First, as a government, one of the things we do is to make sure that the scientific base of the whole country, in terms of the geology and its potential, is available for all to invest in. A number of the finds you see are a direct result of the investments the government has made. There are a couple of specific programs you may have heard of. One is the geomapping for energy and minerals, which is a $100-million initiative that the government has put in place; and the other one is a targeted geographic initiative, which actually looks at existing bases and ask how we can actually exploit more or use more tools to even get more.
A number of the recent finds are a result of the investment the government has made in geoscience, and in geomapping specifically. There's a formula that says every dollar we invest in geoscience results in $5 in terms of exploration activity, and $125 in terms of its downstream impact on jobs and so on. So in many respects we are unique in the world, in that we actually do this kind of thing and then we make it publicly accessible for all companies to be able to use that information and generate the kind of economic activity we want in the country.
Specifically with regards to the chromite deposits and the finds within the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, it certainly is an example where geomapping has resulted in what will become one of the richest chromite deposits in the world. It obviously has to go through, and is in the process of going through, the various aboriginal consultations as well as the various environmental assessments. We want to make sure—all of us do—that this is exploited in an environmentally responsible way and sustainable way that presents obvious benefits to all Ontarians and, for that matter, all of Canada.
We work very closely with the Government of Ontario to make sure this occurs and that any kinds of issues that are in play, in terms of the environmental assessments and so on, are properly assessed.
Maybe with the chair's indulgence, I could again ask Ginny to provide a little more detail on that.