A devoted "explorationist" makes no bones about it

It is no secret that the mining industry is a huge contributor to the well being of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, employing just over 58,000 in 2008. In the North, mining and mineral exploration are extremely important and their impact on the northern economy is huge. Mineral deposits have a nasty habit of not locating themselves close to infrastructure and the odds of finding one close to a road, railway and/or power line decreases as one goes farther north. The contribution of the mineral exploration industry to the economy is overshadowed by mining. There is no better advocate for the minerals industry than a local person who can speak from a position of knowledge.