Premier David Eby Directs $140 Million for BC Critical Minerals Geoscience and Indigenous Exploration

STEWART, B.C. — British Columbia Premier David Eby and Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Josie Osborne announced on Monday the distribution of $140 million in provincial exploration funding through Geoscience BC and the Ministry of Mining to conduct advanced, high-resolution airborne electromagnetic surveys and deep-core geological mapping across British Columbia's mineral-rich "Golden Triangle" and Central Interior regions.

The geoscience initiative, delivered in direct co-management with Tahltan, Gitxsan, and Nisga'a Nations, accelerates the exploration and discovery of critical clean energy minerals—including copper, nickel, tellurium, cobalt, and rare earth elements—vital for electric vehicle battery motors, wind turbines, and high-voltage transmission lines.

Powering the Clean Energy Transition with Responsibly Mined BC Minerals British Columbia is already Canada's largest producer of copper and only producer of molybdenum, but extensive forested terrain has left vast subsurface mineral belts unmapped with modern digital geophysics.

"The world cannot transition away from fossil fuels without millions of tons of copper and critical minerals, and British Columbia has the deposits the global economy needs," Premier David Eby said in Stewart. "By investing $140 million in modern, open-access geoscience mapping in full partnership with First Nations, we are derisking exploration, attracting international mining investment, and ensuring that mineral development is done with the highest environmental standards and shared prosperity for Indigenous communities."

Geological Survey Allocations and Core Sample Facilities The $140 million package funds:

• 150,000 Line-Kilometer Airborne Geophysical Surveys: Utilizing specialized LiDAR and electromagnetic sensor helicopters to map deep mineral faults.
• Open-Access Public Geoscience Portal: Providing digital 3D geological data free to exploration geologists and universities.
• Tahltan Indigenous Mineral Exploration Partnership: $30 million for First Nations capacity funding, joint environmental baseline studies, and local environmental monitoring programs.
• Stewart & Prince George Core Sample Repositories: Expanding state-of-the-art climate-controlled core sample drill libraries.

Mining association executives, Indigenous leaders, and geological engineers commended the initiative, highlighting that public geoscience data dramatically compresses the discovery-to-production timeline for new critical mineral mines.