A resurgent diamond industry and an increase in staking, offset by 437 cancelled claims, marks this past year as one of tempered optimism for the NWT mineral industry.

Last week, the GNWT released its Northwest Territories Mineral Exploration Overview, prepared by the Northwest Territories Geological Survey, which looks at the end of 2016 and most of 2017.

Geologist Hendrik Falck, one of the overviewSA国际影视传媒檚 authors, says the industry is buoyed by a lot of large companies finding investment to work on large, established projects such as TerraXSA国际影视传媒檚 Yellowknife Gold Project and NighthawkSA国际影视传媒檚 Indin Lake property.

SA国际影视传媒淲hat we donSA国际影视传媒檛 have a lot of is grassroots, really out-there projects where people are trying new areas and new things,SA国际影视传媒� said Falck.

SA国际影视传媒淚n some ways thereSA国际影视传媒檚 certainly a lightening of mood in the [global mineral] industry as a whole, but that hasnSA国际影视传媒檛 translated yet up here,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 hopeful that by next summer weSA国际影视传媒檒l start seeing an increase in the number of smaller projects. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 really whatSA国际影视传媒檚 missing right now.SA国际影视传媒�

He says the lack of exploration has impacted local economies. Small projects often source goods and services from NWT communities close to their activities.

Falck says that from what he has heard, there are two identifiable causes contributing to this lack of activity.

For one thing, the investment climateSA国际影视传媒攕kittish since the recession of 2008SA国际影视传媒攊s still not taking too many chances, hence the investment in established projects with high value, such as gold and diamonds.

SA国际影视传媒淭he juniors who have a good idea and are sort of one step above a prospector I donSA国际影视传媒檛 think are finding it quite as easy to raise money with just a good tale right now,SA国际影视传媒� said Falck.

As well, while gold prices are now somewhat stableSA国际影视传媒攁nd historically high, said FalckSA国际影视传媒攎uch of the NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 known gold-rich land, in the Slave geological province, is currently subject to land withdrawals while land claims are being negotiated between indigenous groups, the federal government and the GNWT.

There is cause for optimism, though. After the Geological Survey tried some new surveying techniques looking at older pieces of ground that were open for exploration, established diamond operations identified anomalies worth looking into and staked themSA国际影视传媒攖his translated to 34 new claims over two weeks.

As well, despite base metal commoditiesSA国际影视传媒攕teel, lead-zinc and the likeSA国际影视传媒攈aving been low in general for the last few years, copper has shown some signs of resurgence. Low industrial activity worldwide impacts these commodities the most. An example Falck gave is tungstenSA国际影视传媒攗sed now mainly in steel-cutting tools, the fact that new steel production has been slow has caused tungsten prices to collapse, and the NWT saw Cantung close in 2015 as a result.

Sometimes, even more obscure world events can impact mining in CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 North. This year, in an effort to combat corruption, the government of India devalued some of its high-value banknotesSA国际影视传媒攖he 500 and 1,000 rupee currencies which it identified to be used more than others to buy votes and bribe public figures.

These were also the most common banknotes used in India to purchase small diamonds for jewellery-making, transacation typically done with cash.

SA国际影视传媒淪o suddenly they had all of this currency that was now worthless so they couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 buy the diamonds that they needed for making jewelry,SA国际影视传媒� said Falck. SA国际影视传媒淭he value of diamonds suddenly disappeared so diamond companies saw a slump in their prices and their sales as well.SA国际影视传媒�

Prices have recovered since then and full activity has returned to the market.

Despite these conditions, Gahcho Kue successfully completed its first year of operation and both Diavik and Ekati are proceeding with major mine expansions.