Youth Outreach at YK Geoscience Forum

The Good of Mining: Contributing to our Communities

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It's Mining Week in the NWT!  ”The Good of Mining” is a series highlighting the important relationship that NWT residents have with the NWT’s mining sector. 

 

Big companies can make big differences in the communities in which they invest. 

The way mining companies do business in the Northwest Territories is a good example. The benefits of their investments and contributions are evident far beyond their mine sites - and the relationship that exists between companies and communities has become a defining feature of how mining works in the NWT.

Here are some examples. 

Impact Benefit Agreements

Mines operating in the Northwest Territories routinely enter into Impact Benefit Agreements with Indigenous governments in areas where they are operating.

These agreements are negotiated confidentially by the mining companies with local Indigenous governments. They can cover various things — from community infrastructure investments and local training, to environmental or wildlife monitoring programs.

The investments identified are made by the companies directly into the communities.

Scholarships

Each of the NWT’s diamond mines funds scholarships for NWT students – encouraging young people to stay in school, seeking higher learning and take control of their future.

As the NWT’s mining economy provides tangible opportunities to pursue careers, more and more NWT students are getting the message and even bringing their schooling home to work in the North - as educators, engineers, scientists, lawyers and medical professionals.

In 2016, the NWT’s operating mines contributed nearly $400,000 in scholarship funds to NWT students.

Good Corporate Citizenship

More visibly, the NWT’s mining companies support countless events and initiatives that build and unite our communities.  They sponsor sports teams, arts initiatives, literacy programs, and community festivals.

Just ask the hundreds of teams who have played hockey on the Diavik-funded Shorty Brown ice surface in Yellowknife; the athletes from across the territory who benefited from Dominion Diamonds’ sponsorship of the South Slave Arctic Winter Games; or the many residents and tourists who, thanks to De Beers, enjoy the annual world-class ice sculpture competition at the Long John Jamboree

In 2016, the NWT’s three operating mines spent more than $10 million in donations, sponsorships, and other financial contributions.

Since 1996, NWT communities have benefited from an estimated $100 million in donations, sponsorships, and contributions.