The Governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories (NWT) – a federal territory of Canada – recently jointly announced that the Canadian federal government would be investing US$ 5.1 million in NWT for strengthening infrastructure in the area. The monies will be used for two important projects: the building of an all-season road to the area within NWT which is considered to have large mineral deposits; as well as aerial geophysical surveys of the region.

One media report said that the Government of Canada and the NWT government announced that they plan to spend nearly US$ 3.4 million “on preliminary work” for the     proposed road.

The report, based on the governments’ news release, added that the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) will be contributing around US$ 2.7 million toward the development of what is termed as the the Slave Geological Province Access Corridor project, while the territorial government will be investing US$ 678,000.

The NWT’s three operational mines are located in its Slave Geological Province.

"This is an important day for us," Wally Schumann, the Territorial Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, is quoted by CBC as saying.

Apart from the road, the CBC report says CanNor is also investing about US$ 2.4 million on mapping and aerial surveys of the area, with the NWT government investing US$ 280,000 and industry partners investing US$ 749,000.

Mining.com reported that Paul Lefebvre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources made the announcement during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention in Toronto.

"Knowing where mineral deposits exist and being able to access them is the first step in attracting investment and growing the resource development sector. We know that similar projects in NWT in the past have led to significant economic development activity,” Mining.com quoted Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and the Minister responsible for CanNor as saying. “These projects are building on that success. The Government of Canada is committed to the creation of more good jobs, more economic growth and long-term sustainable development in the North."