Good morning, everybody. Thank you for the opportunity to be able to present this morning, and thank you, members, for making the time for such an important topic.
Here in the Yukon I represent the Yukon Chamber of Mines. We represent a membership of over 700 members, representing every facet of Yukon's mineral development industry. We have some of the best geology in the world in mineral occurrences, and have been quite well renowned for that ever since the Klondike Gold Rush. However, now, 100 years later, we know that the transformation and the need for our minerals are very different today than they were in yesteryear. We have some of the best geology, as mentioned, and with that in the critical minerals area we have active exploration projects related to nickel, cobalt and the platinum group of metals.
I won't spend too much time talking about our potential. I think that's the reason we're here today, and people are very familiar with our place in the world global commodities market. I think what I would spend a little bit of time on, and speak to, is what some of the challenges or barriers might be to getting to some of those critical minerals that are so highly sought after and strategically important to the people online today.
We know that one of the challenges preventing us from getting to some of these minerals is the fact that they're land-locked. Some of those investments announced by the federal government three years ago related to the Yukon resource gateway project. It has seen very little spent to date in the way of being able to develop Yukon's highway and road network to enable access to key minerals and strategically get into the Tintina Belt, which would obviously unlock strategically a significant amount of minerals.
Energy production is another significant barrier at this time. Yukon energy is 99% renewable, so we have some of the cleanest energy produced in the world. However, there's only a finite amount of it. Right now we're at capacity, and there are issues related to trying to get us connected to the B.C. grid. It is something that was presented as per our pre-budget consultations. Connecting to the B.C. grid would be transformative for our industry and for our territory, both in the way of developing projects, but also developing communities.
There's a very symbiotic relationship between the minerals in the ground and the people above it who are considered the caretakers of the land, and that's Yukon first nations. Another key component to accessing the critical minerals that exist in the great geological occurrences in the Yukon is an early, effective and meaningful engagement with Yukon first nations. There's a lot of discussion around what the permitting and regulatory regimes look like, and we're currently in the development of a mineral development strategy, which we hope will bring in renewed mineral development legislation that clarifies and incorporates some of the key tenets that are important to Yukon first nations, but also to industry in the way of corporate and social responsibility.
I'll leave my comments at that, and leave it open to questions. I know there will probably be some more pointed questions about the Yukon's position and being able to supply some of these critical minerals, and I look forward to being able to answer those.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.