Nunavut rock hunters to spend $280 million this year

Mineral exploration firms will likely spend $280 million in Nunavut this year, the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines said Oct. 6 in a news release.

“Nunavut continues to perform way above its weight, ranking fifth among all provinces and territories and behind only Ontario, Quebec, B.C. and Saskatchewan,” the chamber said.

That $280-million figure represents a 50-per-cent improvement over 2009, when mineral explorers spent $187-million in Nunavut.

The Northwest Territories, however, lags far behind Nunavut in mineral exploration.

In 2010, exploration firms are forecast to spend $99 million in the NWT.

That’s an improvement of 120-per-cent over 2009, when mineral explorers spent only $44 million in the NWT.

John Kearney, the president of the chamber of mines, said in a news release that he attributes this year’s increased spending to improved world metal prices and to “improvements” in regulatory processes.

Indications from Government of intentions to reform the regulatory process have provided a new level of encouragement and we hope that this will continue and be converted into concrete action,” Kearney said.