MINING - NNSL Media nwt nunavut 2017.pdfThe owners of the NWT's long-running diamond mines have cleared the way to keep producing gems for additional years – Ekati tacking on seven

Facts & figures from Northen mines

Nextreme carves out niche

Exploration projects

Expansion for Northern Mines p16

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Sector gains drive economic growth in Nunavut and NWT

NWT - NUNAVUT

MINING 2017

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NEWS/NORTH, November 13, 2017 3

There's plenty of fuel left in the tank.The owners of the NWT's long-running diamond mines have

cleared the way to keep producing gems for additional years – Ekati tacking on seven years to 2042, Diavik extending its mine life by two years to 2025.

The Gahcho Kué diamond mine reached commercial pro-duction in March and is expected to produce carats for another 11 years. That, in many ways, offsets the loss of Snap Lake, which De Beers shut down in late 2015.

In Nunavut, TMAC's Doris North mine at Hope Bay is in its first full year of gold production.

A proposal for expanded production at Baffinland's Mary River iron mine is before the Nunavut Planning Com-mission.

Agnico Eagle, which has been extracting gold from the Meadowbank mine since

2010, is steaming ahead with construction at its Meliadine and Amaruq gold deposits, its next two Kivalliq mines. Those sites are expected to be producing gold by the third quarter of 2019.

"It's been a good year, when you consider that we opened a new mine in each of the territories," said Tom Hoefer, execu-tive director of the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines. "In addition, the global markets have turned, and we are generally confident that we are 'off the bottom' of the downturn, and mar-kets are improving."

There have been positive signs at the exploration level as well. Mineral claims in the NWT rose to 184 as of Septem-ber – covering 1,390 square kilometres – which is more than double the 83 claims staked in all of 2016, totalling 424 square kilometres. The diamond-rich Slave Geological Province has accounted for the majority of the rise in 2017 staking activity.

The Conference Board of Canada, a not-for-profit think tank based in Ottawa, also highlighted some encouraging signals in the territories in its summer economic outlook. The Conference Board called for "strong economic growth" in Nunavut and the NWT this year.

"The outlook for most mineral commodities is much brighter today than a year ago," said Marie-Christine Bernard, associate director, provincial and territorial forecasting. "While financing conditions in the mining sector remain difficult, conditions are expected to improve with a number of projects set to get under way before the end of the decade."

'MINING MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO ECONOMIC GROWTH'

The Conference Board noted that metal mining is the largest contributor to Nunavut's economic growth, which is projected to expand by 6.4 per cent this year.

In the NWT, the Gahcho Kué diamond mine's first year of production is being credited as a major driver in economic growth estimated to reach 12.2 per cent in 2017, according to the Conference Board.

There are glimmering projects on the horizon as well: the NICO cobalt-gold-copper-bismuth deposit and Prairie Creek zinc-lead-silver mine keep advancing toward an active mining stage. Nighthawk Gold Corp. and Pine Point Mining Ltd. are creating excitement with their plans to revive the Colomac and Pine Point mines, respectively. Meanwhile, Peregrine Diamonds is aiming to be Nunavut's second diamond mine.

With all this activity in the Northern mining sector, what are businesses to do? Kingaunmiut Services and Paul Bros. NEXTreme have capitalized on their niches. The former was officially founded this year and has been providing aviation and refuelling services to Sabina Gold & Silver Corp., based in the Kitikmeot. The latter is a longstanding Northern business that has taken on a substantial volume of work as a tier-one contractor for De Beers.

Inside this publication, there's much more detail about the fruitful relationships Kingaunmiut and Paul Bros. NEXTreme have formed in the exploration and mining industries.

Are things entirely rosy? That certainly depends on who you ask, but let's look at some of the critiques. While jobs created by NWT and Nunavut mines far outstrip any other private industry in either territory, there are few Indigenous workers who have risen to the ranks of management. Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus points out that fact. He is also calling for a review of how beneficial existing impact and benefits agreements are, as well as an examination of the "two weeks in, two weeks out" shift rotations that are so common at mine sites.

Although the K'atl'odeeche First Nation signed an explora-tion agreement with Pine Point Mining Ltd. – as did the Deninu Kue First Nation and the Fort Resolution Metis Council – K'atl'odeeche Chief Roy Fabian thinks the GNWT puts dis-proportionate emphasis on exploration and mining. He said he'd prefer more efforts to develop renewable resources.

"Things like trapping and fishing, there's forestry and there's other things available that we're not spending any time on (but) we need to ... rather than just go down that road of non-renew-able resources, digging holes in the ground and destroying the land," Fabian said, adding that when mines shut down there will be no place to work. "It's a dead-end process."

Michael Byron, president and CEO of Nighthawk Gold Corp., takes an opposing view. Skill sets developed through mining jobs are transferable to other occupations, he said.

He insisted that the GNWT should be "non-apologetic" for building a resource-based economy.

"The cold reality is that in Northern Canada there is no other industry – there's no logging because trees are stunted, tourism is minimum wage. Your only hope in hell of keeping your kids in the North and keeping high-paying jobs in the North is min-ing – otherwise the Northern parts of our country are going to be welfare states."

Bernie MacIsaac, assistant deputy minister of Economic Development with the Government of Nunavut, was far less blunt, but he echoed some of what Byron asserted.

"Responsible resource development is likely the best way to put the people of Nunavut to work. That's where the jobs are," MacIsaac said, reiterating that exploration and mining must be done responsibly.

Meanwhile, with an eye on the coming decade – one without the 1,187 jobs provided by the Diavik diamond mine by the end of 2025 – Tom Hoefer and the Chamber of Mines are lobbying various levels of government to invest in infrastructure, such as a Slave Geological Province Road, that will help pave the way for successors to Diavik.

There are surely ways that mining companies can improve their hiring and training practices, but it seems clear that Nuna-vut and the NWT would be, literally, much poorer without them.

BAFFIN BUREAU – IQALUITPh: 867-979-5990 Fax: 867-979-6010

[email protected]

KIVALLIQ BUREAU – RANKIN INLET Ph: 867-645-3223 Fax: 867-645-3225

[email protected]

SOUTH SLAVE BUREAU – HAY RIVERPh: 867-874-2802 Fax: 867-874-2804

[email protected]

NORTH SLAVE BUREAU – YELLOWKNIFE Ph: 867-873-4031 Fax: 867-873-8507

[email protected]

MACKENZIE DELTA BUREAU – INUVIK Ph: 867-777-4545 Fax: 867-777-4412

[email protected]

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING 2017 Published Annually by Northern News Services Ltd.Award Winning Northern Newspaper PublisherHead Office: 5108-50th Street, Yellowknife, Northwest TerritoriesProud Member: NWT/Nunavut Chamber of Mines • NWT Mining Heritage Society

Derek Neary Business Features

StorieS by

by Derek Neary Northern News Services

NWT/Nunavut

Mines gearing up for growth and expanding years of production

'It's been a good year'

photo courtesy of North Arrow Minerals

Dan Gainer, who was in charge of summer core logging for North Arrow Minerals at its Naujaat diamond property, nine kilometres north of the community of Naujaat, receives a box of drill core from a helicopter long line.

photo courtesy of Agnico Eagle

The mill building at Agnico Eagle's Meliadine gold property was roofed in September. Meliadine has 3.4 million ounces of proven and probable gold, according to Agnico Eagle. The mine at the site is targeted to be in production by the third quarter of 2019.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING

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ON THE COVER: Baffinland wants to add another ore dock at the Mary River mine, 160 km south of Pond Inlet, to ship ore to the port via rail as part of its Phase 2 expansion. That would increase production to 12 million tonnes of ore per year, up from the existing 4.2 million tonnes, if regulatory agencies give the green light.photo courtesy of TMAC Resources


In some respects, the numbers are as dazzling as the gems and precious metals coming out of the ground.

The companies behind the six operational mines in the NWT and Nunavut pump out a multitude of figures each quarter and in every annual report.

Here's a look at some of the more interesting figures that have been published.

AGNICO EAGLE- $71.4 million in employee wages and benefits paid at Meadow-

bank in 2016; $3.7 million at Meliadine- Entry-level wage at Meadowbank and Meliadine: $22/hr- $37.4 million in payments to government from Nunavut oper-

ations in 2016- $4.4 million paid in royalties to Inuit land owners- $132 million in total Nunavut expenditures for Meadowbank

in 2016; $84 million in Nunavut expenditures for Meliadine last year

- $1.2 billion in estimated expenditures to construct the Melia-dine and Amaruq mines, both of which are expected to be in production by the third quarter of 2019

- 312,214 ounces of gold produced at Meadowbank in 2016, making it Agnico Eagle's leading gold producing mine; Meadowbank also produced 221,227 ounces of silver last year

- 180,659 ounces of gold and 136,000 ounces of silver were mined in the first half of 2017. The expectation was for 320,000 ounces of gold to be extracted this year

- The mine has generated close to 2.5 million ounces of gold since going into production in 2010

BAFFINLAND- $1.9 billion in capital investment in Mary River from 2012-

2017- Up to $1 billion in capital expenses forecast for Phase 2 expan-

sion of Mary River from 2018-2021- $64.4 million in contracts awarded to Inuit firms in 2016 - 38 per cent of contracts were awarded to Inuit firms in the first

quarter of 2017- Nearly $8 million spent on Baffinland's Inuit payroll in 2016- Arctic Bay led the way at $1.8 million in wages, followed by

Pond Inlet ($1.52 million) Clyde River ($1.5 million), Iglulik ($964,000), Iqaluit ($905,000) and Hall Beach ($901,000)

- 2.7 metric tonnes of iron ore shipped in 2016

TMAC RESOURCES (HOPE BAY)- 3.6 million ounces of gold are estimated to exist at Hope Bay- 2017 gold production target: 130,000 to 140,000 ounces- $6.8 million paid in salary and wages in 2016- $350 million in total expenditures as of Dec. 31, 2016

RIO TINTO/DOMINION DIAMONDS (DIAVIK)- $138 million in Northern operational spending in 2016 (32 per

cent of total); $124 million in Northern Indigenous spending (29 per cent of total)

- $5.2 billion spent with Northern businesses since 2000 (72 per cent of all expenditures); $2.6 billion of that amount has been directed toward Northern Indigenous businesses and their joint venture partners

- 6.7 million carats of rough diamonds mined in 2016 - 104.2 million carats produced from 2003 to 2016

DOMINION DIAMONDS (EKATI)- $335 million spent in the North in 2016, which was 62 per cent

of Dominion's total spend- More than $144 million, or 43 per cent of what was spent in

the North, went to Indigenous businesses in 2016- Close to $5.2 billion has been spent in the North to operate the

Ekati diamond mine since 2002; $1.8 billion of that has gone to Indigenous business

- 67.8 million carats were mined between 2002 and January 2017

- Diamond sales amounted to $720.6 million in 2016

DE BEERS AND MOUNTAIN PROVINCE DIAMONDS (GAHCHO KUÉ/SNAP LAKE)

- $178.9 million directed to NWT and Indigenous companies to support the construction and commissioning of Gahcho Kué in 2016; that's 48 per cent of the $370 million dedicated to the mine last year

- $54.7 million spent on goods and services at the now defunct Snap Lake mine in 2016, of which 76 per cent was spent with NWT and Indigenous businesses.

