SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Independent prospector Penelope Shaw should be focused on trekking the vast expanse of the Northwest Territories reading the earth in search of clues but instead, she has focused a piercing gaze at the GNWT's 2008/2009 budget, which passed unanimously on Tuesday.

Shaw is upset by the funding cutbacks in the Prospectors Grubstake Program, which has been slashed by 67 per cent from last year.

The new budget will provide only $50,000 for independent prospectors across the NWT for this season - down from $150,000 last year.

Shaw received a letter from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) dated June 10, which informed her of the reduction.

The note was from ITI's Mineral, Oil and Gas division, which was unable to comment by press time.

The prospector got the letter the same day the budget passed,

She would have been in the field this week, had a colleague not tipped her off about the letter.

The letter promised more information after the current budget session, but advises in the meantime "that individuals do not enter into any financial commitments that would depend on funds normally applied for under the Prospector Grubstake Program."

This essentially robs her of "gas in the tank" - or money that fuels her exploration activities.

She had harsh criticism for the decision.

"I suspect the bureaucrat who recommended that this program be gutted has a commitment to geoscience and to the economic well-being of the Northwest Territories shared by a green lentil," Shaw said.

Many of the largest mining operations in the territory owe their lineage to independent expertise and discovery.

Those operations include gold mining at Giant Mine and Con Mine, lead zinc mining at Pine Point, and silver and uranium extraction at Echo Bay - where radioactive material was secured from the old Eldorado Mine site, some of which went into the world's first atomic bombs.

Diamond mines such as Ekati and Diavik also owe their history to independent prospecting.

Ms. Shaw said the expertise of independents, who depend on this program for funding, is vital to the future of geological exploration in the NWT, adding it is a very cost-effective way of exploring the territory.

Mike Vaydik, general manager of the NWT Chamber of Mines, agreed. He said independent prospectors are an important part of the industry.

"We need these people out there," said Vaydik. "These grassroots prospectors are helping out the rest of us by gathering all this information - geological, geophysical, geochemical data - it's all public information, now."

He said industry regulations and the complexity of regulations poses another problem for prospectors.

"It's already keeping them off the land. Some of them have just given up. This cutback is just another nail in the coffin of the independent prospector."