OTTAWA, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say more than $15 million worth of gold missing from Canada's mint in Ottawa was not stolen.

A junior government minister told Parliament Tuesday the RCMP investigation that began in June determined there had been no theft, but no other details were released, the Ottawa Citizen reported.


Royal Canadian Mint spokeswoman Christine Aquino told the Citizen results of the investigation were encouraging in that it validated security measures, but she said no further details would be released.

The mint first noticed a deficit of the equivalent of a half ton of gold in October 2008 and after several months of internal investigation, summoned external auditors Deloitte and then the RCMP.

The Deloitte audit also found no evidence of theft, but made three recommendations for tightening accounting, auditing and tracking of inventory, the report said.

The Crown corporation's year-end financial statements were delayed by the investigation and will be released mid-December. It's expected the loss will be reconciled in the financials, which could shed more light on what happened, the Citizen said.