Mining and Tourism MOU

On Thursday, April 29th TIA Yukon in conjunction with partners Yukon Economic Development, Yukon Chamber of Mines and Klondike Placer Miner's Association, hosted an event to celebrate the important and groundbreaking partnership of mining and tourism in the territory as a result of the MOU.

You can now use an exciting new Web Tool that allows users to see – through an interactive map –where mining and tourism activities are taking place in the Yukon.


It is well known that Tourism and Mining are two cornerstone industries of the Yukon economy. This has been the case historically, is today and is expected to remain the case into the future.

The Yukon is blessed with some of the finest and most beautiful land and water features in the world, much of which is in a wilderness setting. The Yukon also contains a wealth of mineral resources that are available for development in a commodity-dependent global economy. Both of the industries that benefit from these natural resources create significant rewards for Yukoners in quality of life: providing employment, recreation, and wealth both to individuals and in the form of tax and other revenue to governments.

It is not uncommon for nature and mineral resources to occur in the same location, in close proximity or in common areas. As a result, from time to time, conflicts may occur and tough decisions have to be made that may require compromise. More often than not though, issues arise between the two industries, or their representatives, simply through misunderstanding or lack of communication.

On May 22nd 2008 the Yukon Chamber of Mines, Klondike Placer Miners Association and Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon entered into discussions to create a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) that would provide protocols, recognize mutual and unique interests, encourage ongoing communication and provide a step-by-step conflict resolution process. The group sought input from The Yukon Indian Development Corporation and other private sector representatives to help them in developing their industry MOU and received valuable input from those individuals consulted.

The mining and tourism industries, with facilitation provided by representatives of the Yukon Government, have now reached an industry-to-industry understanding. This memorandum of understanding is non-binding in any legal sense and is not intended to take away from or limit existing mandates, processes and fundamental interests already in place within the organizations represented in this memorandum.

The purpose of the MOU is as follows:

The purpose of this MOU is to provide a foundation of mutual recognition, respect, education, open dialogue, and cooperation between the Parties and their respective members in order to foster the development of healthy industries and minimize the potential for conflict between the Parties and, where such conflict occurs, provide a forum in which to endeavor to defuse tensions and resolve differences cooperatively.

DOWNLOAD FULL MOU DOCUMENT (PDF)