Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid a surprise visit to a major gathering of miners in Toronto Monday, pledging his ongoing support to the struggling mining industry.

Harper is the first sitting prime minister to attend the 82-year-old conference, a major networking event hosting nearly 30,000 people in the global mining industry through Wednesday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

About 60 journalists from around the world were invited to the question-and-answer format session between Harper and incoming PDAC president Rod Thomas before 400 convention delegates.

Neither the audience nor media – whose bags and equipment were checked thoroughly before entry to the conference hall by a sniffer dog -- were allowed to ask questions.

The prime minister’s office announced Sunday afternoon that Harper would attend the event, which caught conference organizers off guard since the program schedule is usually planned months in advance.

Thomas asked Harper about funding for infrastructure for projects in remote regions such as the highly-touted Ring of Fire mineral belt in Northern Ontario, which has been mired in government red tape to build a 300-kilometre road to access the vast metals resource.

Harper pointed to the federal government’s recently announced $14 billion infrastructure fund, saying: “we will prioritize those dollars principally in collaboration with the provinces.

“So they will have a lot to deal with deciding how much of those dollars they want to put into areas like Ontario’s Ring of Fire, areas where there is obviously need for major infrastructure,” he said.

Ontario has hired Deloitte LLP to advise it on how to proceed with development of the $60-billion Ring of Fire located in the James Bay lowlands

“Canada is one of the world’s leading mining nations. Our government recognizes the importance of the industry and has been taking important steps to help make it more competitive and productive,” he told the audience.

He cited Ottawa’s recent efforts to streamline the often-lengthy review process for major projects along with efforts to improve relations with First Nations potentially affected by new projects adjacent to their communities.

Meanwhile former Ontario Premier Bob Rae, who is representing the Matawa Tribal Council in negotiations with the province over the Ring of Fire project, spoke earlier Monday about the need for better partnerships and a “more sensible approach” between industry and First Nations to benefit their financially and socially-challenged communities.

“Governments in Canada have been slow to recognize the era in which we are now living. This is a systemic challenge and a systemic problem,” he told the conference.

The mining sector is trying to bounce back from the metals downturn of the last year, which saw slowing demand from China and other emerging markets along with tanking resource stocks.

“Our (the government’s) impression is that the brand of the Canadian mining sector is pretty good in this world,” Harper said. “Not to say that the story is perfect, but generally we have a pretty good reputation.”

He said the positive perception of the Canadian mining industry abroad is one of the reasons why the Toronto convention is the largest of its kind in the world.