Northwestern Ontario junior miners among recipients of provincial funds

Junior mining and exploration companies in northwestern Ontario have received provincial funding for critical mineral exploration and development.

Minister of Mines George Pirie made the announcement Wednesday at the Ontario Prospectors Association Showcase in Thunder Bay. 

"For northwestern Ontario, this is nothing but good news," said Pirie. 

"These are very important dollars to advance exploration in the region on these projects. And I'm also very pleased that they range from gold to critical minerals. And it's all across the spectrum." 

The funding is part of the fourth intake for the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP), which launched in 2021.  It committed $4.4 million to fund 35 projects. 

$2.1M to junior companies stays in the region

Around 15 companies with ties to northwestern Ontario received approximately $2.1 million in funding. 

They include:

• $198,047 to Copper Lake Resources Ltd. 
• $200,000 to Delta Resources Ltd.
• $200,000 to Dryden Gold Corp. 
• $81,000 to Solstice Gold Corp. 
• $107,823 to Fladgate Exploration Consulting Corp. 

Projects are eligible to apply each year and some in the northwest have received close to $800,000 since the program started. 

"The support of the government brings additional awareness to our project as one of the critical mineral exploration projects in the province at a time when funding for junior mining companies is very challenging." said Terry Macdonald CEO of Copper Lake Resources, in a news release issued by the province.

Jordan Quinn, a geologist with Fladgate Exploration, said OJEP funding helped advance a lot of important projects for the company.

"It gave us the opportunity to do more exploration, more capacity than we would have previously. And with that extra bit of funding as well, we were able to hire more people and just cover more ground. So without it, we wouldn't have been able to do it." said Quinn.

Funding through OJEP is part of Ontario's Critical Minerals Strategy, which the province says is aimed at driving long-term economic growth, especially in northern and indigenous communities. 

Applications for the next round of the program open May 8.