Mining exploration expenditures in the NWT have experienced a sharp decrease this year, federal estimates show.
This comes at a time when the cash-strapped GNWT is searching for ways to compensate for lost revenue for the looming closure of the big diamond mines in coming years.
Exploration expenditures remained steady nationally, but Natural Resources Canada’s revised 2024 estimates project a sharp decrease in NWT, with and slight increase in Nunavut over 2023 actuals.
Kenny Ruptash, president of the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines noted in a post that In both NWT and Nunavut, exploration is largely early-stage exploration, as opposed to deposit appraisal.
He stated: “Industry continues to provide input to support development on the Mineral Resources Act Regulations and with the land and water boards regarding early-stage exploration, both of which are key needs for a robust exploration sector.
“While both territories have strong mineral potential, each continues to capture a lower share of Canadian investment considering the NWT and Nunavut combined are 34-per-cent of Canada’s land mass but attract only 8.5-per-cent of its investment.”
Exploration in the Northwest Territories is dominated by junior companies, while senior companies play a larger role in Nunavut.
Also, exploration in the NWT is focused mainly on base metals, diamonds, lithium and rare earths, while Nunavut exploration includes base and precious metals, iron and uranium.
Revised 2023 and 2024 numbers show $96.6 million in exploration expenditures, which represents a $42 million decrease from in 2023.
The GNWT’s first Mineral Resources Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly in 2019. Regulations needed to bring it into force are still in development, with no firm date for being complete.
During Mining Week 2024 in February, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Caitlin Cleveland told the Assembly the new act, “represents a new chapter for our mining sector, setting the stage for modernization and shared prosperity for residents, Indigenous governments, and our industry partners.”
The GNWT hopes the new act and regulations will increase opportunities for exploration by providing more time to explore claims before transitioning to leases and making it easier to collect high-quality geoscience data.
“This, in turn, will attract investment and support the highly-anticipated move to an online map staking system,” stated the Minister.
It’s also unclear how the mining industry will receive that landmark conservation initiative signed last month in Behchokǫ̀.
The Indigenous-led NWT: Our Land for the Future, is a a historic $375 million agreement t0 fund over 10 years Indigenous-led conservation, stewardship, and economic development across the Northwest Territories.
Mining exploration expenditures. NWT is in blue. (Image courtesy of Natural Resources Canada)
