NUNAVUT

This year's Nunavut Mining Symposium is shaping up to be one of the biggest in years as more mining companies are choosing to do business in the territory.

Mineral exploration will be the talk of the city when the Nunavut Mining Symposium comes to Iqaluit. Here, Poisey Mike of Pangnirtung works at Peregrine Diamond's Cumberland diamond project, east of the community. - photo courtesy of Peregrine Diamonds

The annual symposium, scheduled for April 5 to 7 in Iqaluit, will bring together mining industry representatives, businesses, various levels of government, Inuit organizations, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders to discuss the latest developments, opportunities and challenges facing the sector in Nunavut.

"Every hotel in town has been fully booked for a few months," said symposium co-coordinator Brenda Mercer. "We have 390 registered attendees and we are expecting another 50 or so to register at the door." Mercer added that registration numbers have been climbing consistently since the economic downturn in 2008.

Spending on mineral exploration in Nunavut is expected to top $322.8 million this year, up 22 per cent from 2011, according to recently released estimates from Natural Resources Canada.

More than half of that spending will be done by junior exploration companies conducting grassroots exploration in the territory.

Alex Buchan, manager of community and external relations for Newmont Mining Corporation's Hope Bay Project, said he is excited about this year's expected turnout. He will be giving a presentation on community relations at the symposium.

"I'm excited to see this level of interest. A lot of people come to us and ask about training and employment opportunities, so we are looking forward to answering those sorts of questions," said Buchan. "I am mostly interested in the community engagement side of it, and am always interested in seeing what other companies are doing, and this is a good opportunity for that."

Eric Prosh, program chairperson for the symposium, believes increased mining activity in Nunavut is one reason for the increase in interest this year.

"Things are quite positive across the board. A lot is happening at once and I think a lot of people were looking to commodities as a spearhead for getting out of the economic recession," said Prosh.

"Every year we have a theme and this year's theme is Nunavut Going Global, which I think is a good way to characterize what we've seen in Nunavut recently."

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