Canada's federal government has allocated as much as C$100-million over the next five years for geological mapping, three quarters of which will likely be spent in the icy northern regions of the country, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn told delegates at the Propectors and Developers Association of Canada convention.

The challenges faced by explorers and the need to discover new orebodies was a common theme throughout presentations at the event, held in this week in Toronto and attended by more than 20 000 delegates from around the world.

There was a "direct link" between investment in geoscience and growth in the country's mining sector through new discoveries.

“For every dollar that we invest in geoscience, it attracts five dollars from the private sector in exploration, and over one hundred and twenty-five dollars that are discovered in mineral resources,” Lunn said.

"So I think of it as a very, very good investment." 

Another development aimed at increasing investment in the country was the launch, last week, of Canada's major-projects management office, which will serve as a single point of entry for developers of large projects seeking approval from various government agencies and departments.