Thank you for your question.
Through you, Mr. Chair, we obviously recognize the importance of the mining industry. We share a passion for its profile in our respective regions. In my short tenure as minister we've been very proactive, especially during Mining Week, sitting down and having some round tables. I can say what we've heard are in the main estimates.
Obviously, the 15% mineral exploration tax credit for an additional year has been appreciated. I can respect and understand the desire for that to be ongoing and for it to reflect the extractive activities that exploration companies set up. This credit has helped junior mineral exploration companies raise capital by providing an incentive for investors to finance mineral exploration. I can say that the tax credit has helped junior mining companies and, in that specific regard, raised more than $5 billion for exploration activities.
We are also taking action to streamline review processes for major projects, which is helping to attract investments and providing greater certainty and clarity in the regulatory process. I might add, Mr. Chair, through you to my colleague, that some of these processes have begun to involve substantially more and more first nation community members, which I'm very pleased to see. That's obviously occurring within the context of the Ring of Fire in my region.
Finally, we've announced investment in phase two of the geomapping for energy and minerals program. This is a key objective. It supports increased exploration for new mineral resources, particularly in the north. Of course, when we say the north, we probably have two categories, my north and north of 600. So it's been done officially in that regard.