Dwight Ball commits to supporting Labrador mining despite recent downturn

Taking theLiberal campaign towestern Labrador Wednesday,leader Dwight Ball pledgedsupport for the troubled mining industry in the area.

• Full coverage: Follow all of our reports on the provincial election campaign

Ball told reporters that as premierhe would look at different ways to spur growth in the region's troubled mining sector.

That includes a $1.5 million investment in junior exploration, as well as continuing grants to prospectors looking for new resources.

Ball said while notthe only option for supporting new mining projects, venture capital investments would certainly be on the table if and when his party wins on Nov. 30.

"We see some opportunity here, and not always necessarily just with money itself," he said.

"We've often talked about Crown lands. There are a number of government assets that we would have available to us that could be used to support venture capital investment into the mining industry."

Ball was campaigning with Liberal candidate Graham Letto, a former mayor of Labrador City. Letto is competing against Tory incumbent Nick McGrath and NDP candidate Ron Barron.

Ball says despite the recent doom and gloom in Labrador with regards to mining, he said the industry still makes a significant contribution to the province one that government should still facilitate.

"We're looking forward to that big next find that can make a tremendous impact on our economy," he said.

"We're going to do whatever we can to support the industry and get to back on track."

While he wouldn't go into specifics of what that support could look like, he said lowered rates for electricity andventure capital investments would be on the table to help out businesses that want to set up mining operations in the area.

"It's our job as a government, to facilitate, create that environment for success," he said.

"If we have something that's available to us as a government ... we will want to make sure we create this environment."

WabushMines shut down its iron ore mine in 2014. In neighbouring Labrador City, the Iron Ore Company of Canada has been scaling back operations.