Incentives spur exploration projects

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."

Brooke Clements, president of the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines, predicts the program will become an important tool in helping rejuvenate exploration investment in the NWT.

"It's a very symbolic first step under the new NWT Mineral Development Strategy, which we were pleased to help develop with the GNWT," Clements said.

Recent regulatory reforms by the Federal Government, the devolution of responsibilities for mining to the NWT Government, and the new NWT Mineral Development Strategy will help the NWT attract more exploration investment.

Clements said a healthy exploration sector is critical to sustain and grow the tremendous benefits mining has created for northern residents and businesses.

The territorial government launched the program in June to provide funds to assist eligible prospectors and mining exploration companies that are already engaged in mining exploration projects or proposing new projects in the NWT. It aims to offset some of the financial risk associated with grassroots mineral exploration in the NWT.

Three prospectors and 11 companies made up the 14 applications that requested a total of over $1.02 million of funding support. The budget for the program is $400,000.

Administered by the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, the incentive program awarded grants ranging from C$50,000 to C$80,000 to six exploration companies and split C$21,500 between two prospectors.

The grant recipients:

Proxima Diamonds Corp., received C$80,000 for work on the Northern Gem Project in the Tlicho Region. Proxima Diamonds is a new company founded by geologists with extensive exploration and development mining experience throughout North America, with particular experience within the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The group has been involved with all aspects of diamond exploration since the first Canadian diamond discovery in 1991;

Songful Resources, won C$65,000 for gold exploration on the Hudex Property in the Sahtu Region. The Hudex property, comprising 16 claims (13,377 hectares or 33,055 acres) is located 116 kilometres (71 miles) northwest of Norman Wells, NT. Prospecting and stream sediment sampling in 2012 and 2013 returned encouraging results;

DemCo Limited Partnership, received C$65,000 to hunt for multiple metals on the Camsell River Exploration Project in the Sahtu region.

The Dene First Nations in the Northwest Territories have created a 100 percent aboriginal-owned company, DemCo LP that can enable them to be owners of mines operating on their lands.

DEMCo has acquired 12 mineral claims from Cooper Minerals Inc. covering 9,199 hectares (22,731.18 acres) at the Terra Mine site on the Camsell River at Conjuror bay on Great Bear Lake.

The property contains four former producing mines.

DEMCo also negotiated the purchase of two other mineral leases and one claim for total control of 9,830 hectares (24,290.11 acres) at the Terra Mine.

Panarc Resources, won C$64,544 to seek base metals and gold on the Indian Mountain Lake Property in the Akaitcho Region. The Indian Mountain Lake property is comprised of eight claims (6,298 hectares or 15,562 acres) north of the East Arm of Great Slave Lake;

TerraX Minerals Inc., received C$50,000 for gold exploration on the Yellowknife City Gold Project in the Akaitcho region. The Yellowknife City Gold Project encompasses about 8,400 hectares (20,756 acres) of contiguous land immediately north of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories and includes TerraX's 3,562-hectare (8,802 acres) Northbelt property;

North Arrow Minerals Inc., won C$50,000 to explore for diamonds on the Redemption Diamond Project in the Tlicho region. North Arrow completed an exploration drilling program this year at Redemption, which is located in the Lac de Gras region about 32 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of the Ekati mine. A total of 799.8 meters of drilling tested seven targets in the central part of the property;

Lane Dewar, received C$12,000 for gold prospecting in the Akaitcho region; and,

Dave Nickerson, won C$9,500 for gold prospecting in the Akaitcho region).