NUNAVUT - By early 2010 Nunavut will have its first corporation dedicated to finding mining projects to invest in, putting Inuit at the centre of the resource development industry.

The Nunavut Resource Corporation (NRC) is the vision of Charlie Evalik, president of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. While Evalik might be the driver behind the wheel of the project, it's going to benefit Inuit across the territory.

"The idea is to take Inuit involvement in resource development in their territory to a new level and develop a different type of vehicle for what they want to do in the resource world," said John Donihee, the lawyer and project manager behind getting the corporation on its feet.

The corporation will be modelled after the Aboriginal Pipeline Group (APG), the company involved in pushing for the go ahead on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. The APG secures partners for the project and Donihee said the corporation will be based on the group's working model, seeking regional Inuit associations (RIA) as partners in projects they might want to pursue.

"NRC would be general partner and Inuit, RIA's or any organization they choose, could be the limited partners," he said, adding all profits made from any project would go back to the associations and their respective regions.

"NRC would be the vehicle looking for project opportunity and seeking to attract investment capital and making the projects a reality."

Donihee said Inuit involvement in the resource sector to date focuses primarily on providing goods and services to companies hoping to mine in the territory.

Those business tend to focus on the provision of goods and services," he said. "Drilling companies, explosives, or they do work, earthwork and construction, so they're sort of that side of the ledger.

"What we don't have in Nunavut is an Inuit approach to equity participation in resource development for the future.

"In the short term we're going to mining focused but in the long term we want to look at other opportunities related to hydro carbon development as well."

Through funding from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Government of Nunavut, the corporation, while not yet incorporated, have already put together a working team of engineers to seek out potential business opportunities

"We have the financing to begin looking for opportunities and projects (the) right way. We're not wasting any time," he said.

"Economic development driven by Inuit themselves is a high priority of the Canadian government and if we can take advantage of that at this time, then we certainly will."

A board of directors will be appointed to help push the corporation in the right direction. Donihee said he is hoping the board will be a diverse selection of southern business-minded individuals who can help bring together projects.

"Unfortunately there aren't many folks in Nunavut with that experience," he said, adding they are seeking out people who have expertise in mining, oil and gas and corporate financing.

"In the short term they'll be mostly from the south. We feel we need to approach it that way because we need to put a credible face forward to the market or lending institutions when the time comes to find project financing."