The province is putting $10 million into expanding the mining industry.
Premier Christy Clark made the announcement Monday at a mining conference that the money will go towards inspections and streamlining the approval process.
Clark says next month’s budget will nearly double the dollars earmarked for mining.
“That’s going to mean the budget for the Ministry of Mining in British is now over $20 million,” Clark says.
She says falling oil prices won’t have an impact on the government’s mining, or even LNG, plans for the province.
“Different companies are responding differently to the change in oil prices,” Clark says. “But I’m still hopeful that we’ll see some final investment decisions in 2015.”
The new plan calls for eight new mines and nine expansion projects this year.
Clark ended her speech to the mining conference with a plea to British Columbians working in other provinces – “Come home! Mining needs you in British Columbia, forestry needs you, natural gas needs you, we need you, to build our future, in what will soon be, we think, the fastest growing economy in Canada.”
The news comes during falling commodity prices and worker layoffs, such as the Endako Mine near Fraser Lake.
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