- Gahcho Kué is projected to have a $5.3 billion impact on the territorial economy until 2028

- 54 million carats are estimated to exist at Gahcho Kué

MINING NWT/NUNAVUT

Fact and figures from NWT and Nunavut mines

What's in a number?

photo courtesy of Rio Tinto Diamonds

From 2003 to 2016, 104.2 million carats have been produced at Diavik diamond mine, where under-ground workers are pictured here.

Northern News Services


The North is rich in metals and minerals. Many companies have ventured to identify viable sources

of those valuable resources, while others have sought to advance those finds to the mining stage. Few are successful, but there's always promise on the horizon.

We asked the CEOs of some exploration companies oper-ating in the North to identify NWT or Nunavut projects that have caught their attention. This isn't investment advice – always consult a professional advisor, as they say – it's simply a little insight from those who know the industry North of 60.

DON BUBAR President and CEO of Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.:

I’m following two promising NWT gold exploration pro-jects that I like for different reasons.

The first is TerraX Minerals Inc. and their Northbelt gold project in the Yellowknife area. They hold a large, highly-prospective land package in a proven gold belt with the rare advantage (for the NWT) of proximity to infrastructure! Ter-raX has a solid technical team that has already made some significant new gold finds in the belt and has a good approach to community engagement. They just have to define enough ounces in one deposit to justify the capital investment in mine development.

The second is Nighthawk Gold Corp and their Indin Lake gold project, which includes the Colomac gold deposit, which was productive in the past. They have developed a new exploration model for the area based on its geological simi-larities with the 60-million ounce Kalgoorlie gold district in Western Australia that is quite compelling. They also have a highly experienced technical team and I feel it is just a matter of time before they make a significant new gold discovery at Indin Lake.

JIM PATERSON CEO and director of Kivalliq Energy Corporation:

Two projects in Nunavut I like are Sabina Gold & Silver’s Back River gold project – based on the team driving the pro-ject forward, the high-grade gold nature of the deposits and the belt-wide exploration potential. Sabina is a prime takeout candidate, in my opinion.

Also Dunnedin's Kahuna, based on the excitement gener-ated by both diamond and gold potential, the large scale of the property, and the proximity to Agnico's Meliadine project, i.e. development synergies in the future.

BRUCE MCLEOD President and CEO of Sabina Gold & Silver Corporation:

We do follow the work that Silver Range Resources Ltd. has been doing in the North. They have put together over eight projects in Nunavut, of which many came open during the recent downturn in the markets. Their stated goal is to option or sell projects when they reach the drill-ready stage.

Although grassroots exploration is expensive in locations where infrastructure is not as developed as the southern prov-inces, the lack of exploration history and mass of prospective terrain is a great combination for a prospect generator. We feel that their combination of Northern logistics know-how and

experience in working in Archean lode and iron formation-hosted gold targets add up to a company that we like to keep an eye on.

JAMIE LEVY, President and CEO of Pine Point Mining Ltd.:

I like Nighthawk. I like the people behind it. It's a simi-lar sort of story to what we have at Pine Point, it's kind of a restart. They're trying to work off older data. I think it's a good little company.

ROBIN GOAD President and CEO of Fortune Minerals:

There are a number of advanced projects in the NWT and Nunavut waiting for market conditions to align, have infra-structure developed to allow for development or are pursuing interesting new approaches to their respective mineral dis-tricts using an updated geological model.

Two interesting gold projects are currently being advanced that are pursuing the latter criteria: Nighthawk Gold is doing interesting work at Indin Lake based on a Kalgoorlie, Aus-tralia geological analogy for bulk tonnage gold deposits. There is good potential to identify sufficient critical mass for a mine development from this area play that is based on

previously recognized mineralization in the Indin Lake Belt, as well as new mineralized zones that have recently been identified. Kinross Gold has bought into this model and is supporting exploration efforts with a strategic investment in the company.

TerraX has assembled a large land package in the Yellow-knife greenstone belt. Sometimes the best place to explore is in the shadow of an existing headframe. Like Nighthawk’s programs at Indin Lake, there are known deposits of gold in the Yellowknife area from previous mining at the Con and Giant Yellowknife land packages, as well as new structures that TerraX has identified hosting high-grade gold intersec-tions. TerraX needs to identify continuity of mineralization and sufficient critical mass to justify a new mine development.

MIKE POWER President, CEO and director of Silver Range Resources:

I have been impressed with Nighthawk Gold's progress at Colomac. They seem to have figured the system out and are delivering long, often high-grade intercepts. Kinross Gold Corporation is obviously impressed, it has attracted strong financial backing, and top-tier mining analysts are now fol-lowing the project. I think it was a bit of a sleeper but the movers and shakers are now very much aware of it.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING

Northern News ServicesNWT/Nunavut

Executives share thoughts on promising projects in the North

CEOs ponder potential mines

DON BUBAR BRUCE MCLEODJIM PATERSON ROBIN GOAD


NWTProject: Kennady NorthOwner: Kennady Diamonds Resource: DiamondsLocation: 280 km northeast of Yellowknife Status: Kennady North announced in early October, an inferred mineral resource of 5.02 million carats of diamonds exists in 3.27 million tonnes of kimberlite. The gems have an overall grade of 1.54 carats per tonne and an average value of US$98 per carat. A bulk sample of 1,259 carats returned a collective average value of US$109 per carat for the parcel, the company announced in August. "We are delighted with the results of the Faraday bulk sampling program," said Dr. Rory Moore, president and CEO. "Our previ-ously reported grades that range between 1.67 and 2.91 carats per tonne for the three Faraday kimberlites, combined with these valuations, provide a strong foundation on which to build a high-value resource at the Faradays."Project: NICO Owner: Fortune Minerals Resource: Gold, bismuth, cobalt, copper Location: 50 km northeast of Whati Estimated mine life: 21 years Estimated mine jobs: 250Status: Fortune Minerals is in the process of updating its 2014 feasibility study to reflect current market prices for the resour-ces found at the NICO mine site. The deposit contains 82.3 mil-lion pounds of cobalt, more than 1.1 million ounces of gold and 12 per cent of global bismuth reserves. Hatch Ltd., which is updating the feasibility study to also reflect projected exchange rates and capital and operating costs on behalf of Fortune, required additional metallurgical testwork, which Fortunate estimated would be complete by the end of October. The mine has already been granted environmental and major mine permits. PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate

Finance Inc. is seeking project financing options via strategic partnerships, debt and equity.Project: Prairie CreekOwner: Canadian Zinc Corp.Resource: Zinc, lead, silverLocation: 90 km northwest of Nahanni Butte Estimated mine jobs: 220Estimated mine life: Minimum 10 yearsStatus: A feasibility study shows the mining rate at Prairie Creek could be increased to 1,600 tonnes per day and mill throughput could rise to 1,200 tonnes per day, Canadian Zinc Corp. reported in late September. Yearly metal production would be 105 mil-lion pounds of lead and 95 million pounds of zinc, according to the study. Canadian Zinc reported Prairie Creek exploration and evaluation expenses of $3.8 million for the first six months of 2017, primarily accounted for by the feasibility study. Canadian Zinc has engaged HCF International Advisers to arrange debt financing of up to 70 per cent of capital expendi-tures for the mine, which is projected to be in operation for 15 to 17 years. The company received Mackenzie Valley Review Board approval in September for a 180 km all-season access road to the mine. There are 16 conditions attached to the positive environmental review, including permafrost and wildlife monitor-ing requirements. Project: Up Town Gold Owner: Silver Range ResourcesResource: GoldLocation: West side of Giant Mine, six kilometres from down-town Yellowknife Status: Silver Range Resources' partner Rover Metals Corp. committed to spend a minimum of $350,000 on an August drill program to test three zones. The property comprises six claims encompassing 32 square kilometres and borders TerraX Min-erals’ Yellowknife City Gold Project property to the North. Project: Pine PointOwner: Darnley Bay ResourcesResource: Lead, zinc Location: 42 km east of Hay RiverEstimated mine life: 13 yearsEstimated mine jobs: 320Status: Pine Point Mining Ltd., the new name for Pine Point owner Darnley Bay Resources, has been highly active since acquiring the former mine last December. Summer drilling expanded the L65 deposit. The company reached exploration agreements with the Deninu Ku’e First Nation, the Fort Resolu-tion Metis Council and the K'atl'odeeche First Nation. In Sep-tember, Pine Point mining began a ground geophysical survey and received initial positive metallurgical test results from the L36 deposit, showing high recoveries of lead and zinc using flotation methods. Project: Indin Lake Owner: Nighthawk Gold Corp. Resource: Gold Location: 200 km north of Yellowknife Status: Summer drilling returned promising results for Night-hawk Gold at its 100 per cent-owned Colomac Gold Project, located within the Indin Lake gold property. The drilling highlights included 145.75 metres of 3.33 grams per tonne at Zone 1.5."Colomac drilling continues to deliver; backstopping confidence in the deposit's resource expansion opportunities," the company stated in a news release. Nighthawk's defined gold resource to date is in excess of two mil-

lion ounces at the property, the site of the former Colomac gold mine, which was in production during the 1990s. The company anticipates a new resource estimate in 2018.Project: Diagras Owner: Arctic Star Exploration/Margaret Lake Diamonds Resource: Diamonds Location: 22 km northeast of Diavik diamond mine Status: On Aug. 31, Arctic Exploration, 60 per cent owner, and partner Margaret Lake Diamonds announced that a spring geo-physical program and summer surveying at the Diagras prop-erty has identified more kimberlite exploration drill targets. The Diagras property, spanning 187 square kilometres, contains 13 known kimberlites.Project: Yellowknife City Gold Owner: TerraX Minerals Resource: GoldLocation: 15 km north of Yellowknife Status: TerraX carried out extensive aerial and ground-based surveys as well as sampling over the summer at its 418-square-kilometre Yellowknife City Gold property. Surface samples at the most-recently acquired Eastbelt location included 65.7 grams of gold per tonne and 4,910 grams of silver per tonne. Yellowknife City Gold stretches over portions of the systems that sustained the prolific Con and Giant gold mines for decades. Projects: 17 Owner: Proxima Diamonds Corp. Resources: Diamonds Location: 300 km northeast of Yellowknife Status: Proxima Diamonds identified new kimberlite target areas as a result of sampling and geophysical programs in the Slave Geological Province, the company announced in late May. "Proxima's strategy of focused exploration continues to success-fully build a portfolio of quality kimberlite targets," said Bruce Counts, Proxima's chief executive officer. The company has staked 16 targets over 688 square kilometres in proximity to Ekati, Diavik, and Snap Lake diamond mines.Project: Hidden Lake Owner: 92 Resources Corporation Resource: Lithium Location: 40 km northeast of Yellowknife Status: Following up on high-grade mineral finds including 6.16 per cent lithium oxide announced in July several scoping lithium extraction tests achieved an overall extraction of 97 per cent. "This indicates that the industry standard lithium extraction techniques ... will be similarly applicable to those concentrates produced from the pegmatites at Hidden Lake," 92 Resources stated in a news release. The company announced in August that former GNWT industry minister David Ramsay was joining the board. Project: Margaret Lake Owner: Margaret Lake Diamonds Resource: Diamonds Location: 300 km northeast of Yellowknife Status: Three promising targets for further evaluation and drill testing were identified through ground surveying. A fourth tar-get was found by reviewing historic field work, Margaret Lake Diamonds announced in September. Margaret Lake Diamonds' 197 square-kilometre property is adjacent to Kennady Dia-monds' Kennady North project and nine km north of the Gah-cho Kué diamond mine.

