ITI Represents NWT at China Mining Congress and Expo

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October 5, 2017

With an 18-year history of development, improvement and growth, the China Mining Congress and Expo plays a critical role in today’s global mining industry.

With over 10,000 delegates and 600 exhibitors, it provides a forum for mineral exploration, development and trading and an opportunity for domestic and international mining companies and related agencies to connect and build relationships that lead to new business.

For the fourth successive year, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment joined the Canada delegation at China Mining Sept 24-26 to promote the wealth and potential of the Northwest Territories Mining sector.

China is an important market for the GNWT’s efforts to attract Chinese investment in the NWT resource sector. NWT mineral and petroleum resources could help meet Chinese demand.

For Director of Mineral Resource Development Menzie McEachern, the overarching objective was to strengthen the NWT’s profile and presence in China and continue building relationships with key Chinese investors, government officials, business people and other key stakeholders.

“The sidebar meetings are the most important elements of these types of events,” McEachern notes. “The real value of a conference comes from the opportunity to sit down with companies and talk about what they are looking for and what the NWT has to offer.”

For that reason, and because of their proximity to the events, ITI representatives also attended and took meetings surrounding the Beijing Mineral Investment Forum and the Tokyo Mineral Investment Forum.

Investor interest was notably strong in the NWT’s tungsten resources as well as Zinc, Gold, Cobalt and Lithium.  There is also significant interest in Geothermal Energy in China and Japan, and given the NWT’s potential for geothermal development, it offers yet another area for potential economic growth and investment.

ITI markets and promotes the NWT’s mineral potential and capacity under the “Unlocking Our Potential” brand. It is one of the ways that the Department is working to strengthening the NWT’s competitive edge to attract investment - the first pillar in the GNWT’s Mineral Development Strategy.