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Exploration looking up $124 million in activity projected for 2012Thandiwe Vela Northern News Services Published Friday, March 16, 2012
According to preliminary Natural Resources Canada figures, actual mineral exploration spending in the territory in 2011 was $105.4 million, much higher than an earlier projection of $81.5 million. "I'd say (2011) was better than expected," said John Curran, spokesperson for Yellowknife-based exploration industry supply and expediting company Discovery Mining Services. "Last year was a fairly good year for businesses in the North." Mineral exploration spending of $105.4 million in the NWT last year is an almost 30 per cent increase over 2010 spending of $81.7 million and industry is counting on efforts to improve the investment climate in the territory as a factor behind the small comeback. Mineral exploration spending in the NWT is set to rise again this year, according to spending intentions gathered by Natural Resources Canada, which projects an increase to $124 million in 2012 from $105.4 million last year. "We're cautiously optimistic going into this season but as we saw in 2011, the initial estimates can be revised by 25 per cent or more," Curran said. "Last year it was fortunate that they increased, but they could have just as easily decreased, so we're gearing up for what we hope is going to be a good year but again we're still keeping that 'cautiously' qualifier in front of it." Because the exploration figures released by Natural Resources Canada include both junior exploration and mine development, Yellowknife geologist Gary Vivian, of Aurora GeoSciences Ltd., said the increase is mostly a reflection of increased spending at advanced projects, and does not mean there has been an increase in junior exploration in the territory. "I'm sure exploration expenditures have gone up but it's not reflecting the amount of junior mining company exploration work that's gone on," Vivian said. "It's more a reflection of middle-phased programs where the expenditures are going up - it's not on small-stage exploration programs, because they're having a very difficult time." Major projects that contributed to 2011 NWT exploration spending include Seabridge Gold Inc.'s Courageous Lake gold project, Avalon Rare Metals Inc.'s Nechalacho rare earth element project, Fortune Minerals Ltd.'s NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit, Tyhee Gold Corp.'s Yellowknife gold project, De Beers Canada's Gahcho Kue diamond project, and Canadian Zinc Corp.'s Prairie Creek Mine project. Grassroots exploration spending serviced by Discovery Mining in 2011 included Merc International Minerals Inc.'s Damoti Lake gold project, located about 200 km north of Yellowknife. Merc also announced the acquisition of the historic Colomac Gold Mine late last year, nearby the Damoti Lake camp. Vivian was also involved in grassroots exploration with Calgary-based Manson Creek Resources Ltd., which began hunting for gold at the Up Town Gold property, adjacent to the historic Giant Mine last year. Besides these projects, "there's not much in the way of junior mining exploration going on in the NWT," Vivian said, although he's optimistic because of efforts being made to improve permitting issues which are impeding grassroots exploration in the territory, including a committee he sits on through the chamber of mines, dealing with a memorandum of understanding with the Akaitcho First Nations. The Akaitcho-chamber agreement, in addition to other initiatives underway by the federal and territorial government, are also behind the return of investment to the NWT, said Tom Hoefer, executive director of the chamber. "We've got a little turnaround right now," Hoefer said. "Let's just get those (initiatives) in place and we could accelerate that turn-around."
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