Exploration projects


A handful of kimberlite core from North Arrow Minerals' Naujaat diamond project, where the company spent $2 million on a 3,469-metre sum-mer drill program that encompassed 11 holes.

MINING NWT/NUNAVUT

Please see next page


Project: UnnamedOwner: GGL ResourcesResouce: DiamondsLocation: Eastern and western Slave CratonStatus: Requiring an injection of cash, GGL Resources made a deal to farm out its Providence Greenstone Belt properties to Silver Range Resources in August. In return for compensation gained in that transaction, as well as financing through other stock moves, GGL CEO Graham Eacott expressed optimism that his company is now "well capitalized" to carry on with diamond exploration on its properties in the "highly productive Ekati-Gahcho Kué corridor." Project: Gwen, Rex, Marlin, Prism, Hilltop Owner: Canterra Minerals Corp. Resource: Diamonds Location: 210 km northeast of Yellowknife Status: Canterra's combined holdings equal approximately 971 square kilometres between De Beers' Gahcho Kué diamond mine and the now suspended Snap Lake diamond mine. The company undertook till sampling and surveying work in 2015 but hasn't reported activity in the North in 2017.Project: TerraOwner: DEMCo Limited Partnership Resource: Silver Location: Camsell River, south of Great Bear Lake Status: Owned by the Dene Nation, DEMCo acquired more than 97 square kilometres in minerals claims in 2013. The site encompasses four past-producing mines, including the Terra Mine. In 2016, DemCo performed some work on historical cores from Terra but no work has been announced in 2017.Project: ItchenOwner: Silver Range ResourcesResource: Gold Location: 348 km northeast of Yellowknife Status: Located 78 km southwest of the former Lupin gold

mine. Silver Range Resources did some staking and sampling at Itchen in 2016 but no activity has been announced in 2017.Project: Courageous LakeOwner: Seabridge Gold Resource: Gold Location: 240 km northeast of Yellowknife Estimated mine life: 15 yearsStatus: Seabridge Gold spent $600,000 at Courageous Lake in 2015 to identify drill targets, but did limited work at the site in 2016. The company is prioritizing its KSM gold project in British Columbia. A preliminary feasibility study in 2012 indicated that Courageous Lake hosts 6.5 million ounces of proven and prob-able gold, which could be produced at an average of 385,000 ounces per year over 15 years. Project: Nechalacho Owner: Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. Resource: Rare earth elements Location: 100 km southeast of Yellowknife Estimated mine life: 20 years Status: Avalon has been inactive in the NWT for several years as company management has urged senior GNWT officials to streamline the permitting process. Avalon has spent more than $100 million on the Nechalacho rare earth elements project since acquiring it in 2005. A feasibility study completed in 2013 estimated combined production of 9,286 tonnes per annum, plus by-product zirconium niobium and tantalum.Project: Mon Owner: New Discovery MinesResource: Gold Location: 50 km north of YellowknifeStatus: A five-hold, 400-metre drill program took place in 2016. Three of the holes intersected visible gold. The Mon mine pro-duced 79 kg of gold between 1989 and 1997. Project: AYE 1 Owner: Dave Nickerson Resource: Gold Location: Near the Ingraham Trail turnoff, close to YellowknifeStatus: Prospector Dave Nickerson drilled three holes at his AYE 1 property in 2016. Assay results showed 21.9 grams of gold per tonne over 0.61 metres and 32 grams of gold per tonne over 0.84 metres. There were plans for a test mine in summer 2017.

NUNAVUTKIVALLIQProject: Naujaat Diamond ProjectOwner: North Arrow MineralsResource: DiamondsLocation: Nine kilometres north of NaujaatStatus: North Arrow spent $2 million on a 3,469-metre summer drill program that included 11 holes and a mini-bulk sample at the Q1-4 kimberlite at the Naujaat property. The sample was to be transported south via cargo ship during Naujaat's annual sealift in late August. Another $1 million is budgeted for labora-tory costs. Processing of the collected resource was slated for the fall. Depending on results, North Arrow may carry out a larger bulk sample in 2018. North Arrow had already pegged the Naujaat property to host an inferred 26.1 million carats, but that hasn't yet demonstrated economic viability. Project: Kiyuk LakeOwner: Cache ExplorationResource: Gold Location: 350 km west of ArviatStatus: Cache Exploration took full ownership of Kiyuk Lake in September, following the release of its drilling results that included 26.4 grams of gold per tonne over eight metres from the Rusty Zone. Cache acquired the 590-square kilometre prop-erty from Montego Resources through a $300,000 payment and up to three million common shares of Cache Exploration at a value of 10.5 cents per share.

Project: KahunaOwner: Dunnedin VenturesResource: DiamondsLocation: 35 km southwest of Chesterfield InletStatus: Dunnedin announced plans for a drilling campaign dur-ing winter 2017-18 based on kimberlite targets identified earlier this year, including a pipe along a "strike of a proven diamond-bearing kimberlite dyke" at its 1,200-square-km Kahuna dia-mond property. The company stated that it is in possession of all required permits from government agencies to proceed with drilling. Project: GreyhoundOwner: Aura Silver Resources/Agnico EagleResource: Gold Location: 40 km northeast of Baker LakeStatus: Spring drilling totalled 2,058 metres over eight holes. Results were expected by July, but still hadn't been posted as of early October. Agnico Eagle paid for the drill program and also acquired 51 per cent ownership in the Greyhound Property through its $1.75 million in expenditures as of the end of May. Project: Hard CashOwner: Silver Range ResourcesResource: Gold Location: 700 km southeast of YellowknifeStatus: Surveying and a three-week shallow diamond drilling program took place over the summer. Silver Range turned up a 1,400-metre high-grade zone with numerous samples exceeding 10 grams of gold per tonne during work conducted in 2016.Project: Yandle Owner: Silver Range ResourcesResource: Gold Location: 155 km west of ArviatStatus: Survey, prospecting and mapping was on the agenda for 2017. Comaplex Minerals and Cumberland Resources originally staked this property in the 1990s. Complex and Placer Dome did some drilling at Yandle with best results of 11 grams of gold per tonne over three metres and 17.5 grams of gold per tonne over 1.25 metres. Project: North ThelonOwner: Forum Uranium Resource: UraniumLocation: 50 km west of Baker LakeStatus: There's an estimated recoverable 114 million pounds of U308 (uranium oxide) on the 950-square-km property, equating to a mine life of 17 years, according to Forum Uranium's calcula-tions. The project would create 400 to 600 jobs. However, Forum was seeking to have the ore processed at the nearby Kiggavik mill. That project, owned by Areva, is in jeopardy due to regula-tory rejection. There have been no announced activities at North Thelon in the past few years. Project: AngilakOwner: Kivalliq Energy Corp. Resource: UraniumLocation: 350 km west of Rankin InletStatus: Kivalliq Energy received $3 million in financing from Sandstorm Gold in January. CEO Jim Paterson said that money will be used at Kivalliq Energy's discretion over the next few years, but it will primarily be devoted to day-to-day corporate expenses. Angilak contains an inferred 43.3 million pounds of U308 (uranium oxide). Kivalliq Energy Corp. has spent $55 mil-lion developing the property since 2008.Project: Pistol BayOwner: Northquest Ltd.Resource: Gold Location: 35 km northwest of Whale CoveStatus: Northquest released an initial resource estimate for the Vickers zone of the Pistol Bay project in 2016. It shows an

photo courtesy of J. Maxwell/Sabina Silver & Gold Corp.

Sabina workers Ryan Kamookak and Robin Ilgok work with a jackhammer at the Goose Property, approximately 400 km southwest of Cambridge Bay.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING



inferred 739,000 ounces of gold based on 7.79 million tonnes of resource at a grade of 2.95 grams of gold per tonne. Pistol Bay encompasses 860 square kilometres. Most of the company's activity over the past year has been concentrated on its Ontario and Saskatchewan properties. Project: Atlas-1/Zac Project: KiggavikOwner: Areva Resource: UraniumLocation: 80 km west of Baker LakeStatus: Kiggavik was dealt a severe blow in July 2016 when the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada minister reinforced the Nunavut Impact Review Board's decision to reject the Kiggavik project due to the lack of a date to begin mining. Areva expressed its disappointment after spending tens of millions of dollars and eight years advancing the project. Project: Atlas-1/Zac Owner: Anconia Resources Resource: Copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver Location: 165 km west of Whale CoveStatus: Anconia Resources' Zac and Atlas-1 properties, located approximately 25 km apart, represent two clusters of volcano-genic massive sulfide deposits, a "principle source of zinc, cop-per, silver, lead and gold worldwide," says the company's website.

KITIKMEOTProject: Committee BayOwner: Auryn Resources Resource: Gold Location: 130 km southwest of KugaarukStatus: Initial results from a summer drill program showed 3.48 grams of gold per tonne over 9.15 metres and 7.48 grams of gold per tonne over 1.53 metres. Auryn has already purchased $1.8 million worth of fuel for another drilling campaign in 2018. The Three Bluffs zone on the 300-km greenstone belt has 683,000 ounces of indicated gold and 965,000 ounces of inferred gold.Project: Back RiverOwner: Sabina Gold & SilverResource: Gold Location: 400 km southwest of Cambridge BayEstimated mine life: 11.8 yearsEstimated mine jobs: 900Status: The first results from a $6-million, 10,000-metre sum-mer drill program at the Goose Property included 9.48 grams of gold per tonne over 38.55 metres in the Llama zone. Other zones explored were Umwelt, Kogoyok and Echo, but those results were still pending as of early October. Sabina received a green light, with conditions, from the Nunavut Impact Review Board in July to continue to develop the Back River property. The initial response from the review board was negative due to wildlife concerns, but the federal government insisted on a second assessment. Project: South Kitikmeot Gold Project Owner: Silver Range ResourcesResource: Gold

