Mine exploration around Flin Flon is about to get a boost, courtesy of the federal and Saskatchewan governments.
A joint venture between the two sides will provide a total of $2 million in funding for aerial exploration and incentives for junior mining companies.
Under the program, Saskatchewan’s provincial government will spend $1 million on a geophysical survey of the area around Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach. A budget proposal for other parts of the project is in the planning stages.
The surveying will be done jointly by the Geological Survey of Manitoba and the Geological Survey of Canada and Natural Resources Canada. Work on the project is expected to begin before early March.
Along with the aerial survey, both the provincial and federal governments will begin an incentive program for junior mining companies undergoing exploration in northern Saskatchewan.
“The strategy will include both a geoscience component and an incentive program targeted at junior companies who are exploring for base metals, precious metals and diamonds in a specified region of high mineral potential,” read a statement from a spokesperson from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Economy.
“A key focus of the geoscience program is the area west and southwest of Creighton [and] Denare Beach which is a highly prospective area for base metals.”
More geoscience-based work in the area is scheduled to take place this summer. Creighton mayor Bruce Fidler welcomed news of the funding.
“We’ve been looking for something like that over the last while, hopefully to enhance exploration throughout the area,” he said.
“It’s all welcome news. If we can get more exploration out there, we’ve got a chance of finding more ore bodies.”
Multiple mining companies currently operating in northern Saskatchewan, including Rockcliff Metals and Foran Mining, could stand to benefit from the program.
The point of the funding is to help promote the mineral-rich north to junior mining companies, in hopes that a large-scale deposit could be found.
“The focus of the strategy is to help realize Saskatchewan’s full potential for base metals, precious metals and diamonds, while maintaining existing strengths in other mineral commodities,” read the provincial spokesperson’s statement.
More than two years of lobbying to provincial and federal officials led to the announcement.
“It will encourage juniors to spend money because they’re going to be flying a large area, plus putting areas that have been flown previously into a sort of compilation where people can study targets. The whole idea is the more targets that are explored, the better chance of a discovery you will have,” said Stephen Masson, a Flin Flon-based geologist and the current president of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Prospectors and Developers Association.
The true impact of the announcement goes beyond just the $2 million in funding. The impact of such a find could be crucial for the economic wellbeing of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
“Should Flin Flon significantly decrease as a place for mining in Manitoba, it’ll have a drastic effect on the town, the surrounding area and the economy of the north,” said Masson.
“The cost of this to government is significantly high. $2 million is peanuts compared to what this will cost to government if Flin Flon goes down as a significant mining community.”
No similar financial commitment being made publicly by the Manitoba government.
Masson said that while the federal-provincial agreement will likely help Flin Flon, a similar agreement involving bureaucrats in Winnipeg could see success.
“This is sort of the catalyst to bring money into the area. A $2 million investment by the government could bring $20-30 million worth of exploration into the area. It’s a catalyst. It’s something that, if it’s promoted properly and Manitoba gets behind it as well, it could be a real place to exploring in Canada,” he said.
“I think it’s important that both Manitoba and Saskatchewan help facilitate this so that Flin Flon can have another 20 years. This gives us a chance of that.”
