TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Canadian federal government, the Yukon Territory’s economic development department and the Yukon Research Centre have announced an investment of $444 000 over two years towards a research and testing programme to develop more efficient and cost-effective ways to increase gold recoveries in placer mining.

The partners said that if the research was successful, the project would not only improve the profitability of existing placer mines, but might also make previous uneconomic gravels profitable to mine.

Environment Minister and Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) Minister Leona Aglukkaq said the North's resource sector represented “tremendous” opportunities for Northerners.

"Small-scale mining operations, including placer mines, are important contributors to the Yukon economy and this innovative research has the potential to create more jobs and economic opportunities in the mining sector,” Aglukkaq said.

Yukon Member of Parliament Ryan Leef added that the placer mining industry brought jobs and economic development opportunities to small businesses in the territory. “Improved gold recoveries could lead to significant growth in an industry already worth more than $50-million a year to the local economy,” he said.

"Placer mining has a long and rich history in Yukon and continues to be an important contributor to the territory's mining sector. This project will promote the development of placer mining and contribute to the territory's knowledge sector by applying Yukon-based research and innovation to the enhancement of placer mining in Yukon,” Yukon Economic Development Minister Currie Dixon said.

Klondike Placer Miners' Association president, Stuart Schmidt, also pointed out that placer mining had been a cornerstone of Yukon's economy and culture since the great Klondike gold rush of 1898.

"This research project will produce a guide to gold recovery technology, as well as detail methods and equipment for upgrading common placer gold concentrates. This information will be circulated throughout the Yukon placer industry,” Schmidt said.

The investment was made possible through CanNor's Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development (Sined) programme, which focuses on long-term economic growth, economic diversification and capacity building across the North.

Sined was one of several economic development programmes within CanNor to help develop a diversified, sustainable, and dynamic economy across Canada's three territories.