Location: Western Nunavut's Back River-Contwoyto gold beltStatus: Silver Range aimed to explore two of its seven properties that comprise the 250-square-kilometre South Kitikmeot Gold Project. The Qannituq and Bling properties were targeted for prospecting, geological mapping and field surveys.Project: Muskox/Contwoyto/Hood Owner: Crystal Exploration Resource: DiamondsLocation: 14 km southwest of former Jericho diamond mineStatus: Crystal Exploration laid out plans to explore over spring, summer and fall at its properties, including some drilling. The Muskox, Contwoyto and Hood projects all lie in the Kitikmeot. Muskox, previously worked by Tahera and De Beers, entails nearly 600 square kilometres. Project: Izok CorridorOwner: MMG Resources Resource: Zinc, lead, copper, silver, gold Location: 260 km southeast of KugluktukStatus: Izok remains in care and maintenance status. The last work was done at the property in 2014. Izok has a mineral resource of 15 million tonnes of 2.3 per cent copper and 13 per cent zinc. The High Lake deposit, to the north of Izok, has 2.5 per cent copper and 3.8 per cent zinc over 14 million tonnes. Project: Hackett RiverOwner: GlencoreResource: Silver, gold, copper, zinc, leadLocation: 355 km southeast of KugluktukStatus: Glencore has yet to submit a draft environmental impact statement for Hackett River. No drilling has been announced since 2013. Hackett River has 25 million tonnes of indicated resource containing 4.2 per cent zinc and 130 grams of silver per tonne. It also has 57 million tonnes of inferred resource with 3.0 per cent zinc and 100 grams of silver per tonne.Project: Stein Owner: Arctic Star Exploration Corp. Resource: Diamonds Location: 85 km north of TaloyoakStatus: There's an indication of kimberlites, detected during historical exploration activities, on the Stein claim. Arctic Star hasn't yet announced any geological or drill work on the property. Project: Coppermine Owner: Kaizen Discovery Resource: Copper, silverLocation: 80 km south of KugluktukStatus: In 2016, Kaizen Discovery successfully filed for permis-sion to the Nunavut Mining Recorder's office for a one-year sus-pension of required assessment work until an apparent conflict is resolved. Some of the company's 3,500 square kilometres property is identified in the draft Nunavut Land Use Plan as being under limitations or prohibitions relating to exploration and mining. Project: Coppermine RiverOwner: Arctic Copper Corp.Resource: Copper, silver

Location: KitikmeotStatus: Arctic Copper Corp. has staked close to 506 square kilometres in the Coppermine River area of the Kitikmeot. Plans to explore the property in 2016 were postponed when zoning changes under the Nunavut Planning Committee were proposed, leaving the future of the project in question.

QIKIQTANIProject: Baffin Gold PropertyOwner: Kivalliq Energy Corp.Resource: GoldLocation: 260 km southwest of Clyde RiverStatus: Kivalliq Energy Corp. acquired this 4,090 square kilo-metres property in May. The company subsequently revealed plans to do $775,000 worth of mapping, prospecting and sam-pling work in August. The Baffin Gold Property had been explored previously by BHP-Billiton, Falconbridge, Commander Resources and AngloGold Ashanti.Project: MelOwner: North Arrow MineralsResource: DiamondsLocation: 140 km south of Hall BeachStatus: Detailed prospecting and surveying of priority kimberlite indicator mineral targets were undertaken in the summer, in hopes of finding a new kimberlite field at the Mel property, which spans 75 square kilometres. Between its Naujaat and Mel prop-erties, North Arrow invested $3.2 million in exploration this year. Project: ChidliakOwner: Peregrine DiamondsResource: Diamonds Location: 120 km northeast of IqaluitEstimated mine life: 10 years Estimated mine jobs: 282Status: Peregrine used three drill rigs to plunge 15 holes for a total of 5,288 metres drilled this summer. The results of the 2017 program will form the basis of a revised resource esti-mate for the company's flagship CH-6 kimberlite at the Chidliak property. Peregrine raised nearly $10.3 million through the stock market in August, partly to pay for the drill program. The company released a positive preliminary economic assessment in 2016. Chidliak boasts an inferred 15.6 million carats of dia-monds and a decade of projected mine life. It will require a $435 million investment to begin mining. Peregrine has been search-ing for a partner to help fund the venture.Project: Storm/Seal Owner: Aston Bay HoldingsResource: Copper, zinc, silverLocation: 120 km south of Resolute Bay/Somerset IslandStatus: Aston Bay forged ahead with a two-week field program and a property-wide geophysical program over the summer. A drill program is in the offing for 2018 and camp facilities were improved this summer with that in mind. In 2016, 12 drill holes at the 2,600 square kilometres Storm copper project turned up a most promising result of 3.07 per cent copper over 16 metres and 12.26 grams of silver, starting at a depth of 93 metres. Project: Belcher Islands IronOwner: Canadian OrebodiesResource: Iron Location: 22 km south of SanikiluaqStatus: Canadian Orebodies' 230 square kilometres property contains an indicated 230 million tonnes of 35.17 per cent iron and an inferred 289 million tonnes of 35.47 per cent iron, according to a mineral resource estimate. Project: West MelvilleOwner: Vale Canada Ltd.Resource: Copper, nickelLocation: 180 km southwest of Hall BeachStatus: Vale Canada undertook a five-year exploration program at its early-exploration-stage West Melville property in 2011. No activity has been announced since.

MINING NWT/NUNAVUT


Workers load bags from a mini bulk sample taken at North Arrow Minerals' Q1-4 kimberlite at the Naujaat project over the summer. Depending on results, North Arrow may carry out a larger bulk sample in 2018.

Continued from previous page


A past producing lead and zinc mine may get new life through a company with a new name.

Darnley Bay Resources, now Pine Point Mining Ltd., acquired the Pine Point mine, 42 km east of Hay River, in December. Among the company's many accom-plishments over the past sev-eral months are exploration agreements signed with the K'atl'odeeche First Nation, the Deninu Kue First Nation and the Fort Resolution Metis Council in September. The pacts obligate the parties to co-operatively establish a long-term relationship based on mutual respect and open-ness towards developing an impact benefits agreement for eventual production.

Pine Point Mining presi-dent and CEO Jamie Levy is pleased with the pledge to work together.

"It's pretty big for us," he said. "Obviously we want to train people and we're going to start doing that as quickly as we can so by the time the mine is in production the KFN and the DKFN can assist us."

K'atl'odeeche First Nation Chief Roy Fabian said some of his band members have already been hired to do slashing work – cutting down trees and brush.

"In the agreement, we said if there's going to be any more drilling and other exploration work going on, we're going to get the opportunity to bid on those things," said Fabian. "We can get into joint ven-tures with other companies to jointly take on a contract."

While Fabian welcomes

the opportunities, he isn't optimistic that Pine Point will return to production.

"Honestly, based on the information I get, I don't think there will be a mine," he said, adding that Tamerlane Ven-tures, the predecessor to Pine Point Mining Ltd., failed to achieve that goal.

Louis Balsillie, chief of the Deninu Kue First Nation, didn't return requests for comment.

Approximately 320 work-ers would be needed during operations if the open-pit mine goes back into produc-tion. Construction is antici-pated to take 12 to 18 months after permits are obtained.

"The more people from the Hay River/Fort Resolution area (working at Pine Point), it's much better for us because it's certainly cost effective for us not to have to fly people in and fly people out," said Levy.

REAMS OF DATAThe biggest challenge for

Pine Point Mining Ltd. has been combing through the enormous volume of mine data since the 1960s, Levy said. Pine Point was in pro-duction under Cominco Ltd. from 1964 to 1987.

"The immense size of the project, just trying to figure out what we should do going forward – it's trying to have a plan of attack," he said.

It's only getting bigger.With a $5-million explora-tion budget in 2017, Pine Point's drilling earlier this year verified that the resource can be expanded. There are still other historically "under-explored" areas within the 230 square kilometres prop-erty that Levy said he and his team want to test.

The company produced a

preliminary economic assess-ment in April that showed 1.35 billion pounds of zinc and 536 million pounds of lead at the site would result in a 13-year mine life with after-tax payback of $153.8 million in capital costs in just 1.8 years.

There are plans for a mill that would process 1,800 tonnes of pre-concentrate per day. The output would be trucked to Hay River and shipped south by trains.

Pine Point Mining expects to soon undertake a feasibility study, which will bring more certainty to the economics.

Levy said the price fore-casts from some prominent industry analysts peg zinc prices at $1.30 to $1.40 per pound for 2017, on average, and at $1.50 per pound in 2018.

"At $1.10 or $1.20 zinc, I'm happy. Up at those prices, I'm very excited," he said. "I don't

know how long it's going to stay up there but the quicker we can get (the mine) into production, the quicker it will be for benefits for everybody."

Levy noted that Darnley

Bay Resources' former pre-mier property outside of Paul-atuk, based on a large geo-logical anomaly, has not been forgotten.

"To me that is the best

greenfields project around," he said. "It's just that it's very hard to finance drill holes like that right now ... we're not giving up on it. We all like it a lot."


Hay River, NWT

Lead and zinc mine under new and determined ownership

Reviving Pine Point minephotos courtesy of Pine Point Mining Ltd.

This field is covered in historic drill hole core left behind by Cominco, which operated Pine Point mine from 1964 to 1987. The drill core is believed to be the result of 18,000 drill holes and the equivalent to 1.3 million metres of drilling.

This high-grade cut rock shows the key mineralization in lead and zinc, which are the commodities that Pine Point Mining Ltd. wants to extract from the past-producing mine near Hay River.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING


With mineral exploration presenting a wealth of opportunities in the Kitikmeot, Travis Arychuk and the Kapolak family of Bathurst Inlet decided to further a longstanding business relationship.

Avier Group – which Arychuk is president of – and Kingaunmiut Ltd., owned by the Kapolaks, formed the joint venture to provide one-stop aviation, fuel supply, logistics and health and safety services. Sabina Gold & Silver is a key client.

Arychuk and members of the Kapolak family had been discussing the joint ven-ture concept for years. They formalized the partnership in January. The venture carries on a legacy begun in the 1980s when Glenn Warner, Arychuk's grand-father, and the Kapolak family teamed up to own and operate Bathurst Inlet Lodge.

"We have a very long history," Arychuk said. "This is a partnership that we're really passionate about and Sabina's been a great client."

Sam Kapolak, president of Kingaun-miut Services, concurred.

"Sabina and Matthew Pickard (Sabina's vice-president of environment and sustainability) have a lot of support due to the time they put in with local residents in all communities over the past few years," Kapolak stated. "Sabina and Matthew (Pickard) listen to our concerns and do what they say they are going to do. They are an example for all and if other mining companies follow their lead, sup-

port for mining will only increase."During the spring, Kingaunmiut went

to Sabina's Back River gold deposit, 400 km south of Cambridge Bay, and tested expired jet fuel drums to get them recertified for use for another year.

The joint venture also supplied a large order of additional fuel to Sabina.

"They called and said, 'what's the soonest we can have several hundred drums of fuel delivered to Yellowknife?' and our answer was 'tomorrow,'" Arychuk said.

Kingaunmiut also offers passenger and cargo aviation services by chartering aircraft, from turbo-props to jets, through a variety of airlines.

"Our business is not operating air-craft. We find clients the best aircraft for their job," Arychuk explained. "If you're going to one airline, you're being sold what they have available, not necessarily what's best for you ... on average we're saving our clients money on a probably 75 per cent ratio or more."

Kingaunmiut keeps its margins tight, avoiding the practice of adding a 15 to 20 per cent premium for being a North-ern-based Indigenous-owned contractor, Arychuk added.

