The mineral extraction industry across the country, including in the NWT, is getting a major new funding boost from the federal government.

In its 2022 budget, unveiled on April 7, the federal government proposed up to $3.8 billion over eight years as part of an inaugural Critical Minerals Strategy.

Speaking to the media on the runway of DetSA国际影视传媒檕n Cho Logistics on Wednesday morning, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the Critical Minerals Strategy aims to strengthen supply chains, create new jobs and promote the use of zero-emission vehicles.

SA国际影视传媒淲e are all witnessing the effect of the global pandemic on global supply chain challenges and global inflation,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut the measures in this budget are clearly meant to address these challenges, to ease pressure on our economy, to expand our capacity to make life more affordable for Canadians and to create more jobs.SA国际影视传媒�

These measures include $1.5 billion for new critical minerals projects, another $1.5 billion for projects in SA国际影视传媒渃ritical regionsSA国际影视传媒� like OntarioSA国际影视传媒檚 Ring of Fire, $80 million for geoscience and exploration programs and $144 million for research and development.

However, some of the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 most important minerals and metals arenSA国际影视传媒檛 directly targeted by these new investments. The federal government has its own list of 31 minerals it considers SA国际影视传媒渃ritical for the sustainable economic success of Canada and our allies,SA国际影视传媒� which doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 include diamonds or gold.

Although this decade will see the closure of most, if not all, diamond mines in the territory, diamonds remain an important driver of the NWT economy: The territory extracted more than $1.5 billion worth of the gems in 2021, according to the NWT Bureau of Statistics. And while gold hasnSA国际影视传媒檛 been a significant contributor to the NWT economy since 2004, according to the same data set, recent promising exploration projects and the rising price of gold mean that the precious metal may be set to make a comeback in the territory.

Speaking at the April 20 DetSA国际影视传媒檕n Cho briefing, Caroline Wawzonek, the NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, praised the new federal investments, saying they SA国际影视传媒渞eflect the discussions that the Government of the Northwest Territories has already been having with the federal government around both our strong potential in this sector, as well as some of the challenges we face around regulatory processes and infrastructure gaps.SA国际影视传媒�

To address these regulatory challenges, the 2022 federal budget includes $40 million to review existing regulations for critical minerals projects across the North.

SA国际影视传媒淭he Northwest Territories is one of our richest regions in the country that has natural resources that will be essential for us to address climate change, to produce new technologies, to produce batteries, to build new vehicles,SA国际影视传媒� said Alghabra. SA国际影视传媒淎nd thatSA国际影视传媒檚 why ISA国际影视传媒檓 here today making the announcement, because I know itSA国际影视传媒檚 going to help this region and itSA国际影视传媒檚 going to help the country.SA国际影视传媒�

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