamber of Mines. “Given the rarity of high mineral potential lands, and their importance to creating
future economic opportunities, we believe they should remain open for development.”
The exploration investment climate in the NWT has suffered significantly over the past five years and the NWT is one of the few jurisdictions globally that is suffering a downturn in exploration investment in the face of a global exploration boom. The Chamber of Mines is urging public and Aboriginal
governments and communities to take steps to re‐invigorate the investment climate, including reassessing the need to protect large areas of the territory from development forever, as is being considered for the Ramparts or Ts’ude niline Tu’eyeta area.
The Chamber of Mines submission can be found on the Chamber’s website www.miningnorth.com under Library, Protected Areas.
The full Ts’ude niline Tu’eyeta Recommendations Report is found on the NWT Protected Areas Strategy site at: http://www.nwtpas.ca/
For more information on the NWT and Nunavut mining industries, please contact Tom Hoefer, Executive Director at Tel: 867-873-5281 or email: executivedirector@miningnorth.com.