"We're not looking for any handouts. We want to win the work by price and by service," he said. "I think we've proved ourselves to Sabina and their group that we're more than capable of handling this. We see ourselves helping Sabina from the charters we've done for the (public) consultations and we want to be flying in people and equipment during (mine)

construction and then we want to look after handling those same passengers while the project is producing. We want Kingaunmiut to be there from the very start to the very finish, when they're doing cleanup."

Kapolak said Kingaunmiut will plan for strategic growth.

"Our reward is to see Kingaunmiut Services as a leader in employment and giving back in Nunavut. Sabina will be one to help make this possible," he stated. "This is more like a family business that will benefit all of us, and not just Bath-urst Inlet, but all the Kitikmeot and rest of Nunavut."

From Sabina's perspective, Pickard said Kingaunmiut Services has made "great strides" in its short existence.

"We have developed strong relation-ships with the community members of Bathurst Inlet and Bay Chimo and are happy to help wherever we can," Pickard stated. "This includes utilizing Kingaun-miut Services where appropriate to sup-port site and Northern activities."

Arychuk's family owned Air Tindi until they sold it to Discovery Air in 2006. Avier Group is the parent company of Private Sky Aviation and Fuel Flo, among other companies. That helped lay the groundwork for Kingaunmiut Services.

"We've worked with Inuit as family and partners for 40-plus years and we've already proved that we can be very suc-cessful working together. That's been proved with Bathurst Inlet Lodge and Kingaunmiut Ltd," Arychuk said.

Joint venture Kingaunmiut Services links up with Sabina Gold & Silver

Seizing a golden opportunityMINING NWT/NUNAVUT

photo courtesy of Travis Arychuk

Kingaunmiut Services arranged for delegates to travel to the Kitikmeot Trade Show in Cambridge Bay earlier this year on a chartered aircraft. The company, which provides a variety of related servi-ces, is a joint venture between Avier Group, under president Travis Arychuk, left, and Kingaunmiut Ltd., owned by the Kapolak family. Sam Kapolak, right, is the joint venture’s president.

Building 1553, Federal Road, Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 0H0 Phone: 1-867-975-7200 Fax: 1-867-979-4194 www.nunavuthousing.ca

Édifice 1553, route Federal, Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 0H0 tél : 1-867-975-7200; téléc. : 1-867-979-4194 www.nunavuthousing.ca

ᐃᒡᓗᕐᔪᐊᖅ 1553, Federal Road, ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ X0A 0H0

ᐅᖃᓘᑎ: 1-867-975-7200

ᓱᒃᑲᔪᒃᑯᑦ: 1-867-979-4194

www.nunavuthousing.ca

Building 1553, Federal Road, Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 0H0 Hivayautaa: 1-867-975-7200 Faaksiutaa: 1-867-979-4194 www.nunavuthousing.ca

Contact us to discuss how you can help your employees improve their housing prospects.

Working to provide access to a range of affordable, suitable and adequate housing options for Nunavummiut.

Nunavut Housing Corporation

Contactez-nous pour connaitre comment vous pouvez aider vos employés à améliorer leurs perspectives de logement.

Nous sommes déterminés à fournir l’accès à des logements abordables,convenables et adaptés aux Nunavummiut.

Société d’habitation du Nunavut

ᐅᖄᓚᕕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᕈᒪᒍᕕᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᕕᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᖃᕐᓂᕆᔭᖓ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᕆᐊᖃᕐᒪᖔ ᐱᑐᐃᓇᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᑕᖃᕐᒪᖔᓗ.

ᓴᓇᓂᖅ ᐱᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᓐᓇᕈᒪᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᖅ ᖃᔅᓯᒐᓴᖕᓄᑦ ᐊᑭᑐᓗᐊᙱᑐᑯᑦ, ᐊᑲᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓈᒪᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᓂᒃ ᓇᓪᓖᕌᕈᑎᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᐅᓄᑦ.

ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᕆᔨᕐᔪᐊᒃᑯᑦ

Uqaqatigiluta uqautigiyaami qanuqtun ikayuqtaaqtatin havaktitit pilaarhuutikhakkut iglughaqaliriangini.

Havaliqtuq pivikhaqariami Iglukhaqhiuriami Nunavunmiunut.

Nunavutmi Iglulirijirjuarkut


Bathurst Inlet/Yellowknife


A growing number of job-seekers who come into Lucy Arnarauyak's office are choosing to pursue careers in mining.

An apprenticeship offi-cer with the Department of Family Services in Rankin Inlet, Arnarauyak estimates mining now accounts for 50 per cent of the occupations chosen by people who consult her.

Arnarauyak recommends that applicants sit down with a career development officer (CDO) who can provide tips on improving resumes and

optimizing applications.Diana Martin, director of

career development with the Department of Family Servi-ces, agrees with that approach.

"Each CDO in each region knows their labour market," Martin said. "They're best positioned to give accurate information as to who to talk to, what kind of skills you need, what kind of education you need. They would do an assessment or a career coun-selling."

Applicants for mining jobs must be prepared to work 12-hour shifts for 14 straight days, followed by 14-days off, Arnarauyak noted. She advises Kivalliq applicants to

be prepared to enrol in the 14-day work readiness pro-gram that mining company Agnico Eagle and the Kivalliq Mine Training Society offer. That program covers safety practices, gives an overview of what the industry demands of its workers, provides cop-ing strategies for separation from relatives while at the mine site and provides life-management skills such as budgeting.

"They've learned that the mental health of the worker is a lot better if they know that the family is well looked after back home," Martin said. "I do know, too, that the mine uses that two-week program as a screening ... if (the applicants is) going to succeed in the mine. They can tell if some-body's not really committed, or really serious. They might talk to them about coming back another time or going back to school."

The trades in the great-est demand at the mines are heavy equipment technicians and operators as well as elec-tricians, Arnarauyak said.

She promotes the trades while attending trade shows, careers fairs and during National Apprenticeship Week. She tells mining appli-

cants of the programs avail-able through the Sanatuliqsar-vik Nunavut Trades Training Centre in Rankin Inlet, where

they can certified.Pre-apprenticeship pro-

grams also exist for those who haven't completed high school

to help them acquire the edu-cation they need in addition to getting a feel for the vocation, Martin added.


Nunavut

What mining job-seekers should know

Advice from career specialists

photo courtesy of Sanatuliqsarvik Nunavut Trades Training Centre

Mining operations sometimes need truck drivers and there's a new crop of them in Nunavut. A Class 1 and 2 drivers training program was held at the Sanatuliqsarvik Nunavut Trades Training Centre in Rankin Inlet in September, in partnership with Nunavut Arctic College, M&T Enterprises and Kivalliq Part-ners in Development. Pictured in the photo are Sean Sykes, left, operations manager for M&T Enterprises; Raymond Boisvert, expediting manager with M&T Enterprises; Normand Gordon, Class 1 drivers graduate; Denise Ford, Class 2 graduate; Bernard Putulik Jr., Class I graduate; Albert Netser, intern director for Sanatuliqsarvik; and Stephanie Lachance, mine training co-ordin-ator for Nunavut Arctic College. William Innukshuk and Jordan Pudnak, not pictured, also graduated with a Class 1.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING

Trades and production occupations: 505Supervisors, co-ordinators, foremen: 80Support workers: 80Technical operations: 60Professional and physical sciences occupations: 60Human resources and financial occupations: 5All other mining occupations: 330Total: 1,120

PROJECTED NUMBER OF MINING HIRES IN NUNAVUT 2014 TO 2024

Source: Mining Industry Human Resources Council

factFILE


The Government of the Northwest Territories is assembling a new Mineral Resources Act. It's meeting some opposition from First Nations.

The proposed legislation – which would replace the existing Mining Regulations – would govern royalties and fees paid by exploration and mining companies; include rules for staking and main-taining mineral claims; and contain geoscience reporting requirements, accountability measures, ministerial author-ity and reclamation protocols.

Government representa-tives travelled to several com-munities in September to gather feedback on what it has called “the Territory’s first homegrown mineral legisla-tion.”

The NWT’s existing Min-ing Regulations were passed

down from the federal gov-ernment.

“Feedback collected will help inform the development of a Bill designed to make the NWT mining sector more competitive, while respect-ing the rights and traditions of Indigenous peoples and the need for sustainable land use,” states an August GNWT news release.

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus, based in Yellow-knife, cast doubt on the legit-imacy of the process because he said the Dene Nation never legally accepted the devolu-tion of governmental powers from Ottawa to the GNWT in April 2014.

"It was forced upon our communities," he said. "We're not entirely pleased that they want to develop a mining act that would govern Dene lands."

Erasmus added that he's opposed to the existing "free entry" system for mineral

resource companies. He cited a 2013 Yukon Court of Appeals ruling that forces the government to consult with First Nations before mineral claims are staked on Crown and traditional lands.

"What they've proven is that you may have a free entry system but it's subject to laws of consultation and accommo-dations of First Nations first," Erasmus said. "Anywhere in the Northwest Territories that you point your finger at on a map, it is Indigenous territory ... if (an exploration company) is inclined to put in a proposal and try and push it through and then go and see the First Nations later, those days are long gone. That kind of pro-posal will not work."

It's also time for a review of existing impact benefits agreements between First Nations and the diamond mines, Erasmus said. He acknowledged that the mines have provided an abundance

of jobs but pointed out that few Indigenous workers have risen to the managerial level.

"You'll find a lot of people in the lower end of the econ-omy," he said. "So what gains have we really made?"

The concept of the two weeks on shifts on site fol-lowed by two weeks off should also be scrutinized because that structure has been "quite devastating" for some mine employees, Eras-mus added.

For Chief Roy Fabian of the K'atl'odeeche First Nation near Hay River, safeguarding the environment is a para-mount concern.

"We just want to make sure that if there is anything happening, like any develop-ment and stuff like that, that treaty and Aboriginal rights are protected to make sure that the environment and the land is going to be protected," Fabian said. "Environment is a big issue, making sure a Giant Mine doesn't result again, or Cominco mine that's been abandoned."

He added he wants the government to be sure "that the mining company is going to clean up after they're fin-ished."

Tom Hoefer, executive dir-ector of the NWT and Nuna-vut Chamber of Mines, said it's critical that a new Mineral Resources Act improve the NWT's investment climate "so that the territory can attract more outside dollars to sustain and grow its minerals industry, and all of its benefits to the North and to Canada."

"You have to remember that governments don't have the knowledge and finan-cial horsepower to take on exploration and mining risk. They rely on industry as their 'prime contractor' and finan-cier to squeeze opportun-ity and benefits from rock – the training, jobs, business revenues and taxes govern-ment wants to create healthy communities and economy," Hoefer stated.

The GNWT can assist by maximizing access to lands available for exploration, introducing online staking to reduce and modernize costs for staking claims, assisting communities in participa-tion in exploration and min-ing and, due to high costs of operating in the North, ensure royalties imposed are not too onerous, Hoefer suggested.

He added that creating a "Mines Minister" would help reinforce the importance of exploration and mining to the NWT's economy.

The next step for the GNWT is to use public feed-back to help draft a bill that will go before the legislative assembly. Industry, Tour-ism and Investment Minister Wally Schumann has previ-ously stated that the proposed legislation likely won't arise in the legislative assembly until 2018.

