Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is no secret how important the mineral resource sector is to the Northwest Territories' economy. This reliance is so great that we have spent a lot of time in this Assembly talking about it and we made it one of our priorities. However, the unfortunate reality of a postpandemic world is that these efforts have done little to advance any other sector. None can come remotely close to touching the direct and indirect benefits of our resource sector.
As of 2020, mining, oil, and gas directly represented 25 percent of our GDP. Even as the mining sector recovers postpandemic, exploration, production, and sales are still below prepandemic levels. Diamond mines are currently the commodity that drives the NWT's resource sector but are set to cease production by 2030. 2030, Mr. Speaker. In a mere eight years we will see the closure of Diavik in 2025, Ekati in 2028, and finally Gahcho Kue in 2030. Mr. Speaker, we should all be very concerned about the potential closure of these mines and what this means for our future.
The economy of the NWT is dependent on a robust, prosperous mineral exploration sector and the subsequent opening of new mines. Currently there are no planned expansions for the diamond mines, therefore our territory is about to become very dependent on the development of metal mines. However, we also know metal mines planned for this decade, quote "will only moderately offset the declining production of the NWT's diamond mines" as per ITI's business plan.
One hopeful mining project for the Northwest Territories is Osisko Metals' Pine Point site which is projected to start construction in the next few years. Over the projected 12year mine life, starting in 2028, the Pine Point project is expected to produce an annual average of 329 million pounds of zinc and 141 million pounds of lead.
On October 13th, Osisko Metals announced the signing of an MOU with the Power Corporation that outlines the process of negotiating a power connection to the Taltson hydroelectric grid as well as power purchase agreements. For several years Talston has generated between 3.5 to 8 megawatts of excess power, which has been underutilized.
Mr. Speaker, we are a territory dependent on mineral resource development with a bleak economic outlook, increasing power rates, and yet we literally have power spilling over existing hydro infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, how can we ensure that Osisko Metals, and other development projects in the South Slave Region, are incentivized to purchase this power? I will have questions for the Minister of ITI at the appropriate time. Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER:
