Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/1239546
A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 2 0 www.resourceworld.com 11 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES cies behind. They know they have a PR issue when I speak with them about power and energy. Some are telling us they are not attracted to the Northwest Territories because right now we can only offer diesel operated mines and that's not fitting into the sustainability mandate that mining companies have for themselves. I think junior exploration has dropped off a bit because they would like a greener energy source available. So, what that signals to me is that the industry recognizes that they need to do a better job of showing that they're good corporate citizens. We look at our three diamond mines – those businesses have been great to the Northwest Territories – they've done things right in an environ - mentally sound way. They're consulting and engaging with the local people and creating employment opportunities and training those people. I'm seeing a shift in the mining industry from just profit. They want an ethical place to do business where they're having mean - ingful impact. RW: Does the Northwest Territories offer any incentives for explorers? KN: We have a grassroots explora- tion incentive program called Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (SEED). Qualified NWT prospectors can receive a maximum of $5,000 over three years to assist in purchasing tools and equipment as well as purchasing supplies and services directly related to prospecting activity. We are also going to be looking at tax incentives. We know that the biggest com - plaint is the high cost of doing business in the North. As a new Minister, my Ministry is looking to see if there's a way that we can change our fee structure that makes it more incentivized for junior explorers. When I put my other hat on as Infrastructure Minister, if I can get some of these infrastructure projects going like roads into our mineral rich areas as well as the Taltson Hydroelectric Expansion Project we can offer a better energy source that could result in an uptick in explora - tion and mining. RW: Is the Northwest Territories par- ticipating in the Invest Canada North program? KN: Yes, we're very excited by the announcement of the funding for the next three years at PDAC to try to attract some international investment. The Yukon Mining Alliance and the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, in partnership with the governments of the three territories, recently announced that the Government of Canada's Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency [CanNor] will provide $500,000 over three years to host Invest Canada North at PDAC. The initiative connected NWT explorers with potential global investors. In addition, I think we're going to see more partnerships between the federal government and the Northwest Territories. RW: With the entire world on the cusp of switching to electric vehicles, does the Northwest Territories have potential to host battery mineral deposits? KN: We do. I know we have lithium and cobalt. Maybe not so much for that use, but we also have rare earth elements as well. There is this weird misinformation about mining that we need to move away from mining as we're moving into a greener technology. However, we still need to have mining to make solar panels, bat - teries and wind turbines – even the bodies of the electric cars. We need to start working harder to dispel the fear of mining and show that mining companies are often on the forefront of innovation such as electric powered mines being cheaper to run than burning diesel. That is the way of the future; however, we're still going to be mining. RW: The Northwest Territories is vast with not a lot of infrastructure. Is your government planning any kind of infra- structure that would help explorers? KN: Yes, we've specifically named three major infrastructure projects and two of those are corridors. There is the McKenzie Valley Highway, which is about connect - ing communities and then we have the all-weather 413-kilometre Slave Geologic Province Corridor Road that would be an important transportation, hydro and com - munications corridor while connecting the region and its vast mineral wealth to points south and eventually to a deep-water port on the Arctic Ocean in Nunavut. The road that we want to build would come up through that area and then hopefully con - nect to the Kitikmeot Road out of Nunavut. Our next mines that we're seeing com- ing down the path are not diamond mines, whose diamonds can be flown out. These are mines that have a concentrate that needs to be shipped to markets in Asia. Currently, any shipping of concentrate is through either of the two coasts, but we're much closer to the Arctic Ocean than we are to the Pacific. If we can con - nect our territory to Nunavut ports on the Arctic Ocean that's going to significantly cut down that transport time and make us more attractive as a supplier to Asian markets. The third infrastructure project is the Taltson Hydroelectric Dam Expansion which would then be hopefully giving us the opportunity to offer greener energy to the diamond and other mines. Taltson was a hydroelectric dam built on the southeast shore of Great Slave Lake in support of the closed Pine Point Mine. The dam currently powers a few of our communities: Hay River, Fort Smith and Fort Resolution. We would like to expand the capacity of the hydroelectric capacity and then lay submarine cables across the lake to Yellowknife, take the transmission lines up to the mineral-rich Slave Geologic Corridor and then eventually connect it to the southern grid for redundancy as well as the ability to pay back power. These are obviously very long term projects. We have received some funding from CanNor for pre-feasibility studies, environ - mental assessments and to basically bring LEFT: Katrina Nockleby, a geological engineer and Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment for Canada's Northwest Territories. Photo courtesy NWT government.