Increasingly, the minerals industry is going digital.  Like many jurisdictions, the push in the Northwest Territories is public government moving its administration of mineral tenure online. 

In the NWT, it is the work of the Mining Recorder’s Office; and at its helm is Valerie Gordon with her more-than 15 years of experience working with the mining industry.

We sat down with her to talk about what it will mean for the territory’s minerals industry.

Q: What is the territorial government doing?

A: We are building a modern, integrated system to manage our mineral interests online in a way that supports and is reflective of our uniqueness and our priorities.

Q: What has spurred this on?

A: It stems from our passage of the new Mineral Resources Act. The shift to digital is part of the new direction for the territory’s minerals industry set out in that legislation.

Q: So what is your end goal?

A: Ultimately, like many jurisdictions across Canada and globally, we are working to make our jurisdiction more attractive to investors. But, we see this initiative as one which will benefit all users of the mineral administration system.

It will increase the quality, efficiency and timeliness of government service; simplify the process and reduce the associated costs for staking mineral claims; increase the overall accessibility, transparency and accountability of the mineral administration system; and improve notification and access to information for public and Indigenous governments.

Q: Is online map staking part of the future you envision?

A: In time, of course. But our first priority is to create the registry that will need to be the foundation for such an eventuality.

Q: How long will this transition take?

A: Getting it right is the priority.  We’re going to take the time we need to engage with industry and other stakeholders to develop the right technology and create the regulatory framework that will make this function properly.

Q: What can industry expect from your team?

A: They can expect us to reach out and be active listeners.  We’re not going to re-invent the wheel. There are a whole lot of jurisdictions that have gotten this right and we’re going to learn and build on their experiences

Q: So where do you start and what are you doing now?

A: These are early days.  We need to grow our team, put our people in the right places, source the right technology for our jurisdiction and get the basics in place.  After that, the first real tangible step is to begin migrating our data to the new technology.