The Media Room
2011/32 (b)
Backgrounder
Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals: New Geoscience Maps for Nunavut
The Government of Canada’s $100-million investment in Natural Resources Canada’s Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM) program is expected to generate more than $500 million in private sector exploration for new energy and mineral resources.
Geo-mapping is a proven catalyst for resource development and economic growth that benefits many rural and remote communities in Canada’s North. For example, GEM activities have helped identify the best areas for mineral exploration so that companies can better direct their exploration resources and efforts. As a result, the southern part of Nunavut’s Cumberland Peninsula is now recognized for its diamond potential.
The GEM program is part of an ambitious plan to complete geological mapping in the North to support increased exploration for new resources. Currently in the third year of its five-year mandate (2008–2013), GEM has resulted in 20 new field projects in the three northern territories and the northern parts of six provinces. A direct correlation can be made between GEM activities and industry exploration levels. For example, maps published in 2009 resulted in a significant increase in demand for new exploration permits, and results published in 2010 have seen similar industry uptake in early 2011.
In large areas of the North, there is insufficient public geoscience information to attract and guide private sector investment. In Nunavut, adequate geological knowledge exists for only about one third of the territory. Through accelerated geophysical surveys in the Melville Peninsula and Thelon Basin, industry, governments and NGOs will now benefit from the release of 31 new geoscience maps in March and April of 2011. The maps cover the large unexplored area south of the recent mineral claim staking activity and are expected to generate significant industry interest.
To ensure that lasting benefits accrue to northern communities from GEM activities and subsequent industry exploration and development, Natural Resources Canada is adopting advice from the Advisory Group of Northerners, which includes representatives from governments, the private sector and Aboriginal socio-economic development organizations.
As training and mentoring of the next generation of highly qualified geoscience personnel is a top priority, GEM activities also involve significant participation by academia, in particular students from junior undergraduates to post-doctoral fellows.
GEM's geophysical maps are available for download, free of charge, through Natural Resources Canada's Geoscience Data Repository at www.gdr.nrcan.gc.ca.
Richard Walker
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-996-2007
or
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-992-4447
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