MINING NWT/NUNAVUT

First Nations, industry representatives react to proposed Mineral Resources ActGNWT mines for feedback

photo courtesy of Rio Tinto Diamonds

A proposed NWT Mineral Resources Act would replace the existing Mining Regulations, which currently governs operations like Diavik diamond mine, seen here from the air.


NWT


Residents in the north Baf-fin can expect to see a lot more of Robert Tookoome in the coming months.

As the Inuit Impact Bene-fit Agreement employment and training co-ordinator with Baffinland Iron Mines, Tookoome has been modify-ing Baffinland's work readi-ness program with a goal of reintroducing it during the fourth quarter. The 12-week program is designed to help employees prepare for a rota-tional fly-in/fly-out lifestyle at the Mary River mine, and cope with being away from their families for two-week periods.

One of the supports Baffinland has in place is elders at the mine site – one elder available to each rota-tion.

"(They) provide cultural and spiritual support for Inuit workers and a bridge also between HR and supervisors," says Tookoome, who earned

an Indigenous studies degree from Trent University.

The work readiness pro-gram also deals with safety, improving self-esteem, con-veys mining culture and pro-duction, workplace communi-cation and conflict resolution.

While touring the com-munities, Tookoome will also let Nunavummiut know about Baffinland's new formal-ized apprenticeship program, which will be administered in partnership with Nunavut Arctic College. The mining company is hiring 26 appren-tice candidates as electricians, welders, heavy equipment technicians and mechanics, millwrights, carpenters and housing maintainers. By entering the program through Baffinland, candidates will be paid as trade assistants for six month, and will get expos-ure to the job prior to taking their trades entrance exam.

"We will provide them with as much support as we can to make sure that they pass it," Tookoome says.

To get the word out about

these initiatives and to help foster a greater understanding of mining, Tookoome's job entails a great deal of travel. While his home is currently in Ontario, he flies to Iqaluit at least once a month and also makes frequent trips to Pond Inlet, Iglulik, Arctic Bay, Hall Beach and Clyde River.

He fields plenty of ques-tions related to environmental concerns. Although he refers many of them to the com-pany's environmental and sus-tainable development depart-ment, he attempts to reassure people that Baffinland takes its environmental monitoring responsibilities seriously.

"We're just as much con-cerned about the environment as the people in the commun-ities," he said. "We want to make sure that this mine's a success in the long run."

Tookoome's previous careers also involved stimu-lating economic development and employment. He was a business development officer with Sakku Investment Cor-poration, an Inuit impact and

benefits agreement officer with Kivalliq Inuit Associa-tion, a business development officer with the Kakivak Association and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and a career

development officer in Baker Lake.

"Growing up I always wanted to help Inuit. That's always been my goal all my life," he said. "I thought one

of the ways I could help out Inuit was through economic development. Through that we can start working towards political autonomy and work on social issues as well."


Qikiqtani

Baffinland Iron Mines' employment and training co-ordinator advocates work

readiness and apprenticeships at Mary River

Promoting jobs and opportunities

photo courtesy of Baffinland Iron Mines

Robert Tookoome, Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement employment and training co-ordinator with Baffinland Iron Mines, does a great deal of travelling to the north Baffin communities, like Pond Inlet. He says he always encour-ages others to complete high school and go on to post-secondary education to improve their career options.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING


Nighthawk Gold's Colo-mac project has exploration industry executives talking: and there will be a whole lot more to talk about in 2018.

The company completed 26,000 metres of drilling this year, much of it at Colomac, 200 kilometres north of Yellowknife. The early results show that the high-grade zone goes deeper – to at least 300 metres, where it remains open – and the min-eralized sill at Zone 1.5 has almost tripled in size.

The number of potential options at Colomac is also broadening, according to Michael Byron, Nighthawk's president and CEO. Manage-ment is now contemplating the most efficient way to extract the resource, whether that means through a heap-leach chemical process or through underground mining.

“It's going to be a fun job for the mining engineers to (determine) because it's not a one-trick pony," he said.

Nighthawk will spend the next several months complet-ing a second round of metal-lurgical test work involving higher-grade material from Zone 1.5 and putting togeth-er a resource update. Close to 50,000 metres of drilling has been done since the last resource assessment, so there is a great deal of data to incorporate, Byron noted.

Colomac's current inferred

resource is 2.1 million ounces of gold.

Several experienced struc-tural geologists spent time at the Indin Lake property this summer to do some mapping, which will help identify more drill targets for next year at some of the regional areas of interest.

Byron, who has worked at Inco Gold and Falconbridge, was vice-president of Aurora Platinum and a founding manager of Lake Shore Gold, considers finding overlooked

assets one of his specialties. He sees Indin Lake as a

potential "gold camp in the making," which could pos-sibly support mining for gen-erations.

"They're not one-hit won-ders. That (Colomac) system, in order to be that robust in one spot, by definition has to be more expansive. That's what generates a gold camp," he said.

Although much smaller, the Indin Lake belt shares parallels with the extreme-

ly prolific Abitibi gold belt between Ontario and Que-bec in Bryon's opinion. He said both belts possess the same type of rock, same age of rock and mineralization, same diversity of deposits and the same high grade.

"The difference is that (Indin Lake) hasn't had 100 years of manpower and money dumped at it, so that's what we can begin to bring, and hopefully the market will have the patience to allow us to do our work."

In addition, the high-grade Damoti Lake deposit, about 20 km south of Colomac by winter road, could also come into play if a mill becomes operational at Colomac, said Byron.

"It's right next door," he said. "What deposits out there have a sweetener like that?"

Larger industry players Kinross, Osisko and McEwen Mining have taken notice, and they have invested in Nighthawk.

Nighthawk has engaged

Tlicho First Nations' com-panies for various projects, including winter road con-struction. Byron referred to the Tlicho's approach to busi-ness as "refreshing."

If Nighthawk is successful in getting the Colomac mine back into production, as it was in the 1990s under previ-ous ownership, it would mean even more opportunities for the Tlicho, Byron noted. "They'll benefit even more because a lot of their com-panies would be in the run-ning for contracts," he said.

The Tlicho played a key role in cleaning up the toxic chemicals left behind at Colomac in the late 1990s when former owner Royal Oak Mines went bankrupt and the mine became the responsibility of the Federal government. Byron admitted that purchasing the property in 2012 did bring some nega-tivity due to Royal Oak's leg-acy, but he urged people to look beyond that.

"I'm not asking to invest in the history of these indi-viduals or the history of that company (Royal Oak)," he said. "They don't factor in. It's the value of the asset ... the only defence is show them what you're doing."

Byron added that work-ing with the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board has been a pleasure because that body incorporates Indigenous rep-resentation.

"Which means everyone has agreed at the beginning," he said. "At least there's already a game plan where the territorial government and the First Nations are working side by side towards creating opportunity in the North."

Behchoko Chief Clifford Daniels couldn't be reached for comment.

MINING NWT/NUNAVUT


NWT

Exploration company focused on returning Colomac to active mine and exploiting surrounding property

Nighthawk updating its gold resource

photo courtesy of Nighthawk Gold Corp.

Nighthawk Gold Corp. drilled 26,000 metres this year and has almost tripled the size of its mineralized sill at Zone 1.5 at its Colomac property.


Specializing in steel fab-rication and welding, Paul Bros. NEXTreme's ability to create efficiencies led to a Praxair Productivity Award from the Canadian Welding Association earlier this year.

Paul Bros. NEXTreme has forged relationships with NWT mines, and between enhanced efficiencies and a strategic location, the com-pany's management sees more growth to come.

The Yellowknife-based venture provides critical welding and machining work as well as maintenance and modifications to the process-ing plant at the Gahcho Kué diamond mine, owned by De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds.

Myrna Pokiak, business manager with Paul Bros. NEXTreme, said Gahcho Kué represents a consider-able volume of her company's business.

"De Beers has experienced firsthand the benefits of our manufacturing facility's loca-tion in Yellowknife. This has allowed us to show how we can complement the demands on site to assist De Beers'

team to keep the production of the plant running," Pok-iak stated. "I believe that our business focus – to build cap-acity in the Northwest Ter-ritories and invest in the local economy – is a mirror image of one of De Beers' priorities.”

As a "tier one" long-term contractor, Paul Bros. NEXTreme's responsibilities at Gahcho Kué are so exten-sive that "in some way each one of our employees are intertwined with the work we do for De Beers," Pokiak said. Her company has 40 to 60 workers.

She added that Paul Bros. NEXTreme has also car-ried out custom projects for Diavik diamond mine and has held contracts to sup-ply materials and labour for project-based work at Ekati diamond mine.

Some of the custom modi-fications and manufacturing orders have forced Paul Bros. NEXTreme to "think outside of the box" logistically, espe-cially under tight timeframes, Pokiak noted, but she said her business excels under such circumstances.

A business assess-ment through the Business Development Bank of Canada and an investment in com-

puterized machines that allow Paul Bros. NEXTreme to compete with southern firms were among the steps taken to enhance productivity.

Allan Rodel, general manager at Gahcho Kué mine, stated the award was recognition of Paul Bros. NEXTreme's "exemplary,

safe and efficient perform-ance."

"Paul Bros. NEXTreme have become an integral part of the Gahcho Kué mobile maintenance team and we look forward to a long and safe association with this true Northern company," said Rodel.

The enterprise's origins date back to 1978 when Paul Bros. Welding was estab-lished. Eddie Paul added the NEXTreme steel fabrication side of the business several years ago. The company has grown further and diversified substantially since then, Pok-iak said. She added that she's

glad De Beers is now among the clients who appreciate the range of services they bring to the table.

"Our relationship with De Beers is rewarded when we get called back to do more work," Pokiak said. "The call back is a compliment for the efforts we put forward."


Somba K'e/Yellowknife

Paul Bros NEXTreme has carved out a niche at Northern diamond mines

Mining work welded into place

Eddie Paul photo

A bucket from a piece of heavy equipment at De Beers' Snap Lake Mine, which is no longer operational, is repaired at the Paul Bros. NEXTreme facility in Yellowknife after being trucked in via the winter road.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING


Mine: Ekati Diamond MineOwner: Dominion Diamond Corporation has agreed to sell its 88.9 per cent ownership as well as 72 per cent ownership in the surround-ing areas containing additional reserves and resources to The Washington Companies.Resource: DiamondsLocation: Approximately 300 kilometres north-east of YellowknifeUpdate: It’s been a year of major develop-ments at Ekati, including the mine’s ownership. Dominion Diamond Corporation agreed to a $1.2-billion takeover by the The Washington Companies in July. Dominion Diamond Corp. had controlling interest in Ekati and owned 40

per cent of the Diavik diamond mine. Then came news in September that Ekati’s mine life could be extended by seven years by mining diamonds beneath the Fox open pit, which means Ekati could remain in operation until 2042. "Clearly, The Washington Companies didn’t buy Ekati to see it close in the near term. From other mines they own, one can see some great success they’ve had at extending their lives,” said Tom Hoefer, executive director of the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines. “As a large mine, and the largest in the NWT, Ekati’s continued operation is critically important to the health of the NWT economy."

