Letters to the Editor The Mineral Industry Assistance Program

The Sept 26th edition of The Northern Miner carried a letter from the President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, John Larche, commending our government on the recently announced program to provide financial incentives to prospectors and small mining companies in the province.

We thank Mr. Larche for his kind remarks. We are gratified that the program is being enthusiastically received by the industry.

Mr. Larche’s letter does not mention that this new program is a joint initiative of the government of Canada and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The program, called the Mineral Industry Assistance Program (MIAP), is one under the federal-provincial Minerals Development Subsidiary Agreement. The federal government is providing 100% of the funding for the MIAP and the province is responsible for its implementation.

The very considerable progress we’ve made in encouraging mineral exploration and development in Newfoundland and Labrador owes much to the efforts of the federal government in working cooperatively with the province under a series of agreements. The MIAP is being launched in the final year of the current subsidiary agreement to cover the 1989-1994 period. We are hopeful that the MIAP will be successful and that it can be carried on under the new agreement. Jerome Dinn Minister of Mines Government of Newfoundland and Labrador