Thank you for that question. It builds on the previous responses that I've given in identifying what would be the most responsible and strategic investments for the mining sector at this critical juncture. Obviously, exploration is a key part of this. I mentioned the mineral exploration tax credit and the expanded definition of “exploration”, but the conversation around exploration is incomplete without talking about geo-mapping.
I know your background and I've appreciated your insights and counsel in this regard. It's designed to set the stage for long-term investment in what I often call legacy resource development, particularly in Canada's north, to guide the research activities. The geo-mapping program engages extensively with provincial and territorial partners.
There are 14 research activities launched last year alone that were shaped by important consultations, stimulating investment in exploration. The geoscience knowledge produced by geo-mapping for energy and minerals, or GEM, gives northern communities and investors valuable information to make informed decisions about the viability of a site. Frankly, it indicates the best locations to advance the extractive activity, obviously, for the benefit of the market and the speculation that goes on around commodities, particularly in mining, to give investors confidence of the scope, if you will, of a particular resource deposit, and obviously the justification for its mapping, for exploring it further, and in certain instances moving on to the extractive exercise.