November 8, 2011 - Today the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and Minister of Health, together with the Honourable David Ramsay, Northwest Territories Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI), announced that the resource industry can count on up-to-date geoscience data in the Northwest Territories (NWT) to support resource exploration and development projects.
“The Government of Canada recognizes that reliable information about mineral and energy deposits is essential to attract resource development and support the dynamic economic growth we are seeing across the North,” said Minister Aglukkaq. “The data gathered from these projects will provide more certainty for industry and investors, create job and business opportunities for Northerners, and support land use planning.”
“Reliable geoscience data is vital to encourage exploration in areas with high resource potential, which in turn contributes to the sustainability of the NWT mining industry,” said Minister Ramsay. “Not only will the outcomes of these research and data projects help attract investment to our territory, they will also create spin-off exploration projects that will provide employment and business opportunities for NWT residents.”
This three-year research initiative will build the geoscience knowledge base through geochemical and geophysical surveys, bedrock mapping, and petroleum and mineral deposit studies of under-explored regions with high resource potential. New and existing data will be analyzed to identify promising new research and exploration areas. Areas of interest include the Cordilleran, Mackenzie Plain, Wopmay-Great Bear, Slave, and Churchill regions of the territory.
The work will be spearheaded by the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office (NTGO), a collaborative partnership between ITI and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC).
The federal funding was made possible through Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency’s (CanNor) Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development (SINED) program which focuses on long-term economic growth, economic diversification, and capacity building in all three territories.
SINED is one of several economic development programs within CanNor. CanNor is responsible for coordinating and delivering Canada’s economic development across the North, and for related policy development, research and advocacy.
Backgrounder - CanNor supports multi-year geoscience research in the NWT
Please visit these web sites to learn more about Canada's Economic Action Plan andCanada's Northern Strategy .
For further information, please contact:
Office of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq
Cailin Rodgers
Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and Minister of Health
613-957-0200
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
Petra White
Communications Advisor, NWT Region
867-766-8435
Government of the Northwest Territories
Alayna Ward
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment
867-920-8696
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Toni Riley
Senior Communications Advisor
867-669-2451