VANCOUVER -- A prolonged slump in global commodity prices hasn't fazed provincial and territorial mining ministers who say full speed ahead with natural resource development.
British Columbia's Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett said he expected mineral prices to turn around in the near future.
"We've been down now three to four years, and these cycles typically last a maximum of five," said Bennett on Monday, though he added that there are never any guarantees.
Bennett and David Ramsay, the Northwest Territories minister in charge of mining, were both in attendance at Roundup 2015, a yearly mineral exploration conference in Vancouver that brings together prospectors, scientists, investors and suppliers.
Ramsay has recently returned from a trade mission to China and Japan and said the role of resource development is paramount to growing the economy in Canada's north.
"We're a very well-endowed territory when it comes to mineral wealth," said Ramsay, who also serves as the territory's justice minister and attorney general.
"The resources are there and à it's important for us to get out and encourage investment."
The Northwest Territories has an additional incentive to invest in resource expansion. In April 2014, the territory signed a devolution agreement with the federal government ten years in the making, putting the northern region in control of public land, water and resources.
Beyond lucrative resource revenues, Ramsay also said increased development and more investment ties with Asia could help attract new immigrants to fill the anticipated growth in jobs.
Still, both Ramsay and Bennett spoke about the challenges currently faced by junior mining outfits and prospectors in raising capital for mineral exploration.
Recent figures from B.C.'s geoscience statistics revealed a marked drop last year in exploration spending within the province, which at $338 million is half of 2012 levels. Exploration spending in 2013 was $476 million.
"We're still light years beyond what it used to be in B.C.," said Bennett, referencing the $25 million that was spent on mineral exploration in 2001.
"We've been around 22 per cent of total Canadian exploration investment here in B.C. over the last three, four years," he added, saying B.C. continued to outperform its provincial counterparts.
"We're punching above our weight."
Bennett also spoke Monday on a pending report into the Mt. Polley mine disaster, which is due by the end of the week.
In August 2014, a tailings dam broke at a gold-and-copper mine located in the province's Interior. The breach released a torrent of effluent into the surrounding water system, prompting a temporary water ban for hundreds of area residents. The cleanup will cost millions.
When asked about earlier comments he had made about stepping down over the incident, Bennett said: "I said if I found that the ministry had been negligent and that that negligence caused the accident then I think it would be appropriate for me or any minister to resign. But we'll see how that goes."
The report from an independent, three-member panel is not expected to assign blame for the incident, unlike an additional pair of investigations that should be completed by June: one from the chief mines investigator and another from the conservation officer service.
