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Manitoba must do a much better job in promoting mining activity within the province. The post-pandemic economic recovery will depend on it. More broadly, the eventual shift from gasoline to electric-powered cars across the world will generate huge demand for minerals required to manufacture EV batteries like nickel, copper, lithium and cobalt most of which the province has ample developable deposits.
This is not to say the provincial government is not doing anything to promote exploration and development. It deserves good marks for going out of its way to advance mining. It recognizes that mineral development is essential not just to the long-term prosperity of the north for the entire provincial economy but it has an inconsistent policy record.
“We are pleased to see that the Manitoba government shares BWR’s vision of the economic potential that the Little Stull Lake area has, that can create near and long-term jobs for the nearby communities of Gods River and Gods Lake Narrows, thus strengthening the provincial economy and establish mutually rewarding partnerships between Indigenous communities and mineral exploration companies designed to stand the test of time,” said BWR’s CEO Neil Novak. The money will be used to upgrade an existing exploration camp to meet COVID-19 pandemic requirements for housing up to 15 people. BWR is proposing that this work be done in partnership with Manto Sipi Cree Nation (MSCN), which hopes to create a community-owned camp and exploration service company to work with mineral exploration companies.