Dominion Diamond Corp. reported 2.6 million carats of diamonds were mined at Ekati dur-ing the second quarter of 2017, a 72 per cent increase from the 1.5 million carats extracted during the same period a year earlier. Construction on the US$94 million Misery Deep underground project, containing a probable 8.7 million carats, was approved in June. As of Jan. 31, the mine had produced a total of 67.8 million carats since its inception in Octo-ber, 1998. Its remaining probable reserves add up to 105.4 million carats in its Core and Buffer zones combined. Dominion Diamond Corp. reported cash resour-ces of $199.4 million as of July 31, 2017. It was reported in August that Patrick Evans, who stepped down as CEO of Mountain Prov-ince Diamonds earlier in the year after 11 years at the helm, would succeed Brendan Bell as CEO of Dominion Diamond Corp. and would remain in charge under The Washington Companies. Mine: Diavik Owner: Rio Tinto holds a 60 per cent interest and operates the mine. Dominion Diamond Corporation sold its 40 per cent interest to The Washington Companies. Resource: Diamonds Location: Approximately 300 kilometres north-east of Yellowknife Update: Two years were added to Diavik’s mine life in March, pushing back mine closure to 2025. The latest guidance from Dominion Diamond Corp., the mine’s minority owner prior to The Washington Companies purchasing that 40 per cent ownership, was for Diavik to produce 46 million carats between 2017 and 2025. This year’s haul is expected to be 7.6 million carats while next year, when the A-21 open pit goes into production, is projected to net up to 7.4 million carats. “The updated life of mine plan for Diavik

extends the mine life, increases carat produc-tion, and grows future revenues and cash flows, while maintaining operating costs and capital expenditures at levels that are consistent with earlier forecasts,” said Jim Gowans, chairman of Dominion Diamond Corp.’s board of direc-tors. With Diavik’s remaining mine life down to eight years, Dominion Diamond Corp. had been increasing its exploration efforts in the Lac de Gras region in search of the next source of economical diamonds.Mine: Gahcho KueOwner: Joint venture De Beers Canada (51 per cent) and Mountain Province Diamonds (49 per cent)Resource: DiamondsLocation: 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife Update: Gahcho Kué marked one year of operations in September, after achieving com-mercial production in March. The forecast for diamond recovery in 2017 has climbed 25 per cent to 5.5 million carats from the original pro-jection of 4.4 million carats. In the first half of 2017, nearly 2.5 million carats were recovered from Gahcho Kué.Mountain Province Diamonds sold 463,000 carats in September at a total price of US$27.1 million, which was 30 per cent better than the previous sale. However, the average price of its diamonds dropped to $59 per carat, due to fewer fancy diamonds and many smaller stones. Past sales had seen carat averages of $72 to $91. Mine: MeadowbankOwner: Agnico EagleResource: Gold Location: 70 km north of Baker Lake Commodity: Gold

photo courtesy of TMAC Resources

Baffinland wants to add another ore dock at the Mary River mine, 160 km south of Pond Inlet, to ship ore to the port via rail as part of its Phase 2 expan-sion. That would increase production to 12 million tonnes of ore per year, up from the existing 4.2 million tonnes, if regulatory agencies give the green light.

MINING NWT/NUNAVUT

Diamond mines add years; iron producer's plans shift to regulators' handsExpansion, extensions for mines



Update: Meadowbank, which began oper-ations in 2010, is expected to produce 320,000 ounces of gold in 2017. First half pro-duction weighed in at 180,659 ounces of gold and 136,000 ounces of silver. Next year, potentially the final year of mine life, is expected to bring 165,000 ounces of gold. However, Agnico Eagle is looking for ways to extend production into 2019, when its Melia-dine and Amaruq deposits are scheduled to begin yielding gold by the third quarter.Meliadine, which sprawls over 1,114 square kilometres, hosts 3.4 million ounces of proven and probable gold. Agnico Eagle has committed $360 million for construction at Meliadine this year, out of $900 million in estimated overall capital costs for the project. The property lies 25 km north of Rankin Inlet. At Amaruq, 50 km north of the Meadowbank mine, Agnico Eagle has allocated $78 million toward construction from what is expected to be a $330 million capital budget. This year’s work includes completion of an all-weather road. In addition, an ambitious $22.8 million, 75,000 metre drill campaign has been underway for several months. Early drill results turned up 8.6 grams of gold per tonne over 38.7 metres at the V zone. Amaruq, encompassing 1,167 square kilometres, contains 2.1 million ounces of indi-cated gold and 763,000 of inferred gold that can be accessed via open pit. Another 1.4 mil-lion ounces are inferred underground, amount-ing to a total mine life of seven years, although Agnico Eagle aims to extend that with its drilling. June brought another Inuit Impact and Bene-fit Agreement between Agnico Eagle and the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA), this one for the open pit Whale Tail gold deposit at Amaruq. The deal included a $6.5 million payment to the KIA, with $3 million of that devoted to a com-munity initiative fund. -Resource royalties and fees paid to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the KIA. Whale Tail will pay a

1.4 per cent net smelter return on production, as will the deal outline an investment of $3.6 million in yearly training programs, which will be boosted by another $1 million if 50 per cent Inuit employment isn’t realized and a project bidding process that will give NTI-registered, Inuit-owned companies preference points.Mine: Mary RiverOwner: Baffinland Iron Mines & ArcelorMittalLocation: 160 km south of Pond InletResource: IronUpdate: Baffinland’s proposal to expand pro-duction to 12 million tonnes of ore per year from the current limit of 4.2 million tonnes currently rests with the Nunavut Planning Com-mission. Other aspects of the Mary River Phase 2 expansion are a 100 km railway between the mine and a port at Milne Inlet. That would entail two trains and 72 ore cars that can transport 108 tonnes apiece. Baffinland is also seeking an additional ore dock with ship loading equip-ment with capacity to handle up to 250,000 tonnes. Baffinland is estimating the cost of the expansion to be up to $1 billion, if regulatory approvals are obtained. The company argues that the limitations of existing infrastructure resulted in only 2.7 million tonnes of ore being shipped in 2016.On Oct. 18, Baffinland announced that it had shipped 4.1 million tonnes of iron ore from Baf-fin Island to markets overseas between Aug. 2 and Oct. 17. The company proclaimed that the 56 panamax cargo vessels, carrying an average of 72,600 tonnes of iron ore apiece over 75 days of open-water season, marked the largest shipping program by volume ever executed in the Canadian High Arctic.In response to community concerns over the potential impact of increased shipping on mar-ine life, Baffinland has pledged to optimize its shipping during open water periods between July and mid-November, in addition to monitor-ing for impacts. In a separate development, Baffinland was

forced to pay almost $7.3 million in missed royalty payments to the Qikiqtani Inuit Asso-ciation after an arbitration panel found in the association’s favour in July. Advance payments will remain in place until Mary River reaches commercial production – 60 per cent of 18 million tonnes of iron ore annually – or to a maximum of $75 million in payments, adjusted for inflation. At the employment level, Baffinland has been struggling to retain Inuit workers. Forty-five per cent of Inuit employees resigned in 2016. To address this, the company is launching new programs intended to improve Inuit employee retention, including a 12-week work readiness course. Mine: Hope Bay Owner: TMAC ResourcesLocation: 125 km southwest of Cambridge BayResource: Gold Update: TMAC’s ramp up at its Doris North gold site at Hope Bay proved to be slower than anticipated. Consequently, the company revised its 2017 gold sales down to 50,000 to 60,000 ounces.

TMAC’s forecast at the beginning of the year was to produce between 130,000 to 140,000 ounces of gold at Doris North in 2017. The company reached commercial production in June 1, but was hampered by challenges with its processing plant and concentrate treatment plant. Improvements came in September when throughput at the processing plant eclipsed 900 tonnes per day, which is about 90 per cent of the equipment’s capacity. Gold recoveries at the concentrate treatment plant – averaging 67 per cent in June – were deemed “disappoint-ing” in a TMAC operational update. TMAC conducted summer drilling at its Boston deposit, for which it plans to release a resource update in 2018, and at Doris North. Further drilling is planned for Doris North in the fourth quarter.“TMAC believes the Doris BTD exploration areas have the potential to add significant high grade gold ounces to the Doris North mineral resour-ces with continued drilling and underground development,” CEO Catharine Farrow stated in a September operational update.

photo courtesy of TMAC Resources

TMAC has encountered some challenges in ramping up mining in its first year of production at Doris North on the Hope Bay property, 125 kilometres south-west of Cambridge Bay. The company is expecting to sell 50,000 to 60,000 ounces of gold this year.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING

Banking on gold




MINING NWT/NUNAVUT

De Beers (Gahcho Kué/Snap Lake)Total workforce 2016 (in person years): 628NWT workforce: 172 (27 per cent)NWT Indigenous workforce: 70 (11 per cent)Gender: Male employees 87 per cent; Female employees 13 per centEmployment by job category among Northerners (in person years): Semi-skilled: 92; Skilled: 39; Unskilled: 28; Management: 10; Professional: 4Employees' home communities: 19.6 per cent of De Beers' workforce lived in Yellowknife in 2016; 3.1 per cent lived in Hay River; all other NWT communities represented less than one per cent Number of employees who transferred from Snap Lake mine to Gahcho Kué: 107Rio Tinto/The Washington Companies (Diavik)Total workforce: 1,187 in 2016Northern employees: 296 (25 per cent)Northern Indigenous employees: 233 (20 per cent)Employment by job category among Northerners (in person years): Skilled 203.5; Semi-skilled 98.3; Professional 44.1; Management 14.3; Entry-level 13.2Indigenous workers in management: Direct employees 0; Contractors 0Gender: 1,038 male workers (87 per cent); 149 female workers (13 per cent)Apprentices: 31 employees in apprenticeship in 2016 – 21 Northerners and 11 of those Northerners are Indigenous

The Washington Companies (Ekati)Total workforce: 945 direct employees in 2016; 944 contractors Northern employees: 595 direct employees (63 per cent, slightly more than the 62 per cent target); 325 Northern contractors (34 per cent) and 160 Northern Indigen-ous contractors (17 per cent)Northern Indigenous employees: 340 (36 per cent)Gender: Male employees 791 (83.7 per cent); Female employees 154 (16.3 per cent)Employment by job category among Northerners (in person years): Semi-skilled 248; Skilled 223; Entry level 48; Professional 38; Management 37 Indigenous workers in management: Direct employees 4; Contractors 2Apprentices: 51 Northerners were in apprenticeships in 2016 – 29 as contractors and 22 as direct mine employees.

