Exploration spending dipped in Nunavut, rose in NWT
Natural Resources Canada survey of mineral exploration and mining companies forecasts 2013 numbers
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Saturday, December 14, 2013
NWT/NUNAVUT
Natural Resources Canada adjusted its 2012 summary of mineral exploration and mining companies' total spending intentions for 2012, causing Nunavut to dip and the NWT to rise in the rankings. The department forecasts 2013 Northern exploration and deposit appraisal expenditures to drop in Nunavut and rise in the Northwest Territories.
Natural Resources Canada adjusted its 2012 summary of mineral exploration and mining companies' total spending intentions for 2012, causing Nunavut to dip and the NWT to rise in the rankings. - graph courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
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Nationally, total spending intentions for 2012 were revised downwards by 22 per cent to $3,031.9 million, from $3,875.1 million in 2012. Nunavut dropped to 5th place and the NWT rose to 7th place.
After the sharp downturn of 2009, exploration expenditures increased significantly in 2010 and then achieved record levels of spending in 2011 in a number of jurisdictions.
Last year, the NWT was the only territory to record an increase, along with British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the department's report, which accounted for a total increase of $220 million. Decreases totalling $418 million in Ontario, Quebec, and the Yukon nullified these gains, however.
“These are challenging times in the global market place for the exploration and mining industry, so we are pleased that there are still projects in both the NWT and Nunavut that are advancing through the approval and regulatory processes. We are hopeful that the marketplace will improve in the coming year, and we will see exploration increase,” stated Brooke Clements, president of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines and president of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd., in a Dec. 12 news release.
"We are happy to see that the NWT is bucking the Northern trend with a projected increase in spending of 46 per cent over last year. The recent release of the first ever NWT Mineral Development Strategy, combined with devolution of decision-making authority over lands, waters and resources from the federal government to the NWT and a commitment to work towards regulatory improvement are cornerstone building blocks that will help drive the NWT economy and create socio-economic opportunities for all its residents."
