Mining News: Incentives spur exploration projects – by Rose Ragsdale (Mining News – Week of September 28, 2014)

http://www.petroleumnews.com/miningnewsnorth/index.shtml

Inaugural program aims to encourage existing, would-be mineral explorers to chase diamonds, gold and other metals in the North

The Government of Northwest Territories has implemented a new Mining Incentive Program that was oversubscribed by midyear, with strong interest shown by companies and prospectors in the Northwest Territories and across Canada.

“The Mining Incentive Program helps our government support those with the energy, expertise and perseverance that this industry relies on to conduct mineral exploration in an environmentally sustainable way,” said GNWT Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister David Ramsay.

“I especially look forward to using this program to contribute to the success of northern and Aboriginal-owned businesses pursuing mining projects, so more northerners can enjoy the benefits of economic development and a healthy mining sector,” Ramsay said in a statement.

“It’s very positive to get that much interest,” said Pam Strand, director of Mineral Resources for the Government of Northwest Territories. “But it’s not surprising when compared with other jurisdictions such as Yukon Territory and Manitoba. Their programs have grown year by year.”

Yukon Territory, for example, awarded C$1.4 million this year to 44 companies and prospectors, up about C$630,000 from comparable funding in 2013. Last season, 55 Yukon exploration projects were funded through the program, which represented half of the total number of projects active in the territory in 2013. In addition to leveraging C$3 million in exploration investment by the private sector, the 2013 funding led to 300 new mineral claims being staked in Yukon and the discovery of 12 new mineral occurrences.

While popular with the industry, the mining incentives are not handouts, Strand said.

“For every dollar we give them, they must spend twice that because it’s so expensive to operate in the North,” she told Mining News in a recent interview.

“Also, (the program) has operating and spending requirements designed to generate additional benefits for the local economy,” she said. “We’re trying to create new mineral discoveries to benefit the ongoing health of the economy and build a healthy junior mining sector. This will keep projects in the pipeline to ensure the creation of future mines.”

Created under the new NWT Mineral Development Strategy, the mining incentives program is intended to “stimulate and sustain mineral exploration activities throughout the territory and reduce the risk associated with grass roots mineral exploration, exploration that is vital to a healthy, sustained, and productive mining industry.”

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