TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Ontario government on Tuesday announced that the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate (NIER) programme would become permanent for qualifying large northern industrial consumers.

Significant forestry and mining companies were among the beneficiaries of the programme, which was first introduced as a three-year initiative in the 2010 provincial budget and extended in 2012.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle on Tuesday announced in Thunder Bay that Ontario was committed to an ongoing programme, beyond March 2016, with continued investment of up to C$120-million a year. The government would also undertake a review on the efficiency and effectiveness of the programme and options for a sustainable approach.

Major miner Goldcorp, which operated several significant Northern Ontario gold mines, lauded the announcement, saying the government was taking an important step that underscored a commitment to remain competitive in the global mining industry.

“The NIER programme addresses a major challenge of operating our mines in Northern Ontario, reduces our costs of electricity by roughly 20%, helps sustain 5 000 jobs in the region and encourages investments like Goldcorp’s recently acquired Borden gold project, near Chapleau, Ontario,” Goldcorp Canada senior VP Chris Woodall stated.

Under the NIER programme, participants received a rebate of 2c/kWh, with individual rebates capped at 2011/12 consumption levels, or C$20-million a year for each company – whichever was lower. On average, the government believed that the industrial electricity prices could be reduced by up to 25% through the programme, assisting Northern Ontario’s largest industrial electricity consumers to reduce energy costs, sustain jobs and maintain global competitiveness.

To date, 16 Northern Ontario industrial companies representing 23 facilities were participating in the NIER  programme, which had disbursed more than C$546-million.