Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this Monday, Metall Mining informed the GNWT that they will not be proceeding with the development of the Izok Lake project at this time. The company will be stopping the feasibility study, as well as the negotiations with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association on a benefit agreement and the environmental review process. Metall states that the current metal prices, primarily for zinc, are too low and the cost of transportation are too high for the deposit to be economic in the near future.
There appears to be little the government can do to deal with the economic factors that have stopped the project. Metal prices are set on the world market. The price of zinc is close to record lows with large stockpiles.
This delay is deeply disappointing given the large expenditure the company and its investors have made in the project. It is also disappointing given all the hard work the company and the Inuit had put into developing a benefit agreement. This agreement was near completion and would have guaranteed northerners badly needed jobs.
It is important to realize that all the work and effort has not been for nothing. The project can be revitalized when economic factors change. Although this is a setback to the mineral industry in the NWT, the mineral potential that Izok Lake represents remains. This deposit will be one day mined in a way that hopefully contributes to the north's development. Thank you, Madam Speaker.