Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Members will notice the items on their desk, and it is probably not necessary to remind everybody that June 12th to June 18th of this year is Mining Week. Since prospectors arrived here on their way to and from the Yukon gold rush -- at least in Yellowknife -- found rich gold samples, the toil and dreams related to mining in this region began.
CM&S, now Miramar Mine, poured it's first brick back in August of 1938 and the little town of Yellowknife has since grown to the point of crowding mining property lines. In 1986, Giant Mine poured it's 10,000th gold brick, one of the very few gold mines in the world to reach that level of production. Of course, the latest hope are the diamond fields that lay beyond the Canadian Shield in the Slave province. As the highest-priced commodity in the world, it is estimated that one high-yielding diamond region would have the economic potential to equal ten Yellowknife gold mines.
Pine Point was responsible for the construction of the third hydro plant in the Northwest Territories in the Taltson River. Great Bear Lake's Eldorado Mine initiated river shipping and Eldorado's need for fuel was instrumental in bringing the Norman Wells oil fields into current production. The Mackenzie Highway was constructed to reach the gold mining town of Yellowknife, long before it became a government centre. The territories' only rail road was built in 1964 to service Pine Point and it's world-class deposit of lead and zinc ore.
Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to continue.