MayJune 2020 MaiJuin 2020 15 Developments Opening the door t o e xplor ation T he N o rth w est T errit ories ne w mandat e seeks t o e xpand e xplor ation infr astructur e and Indig enous participation in the mining industry By Tijana Mitr ovic K a trina N okleby the N o rth w est T e r rit ory s Minist er of Infr astructur e and Industry T ourism and In v estment w ant s e v e ry one t o kno w that the N o rth w est T errit ories is a friendly jurisdic tion f or mining Elect ed in Oct ober N okleby is part of the ne w t errit orial g o v ernment which upon election set out 2 2 priorities f o r it s time in off ic e In F ebruary the g o v ernment r eleased and published it s mandat e f or 2019 t o 20 23 which out lined st eps and timelines t o achie v e these priorities T h r ee of those priori ties incr easing r esour c e e xplor ation and de v elopment in v esting in str at egic infr astructur e and set tling and imple menting tr eaty land r esour c e and self g ov ernment agr eement s with Indig enous populations demonstr at e the ne w g o v ernment s c ommitment t o the mining and r esour c e sect or A lar g e part of m y r esponsibility g oing f orw ar d is t o g et the ec onom y g oing by making sur e that that mone y st a y s in the N o rth N okleby t old CIM Mag azine W e r e in a lit tle bit of a slump right no w when it c omes t o e xplo r a tion I need t o ensur e that I g et some of that stuff g oing ag ain in the t errit ory T o industry member s such as Nightha wk Gold CEO Michael Byr on the mandat e is an opportunity t o fully e xplor e the N o rth w est T errit ories It has the g eology that s identic al t o what w e ha v e in the Abitibi r egion Byr on t old CIM Mag azine Y ou r e looking at something that hasn t had the hundr ed plus y ear s of e xplor ation and dollar s spent but has all the pr er equisit es right ag e of r ocks right style of miner aliz a tion T he g old is ther e and it s leaking int o an y brit tle r ock types Incr easing r esour c e e xplor ation and de v elopment is a major c omponent of the mandat e Canada is the w orld s thir d lar g est diamond pr oduc er most of which c ome fr om the N o rth w est T e r rit ories and mak e up a signif ic ant part of it s GDP As man y of these diamond mines ar e set t o r amp do wn pr oduction and close in the ne xt dec ade the g o v ernment hopes t o e xpand e xplor ation and sa v e r e v enue and jobs T he g o v ernment s mandat e includes a number of other clauses meant t o boost r esour c e de v elopment such as an independent r e vie w that will e xamine the t errit ory s c ompetitiv enes s t o de v elop r e c ommendations t o maximiz e benef it s using r o y alties t a x es and ec o nomic r eturns T he r e vie w is e xpect ed t o begin sometime this y ear and g ener at e a c ompetitiv enes s r eport which will be c omplet ed in spring 20 2 2 Infr astructur e is a major c omponent of the mandat e which pr omises t o c onnect c ommunities e xpand the ec onom y and r educ e the c ost of liv ing with a number of ne w pr oject s T h e Mack enzie V alle y High w a y the Sla v e Geologic al Corridor and the T alt son Hy dr o P r oject the thr ee major infr a structur e pr oject s named in the man dat e ha v e been planned t o impr ov e the quality and c ost of living in the t erri t o ry as w ell as help e xpand and div er sify it s ec onom y T he Mack enzie V alle y High w a y pr oj ect f or e xample runs thr ough a r egion with oil g as and miner al deposit s that ar e curr ently ac c e s sible only by wint er and ic e r oads Building a permanent r oad w ould not only c onnect c ommuni ties but allo w f or e xpanding po w e r A resupply at Nighthawk Gold s Indin Lake project in the Northwest T erritories Courtesy of Nighthawk Gold