Representatives from the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference last week in Toronto, which focused on mineral exploration and development. This annual meeting and trade show is the industry’s largest mineral exploration and development conference, and hosted over 1,100 exhibitors, 2,500 investors and 23,000 attendees from around the world.
The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is the leading voice of the mineral exploration and development community, an industry that supports 719,000 people in direct and indirect employment and contributes $106 billion to Canada’s GDP every year. Representing over 6,000 members around the world, PDAC’s work centers on supporting a competitive, responsible, and sustainable mineral sector.
Highlights of the conference involved the Manitoba Reception where the Province of Manitoba’s Minister of Economic Development Investment and Trade Jeff Wharton promoted the province as a top destination for mining investment. He noted that over 60 firms from Canada and around the world are currently investing in mineral exploration in Manitoba.
Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, Natural Resources Minister of Canada and the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, PrairiesCan and CanNor spoke about the Government of Canada’s efforts to improve the efficiency of regulatory and permitting processes where possible and the importance of working with northern Indigenous partners, businesses, and communities to support sustainable mining and job creation.
A major component of PDAC was the Investors Exchange and Trade Show. Here we met exploration and mining companies and financial institutions and experienced a showcase of leading technology, products, services, and mining jurisdictions. Particular attention was given to companies operating in Manitoba especially those with MMDF support. It was a great opportunity to meet face-to-face, learn more about the company (client) and discuss current issues and upcoming projects. These included:
ACME Lithium Inc.
Agnico Eagle Mines Limited
Alamos Gold Inc.
Altius Minerals Corp.
Anglo American
Big Ridge Gold Corp.
BWR Exploration Inc.
Callinex Mines Inc.
CanAlaska Uranium Ltd.
CaNickel Mining Limited
Exiro Minerals
Foran Mining Corporation
Gossan Resources Limited
Grid Metals Corp.
Leeuwin Metals
McEwen Mining Inc.
McFarlane Lake Mining
New Age Metals
Rockcliff Metals Corporation
Strikepoint Gold
Stuhini Exploration Ltd.
T2 Metals
Teck Resources Limited
Vale Canada Limited
Vision Lithium Inc.
Wolfden Resources Corporation
In addition, the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund announced support for Five Projects Advancing Mineral Exploration in Northern Manitoba.
Check out our photo gallery:
https://mbchamber.mb.ca/2023/03/13/mmdf-attends-largest-mining-conference-in-the-world/ The Manitoba government has provided $1.7 million in funding for the latest projects receiving support through the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF), as managed by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development, Investment and Trade Minister Jeff Wharton announced today.
“Strategic investments in mining, like in the MMDF, are key to a thriving provincial economy and placing Manitoba as a world leader for responsible mineral development. Our government is committed to continuing to responsibly build on Manitoba’s rich natural resources to attract new investment in the mining sector,” said Wharton. “The MMDF also enables us to foster strong partnerships with Indigenous communities in mineral development activities that benefit the economy and the province as a whole.”
The MMDF provides funding to communities and businesses including Indigenous groups, municipalities and not-for-profits to advance mineral exploration projects. Financial assistance from the fund can include one-time grants for activities that help advance new mining opportunities, and outreach to First Nations for collaborative resource development, the minister noted.
“Advancing mineral exploration projects is critical to creating lasting economic benefits to communities in northern Manitoba,” said Chuck Davidson, president and CEO, Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, and board chair of the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund. “The MMDF is excited to support exploration projects and to see future partnerships emerge from these projects.”
The projects approved in this latest round of funding support 55 North (Lynn Lake), Boreal Gold (Flin Flon), Alamos Gold (Lynn Lake), Foremost Lithium (Snow Lake) and Callinex Mines (Flin Flon).
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the MMDF’s application review committee and board of directors conditionally approved $1.7 million in project funding resulting in close to an $18.5-million investment to support mineral exploration activities, drill programs and consulting services for community engagement. The MMDF has approved 50 mineral exploration projects for a total of $7.7 million in funding in Manitoba since its inception in 2020, the minister said.
The Manitoba government has committed to annual investment in the MMDF of up to six percent of tax revenues from the Mining Tax Act, which are collected at a graduated rate on profit generated by mining businesses, the minister noted.
For more information on the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund, visit https://mmdf.ca/.
https://mbchamber.mb.ca/2023/03/06/manitoba-mineral-development-fund-supports-five-projects-advancing-mineral-exploration-in-northern-manitoba/
There is financial support available from encouraging governmental sources. The Federal government has a lot of catch up work to do in this regard. For a government that has done everything possible in the recent past to kill our mining industry, this a surprising, but pleasant turn of events! Critical minerals are important to our future as a nation. We must become more self-reliant! And the West can no longer rely on China or Russia as a friend in this critical mineral space. Lithium will be important in the future in Canada but other energy metals such as copper will also become more important as demand increases! Energy to charge batteries is just as important as the batteries that need to be constructed to hold it. Manitoba has good cheap and reliable energy but like all other jurisdictions in this country, the wiring infrastructure needs to be built that gets that energy delivered to the battery plants and also provides the many critical electical wiring connections that electrified vehicles need to help get them built right!
In the future Rockcliff Metals will help fulfill this need!
All the best! Java