IGLULIK - The 10 prospecting courses that took place across Nunavut this year not only created possible future prospectors, it also provided a look into some interesting local geography, according to instructor Mike Beauregard.

Beauregard, a resident geologist with the Department of Economic Development and Transportation, said the courses provide an opportunity for residents to bring their rocks and other interesting finds to a geologist for identification.

"There is a geologist in town - if they have anything they want looked at, come down at lunchtime," he said. "That generates as many interesting things as the people taking the course bring in."

Having students bring in examples of local geology is part of the program in each community, Beauregard said. Much of the land in Nunavut contains geology that is unique to a particular area.

"Right now Taloyoak is probably leading simply in the fossils," he said. "We had a picture of a boulder with a big giant spiral fossil."

Nunavut is also a good place for locating meteorites, Beauregard said.

"There has even been a meteorite or two," he said.

Photos of a possible meteorite found near Qikiqtarjuaq are currently being studied at the Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Beauregard said. While it is not yet known if the specimen is actually a meteorite, Beauregard said locating them in the territory is not uncommon.

"They've turned up in the past. There have been several found in Nunavut," he said.

Nunavut's frozen landscape in the winter provides an excellent viewing ground for locating meteorites.

"Meteorites are not punching holes in the ground, they're falling on the snow or the ice," he said.

Beauregard said black rocks located on sea or lake ice could turn out to be meteorites.

"In the spring when the snow comes off the ice before the ice melts, if there is something black on the ice, people should be encouraged ... to pick it up and check it out. If you don't pick it up, chances are you've left a meteorite behind."

Beauregard said next year's courses could reveal even more interesting finds.

"Hopefully next year we'll have a different slate of communities and see what turns up in locality highlights," he said.

The course is designed to introduce people to mining and prospecting and about 100 Nunavummiut who took the program have been certified this year, Beauregard said.

Six residents of Iglulik graduated from the course after it was held in the community this summer.

"It's really what's around the various towns that we concentrate on as well as an introduction to rocks and minerals," Beauregard said. "Most people that take the course just want to learn about what mining and exploration is. If they do try it, they can always apply for the grant."

Receiving a grant allows prospectors to get a licence and stake a claim of their own, Beauregard said.

While some graduates opt to get a licence, many take the course to learn more about their local geography and to be able to identify rocks and minerals, Beauregard said.

"It's more interest-driven, prospecting is done by curious people," he said. "People just keep an eye out as they're travelling across land," he said. "If they see something interesting, they can send it to geologist and see what they've found.

"Some people say that's not prospecting, but if that's not prospecting, what is?"