Canada\u2019s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson. Credit: Colin McClelland \/ The Northern Miner <\/p>\n
Canada will lead Group of 20 nations with the fastest permits as the government\u2019s Major Projects Office (MPO) advances projects to production within two years, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said in an interview.<\/p>\n
The government is pushing five projects valued in the billions of dollars, from copper in British Columbia to tungsten in New Brunswick, as part of the special office announced last year to co-ordinate provincial and federal permits.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the time the project is referred to the MPO, you\u2019ll get a conditions document within two years,\u201d Hodgson told The Northern Miner on Tuesday as the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto wound down. \u201cThat\u2019ll be the best in the G20.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada is accelerating permit times by limiting provincial and federal duplication as countries in the West attempt to reduce their dependence on China\u2019s mining and metals processing. After the largest amount of spending for mining in a federal budget in decades \u2013 issued last November \u2014 and further details released this week on financing other projects, Hodgson said there\u2019s ample proof the government is doing more than saying the right things.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike 26 deals in October and 30 deals today, like [projects valued at] $18 billion, at what point is that not walking the talk?\u201d he said. \u201cWe just saved Thompson [nickel mine] with a new Canadian owner who\u2019s dedicated to expanding the mine instead of shutting it. I mean, at what point?\u201d<\/p>\n
On track<\/p>\n