Laurentian University receives $104M investment for mineral exploration research

Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. is receiving over $100 million to research mineral exploration.

The money is slated for an initiative at the university called Metal Earth. The goal is to help the mineral industry make lower risk exploration investments, by better understanding exactly where deposits are.

"It's definitely something the exploration sector needs because mines are more difficult to find," Harold Gibson, the director of mineral exploration research centre at Laurentian University, said.

Just over $49 million of that money will come from the federal government over the next seven years, according to university officials.

Speaking in the city Tuesday, Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre said Laurentian was one of 13 universities across the country to get the funding.

Nickel Belt MP Marc Serr was also on hand for the announcement.

The other $55 million announced Tuesday is slated to come from 22 other sources, including partners in academia, industry and other levels of government, the university said in a press release Tuesday.

It's been a big day for Laurentian, as the school also received a separate $10 million donation from the Harquail family for its department of earth sciences and the related mineral exploration research centre.

In total, the federal government announced Tuesday that 13 universities across the country received a total of $900 million from Ottawa today for research.