The province has announced additional funding for miners.
The Mineral Incentive Program will provide grants to help prospectors and companies with exploration.
Natural Resources Minister Lloyd Hines says the industry already supports 5,500 jobs across the province.
He says the goal is to see even more created.
Hines says mining in 2016 is a high tech industry.
“Currently, we have a lot of people in Nova Scotia looking for rare earth, which is an important and indispensible part of the smartphone. It has to do with the screen, giving you the touch screen features.”
The first round of grants will be handed out in mid-June.
