Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up to my statement earlier, my questions today are to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Is the Minister or his department aware of the Astro gold property that I referred to earlier? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am well aware of the Astro gold project in the Sahtu. They have been doing some work out there. They actually accessed our geodatabase that we have housed in the Northwest Territories geoscience department. In discussions with them, when I was talking to them at roundup, this actually came from a presentation when the Premier and I were at PDAC, and the department laid out a water-till sample that they did in the Sahtu region, and that is where these guys got some actual information to start having a look at that district. Evrim also used our Mining Incentive Program last year. They got $160,000 to go towards their work, and they are also engaging our community and client service unit regarding our activities in the Member's riding.
Thanks to the Minister for that reply and information here. It seems that there is some dialogue going back and forth, which sounds encouraging. My next question: what are Evrim's plans to keep the project moving forward?
This is early in the ball game with these guys, but, the exciting news release that they put out, that was right when we were all down at the mineral roundup. It was very timely because we actually had a meeting set up with them, with Evrim and Newmont, and had some discussions about what they are planning on doing and, as I said in my earlier comments, how they got to where they are. They are going to do a drill-test program. I think it was in their news release, but, if it wasn't, they are going to do one this summer, which is hopefully going to take place earlier on in the summer. The one thing that I want to state is that this is an early discovery.
It is a new gold discovery, an entirely new type of gold deposit in the Northwest Territories that hasn't been seen before. If we are lucky, maybe we are going to be witnessing something that is very similar to what just took place in the Yukon with the new White Gold District that is happening there. They are very bullish on this piece of property, and we look forward to working with them going forward.
Thanks to the Minister for that reply. It seems that the cost of going to Vancouver is bearing some fruit. My third question to the Minister of ITI is: will the GNWT be signing a SEA with Evrim to ensure that the Sahtu residents and businesses benefit from the work in their region?
I think that might be a little premature, about doing a SEA. These guys haven't even put a drill in the ground yet, but they are very bullish, as I said, on their project. The department has demonstrated time and time again that we want to focus on getting benefits to residents in the Northwest Territories, to the people working, to small businesses, and getting all benefits we can out of resources from these types of projects. We will be following these guys closely.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question to the Minister: are there any plans for these two companies, Newmont and Evrim, to come into our capital in the near future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am not aware of them coming here anytime soon. They will probably get a hold of me if they are going to come here and have a discussion. The last thing that I left on the conversation on the table with them when we were meeting with them was about the community engagement. I strongly suggested that they involve the residents of the Sahtu in their project, to keep them updated, not on a day-by-day basis but on a very regular basis, so they get an idea of what is going on out there.
I continually stress that, particularly in Sahtu, because that has been an oil-driven and gas-driven resource area of the Northwest Territories, and mining history goes a long way back there. There has not been any mining activity in that region for a long time, so I want them to engage early and often. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