Baffinland (Mary River mine)Total workforce: 847 (includes office staff in Oakville, Ont.)Inuit employees: 94 employed directly (11 per cent) and another 134 through con-tractors, for a total of 228 Inuit employees (27 per cent), as of Sept. 1, 2017The minimum Inuit employment goal, according to Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement signed with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association: 25 per centInuit in management: Did not respondFemale employees: 8 per cent Training: Baffinland invested in 2,434 hours of training for Inuit employees in 2016. Of that, the predominant training programs were heavy equipment operator (681 hours), mine rescue team training (275 hours), mobile support equipment (254 hours) and ore haul truck (214 hours)Agnico Eagle (Meadowbank mine/Meliadine deposit)Total Northern workforce: 1,206 workers and contractors at Meadowbank in 2016; 466 workers and contractors at Meliadine in 2016Kivalliq employees: 36 per cent at Meadowbank mine and 32 per cent at Meliadine (goal is 50 per cent for Nunavut operations)Employment by job category: 160 Inuit employees in unskilled positions; 138 Inuit employees in semi-skilled positionsInuit in management: 0Gender: 606 permanent male employees at Meadowbank (84.4 per cent); 112 permanent female employees (15.6 per cent)Training: 38,194 training hours at Meadowbank; 18,174 training hours devoted to Inuit employees; 97 per cent of the 326 Inuit workers who enrolled in a training pro-gram graduatedTMAC Resources (Hope Bay)Total workforce: 171 direct employees and 241 contractors, as of Aug. 31, 2017Inuit employees: 23 direct employees (13.5 per cent) and 41 contractors (17 per cent)Inuit in management: 1Female employees: 25 direct employees (14.6 per cent) and 39 contractors (16 per cent)Women in management: 7

Northern mines workforce composition

Source: Mining Industry Human Resources Council



Mining companies are the largest private employer in the North.

TMAC Resources, a rela-tively new entity North of 60, has formulated strategies to attain a more representa-tive workforce. The company began mining at its Doris North gold deposit, 125 kilo-metres southwest of Cam-bridge Bay, in early 2016. With a total workforce of 412, including contractors as of Aug. 31, TMAC had assem-bled 64 Inuit staff (15.5 per cent) and 64 female employ-ees (also 15.5 per cent) at the Hope Bay property.

"The current status of Indigenous and female rep-resentation at Hope Bay should be viewed as a start-ing point," stated Ann Wilkin-son, TMAC's vice-president of investor relations. "We view the inclusion of Inuit and female employees to our workforce as a huge oppor-tunity."

Like all mining compan-ies in the North, TMAC has agreed to terms with Indigen-ous land owners to meet cer-tain objectives, in this case identified in an Inuit Impact and Benefits Agreement. Pro-viding training opportunities and building an Inuit work-force are among the goals.

TMAC's adopted meth-ods to attract and retain Inuit employees include:

–Conducting annual career information tours in the Kitik-meot communities.

–Partnering with the Nuna-vut Mine Training Center to sponsor short-term classroom/on the job training.

–Working with the Kitik-

meot Inuit Association's staff to reach interested applicants.

–Advertising positions on social media and local radio.

–Implementing career development plans and a var-iety of advancement oppor-tunities including job progres-sions, apprenticeships and promotions.

–Serving country food at Hope Bay, when there is rea-sonable availability; as well, TMAC provides a country food kitchen facility for site personnel to store, prepare and consume personally har-vested wildlife.

–Transporting Kitikmeot Inuit from their point of hire to Hope Bay.

–Providing employment support measures including an Employee and Family Assist-ance Plan for its employees and their families.

–Sponsoring competitions and achievement awards at junior high and high schools in fields relevant to, or relat-ed to, careers in the min-ing industry to encourage the completion of high school and advancement to post-second-ary education.

–Giving priority to vaca-tion requests made by Inuit employees who intend to undertake traditional pursuits during their leave.

Some of those same strat-egies apply to boosting the number of female staff, which is currently representative of the male-dominated industry, Wilkinson noted. However, she pointed out that TMAC has seven women in manage-ment positions, 33 per cent of the executive management team are female and two of the company’s nine directors are female, one of whom is Inuk.

"The executive and board representation is among the very few leaders in the min-ing industry and far above industry averages for compan-ies reported by the Ontario Securities Commission. (That) provides the leadership and confidence for women to join TMAC in all capacities," Wilkinson stated.

AGNICO EAGLE’S APPROACH

As work is underway to turn the Meliadine gold deposit into a mine, 25 kilo-metres north of Rankin Inlet, Agnico Eagle and the Kivalliq Inuit Association have agreed to aim for a 50 per cent Inuit workforce.

At Meadowbank, in pro-duction since 2010, Inuit represent 36 per cent of all workers.

Carol Lemieux, Agnico Eagle’s regional senior com-munications co-ordinator, listed the following strategies for attracting and retaining Inuit workers:

–Agnico has developed a new approach and has rolled out new initiatives with the focus on providing informa-tion, skills and education to job applicants to ensure that they are better informed about what working life is like at a remote mine site and to be better prepared to adapt, cope and be successful with employment.

–Community-based infor-mation sessions and a work readiness program.

–E-learning for mandatory training.

–Site readiness training week at Meadowbank.

–On-call contract program. Agnico Eagle offers a

number of education, train-

ing and skills development initiatives – on its own and in conjunction with Employ-ment and Social Development Canada – to encourage Inuit to improve their skills and employability including pro-grams to:

–increase general educa-tional and skills attainment among Kivalliq residents.

–facilitate entry into Meadowbank and Melaidine employment.

–training, career develop-ment and upward mobility programs for existing employ-ees.

–Agnico works with the Government of Nunavut's Department of Education to enhance the education cur-

riculum to help better prepare students for skilled trades and professional careers. Key among these is the Kivalliq Mine Training Society, which is an Inuit, private-sector part-nership created to strengthen the Kivalliq region labour force through creating and funding training opportunities in the seven Kivalliq hamlets.


NWT/Nunavut

photo courtesy of John Main

Members of the Kivalliq Chamber of Commerce watch a shop presentation as part of their tour of Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank gold mine on the land near Baker Lake in June of 2016.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING

Mining company shares strategies for improving target demographics

Drilling down on workforces


The proposed $500-million Grays Bay port and road in the central Arctic has been pitched in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and, more recently, Edmonton.

The Kitikmeot Inuit Association and its Nunavut Resources Corporation sent a delegation at the Opportun-ities North economic develop-ment forum in Edmonton, Sept. 12-14, to promote project benefits. The Grays Bay Port and Road would establish the only deep-water port in the central Arctic and create a 230-km all-season road to the former Jericho diamond mine, which is connected to Yellow-knife by a winter road.

Both the Chamber of Com-merce and the City agreed to write letters of support, said Scott Northey, chief operating officer of Nunavut Resources Corporation.

"The response was over-whelmingly favourable," Northey said. "A lot of people said this is transformative to the region. They could see tremendous opportunities for the City of Edmonton and tremendous opportunities in terms of improving access to the interior (of the territories)


Nunavut

Raising the profile of Grays Bay Port and Road

Paul Emingak photo

A 3D model of the Grays Bay Port and Road project is put on display at the Ekaluktutiak Cambridge Bay Hunters and Trappers office earlier this year. Support for the $500-million project was sought at the Opportunities North economic development conference in Edmonton in September. The project has also been showcased at trade shows in Toronto and Vancouver.

'Nation-building' port and road project promoted in Ottawa, Edmonton

MINING NWT/NUNAVUT



for mineral exploration, mine development and access to the Coronation Gulf to improve community resupply."

Some expediting firm rep-resentatives declared that "the value proposition here is mas-sive," said Northey.

Potential benefits extend beyond Nunavut and into the NWT. A growing number of observers are convinced that shipping supplies to NWT mines would be cheaper by barge and driving south from Grays Bay as opposed to the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road from the south, Northey noted. In addition, Grays Bay provides the diamond mines with a backup option when the winter road season is shortened due to mild weather, he added, at least until – or if – the Tib-bitt to Contwoyto is converted to an all-weather road.

The Government of Nuna-vut recently committed $2 million to advance the con-cept of a Grays Bay road and port through an environment-al screening by the Nunavut Impact Review Board. The regulatory board will examine the proposed deep-water port on the Coronation Gulf and the accompanying all-season road. The review board will then send a recommendation to the federal minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada on whether further screening is advised.

"We are beginning to shape the potential development of Nunavut's economic future with nation-building infra-structure" said Monica Ell-Kanayuk, Nunavut's minister of economic development and transportation, upon freeing up the $2 million in funding.

The Government of Nuna-vut and Inuit proponents are responsible for raising 25 per cent of costs for the road and port. The remaining $375 mil-

lion would consume almost all of what the Government of Canada has earmarked for Northern projects through the National Trade Corridors Fund.

However, a major funding commitment from the federal government could spur indus-try to put forth a share of the cost, Northey said. For example, Chinese-owned MMG Resources needs the road and port infrastructure in place to make its massive Izok Corridor lead, zinc and copper deposits economically feasible, he noted.

"They recognize that they're going to have to pay for their use in some capacity," Northey said.

Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson also describes Grays Bay as a "nation-building pro-ject."

"This is an Inuit-led pro-ject in partnership with the Government of Nunavut. The KIA has secured the support of all the communities in the Kitikmeot, so I am confident that this is a project that the communities want and need. All this augurs well for the project as it heads to the NIRB for review," stated Patterson, who wrote a letter to Transport Canada Minister Marc Gar-neau in January to lobby for the project.

Nunavut presently lacks any major road infrastructure and has very little marine infrastructure despite having Canada's longest coastline, Patterson noted. The lack of roads and ports contributes to mining costs that are three times higher in the North com-pared to the south, the senator pointed out.

He added that Grays Bay would also provide a "western transportation hub for ship-ping" and thereby reinforce Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic, which is one of the fed-eral government's objectives.

NWT/NUNAVUT MINING

image courtesy of Nunavut Resources Corporation

The Grays Bay Port and Road would establish the only deep-water port in the central Arctic and create a 230-km all-season road to the former Jericho diamond mine.

TO NUNAVUT:• Generates significant amounts of employment for North-

ern residents in a region that currently suffers very high levels of unemployment

• Connects to the rest of Canada and the world• Improves food security and reduces the cost of living in

western Nunavut communities• Provides Nunavut communities with seasonal access to

goods and services from the NWT and beyond via a new overland route

BENEFITS TO CANADA:• A GDP boost of $7.6 billion over a 15-year period just with

the development of MMG Canada's Izok Corridor Project in concert with the Grays Bay road and port infrastructure (Nunavut's GDP will increase $5.1 billion)

• The strengthening of Northern sovereignty, safety and security

• The provision of cost effective and climate change resili-ent transportation options for diamond mines in the NWT, potentially extending the operating lives of these econom-ically important projects

GRAYS BAY BENEFITS

Source: Office of Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson

factFILE


GAHCHO KUE TURNS ONEGahcho Kue dia-mond mine, a joint venture between DeBeers Canada and Mountain Province Diamonds and one of the larg-est new diamond mines in the world, celebrated its first official birthday this fall, after opening in September 2016. Jessica Davey-Quantick/NNSL photo


Increasing the rate of Nunavummiut employment at Agnico Eagle's Northern operations is a driving rea-son behind a memorandum of understanding between the mining company and the Government of Nunavut, according to a senior GN offi-cial.

"We're quite concerned about the amount of leak-age that goes on in this ter-ritory – money that's paid to people that work up here and they actually live down south," said Bernie MacIsaac, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Economic Development and Transporta-tion. "We felt that we had to have a stronger relationship with (Agnico Eagle) so that they understood what our pri-orities were."

There were previously numerous "one-off agree-ments" between Agnico Eagle and various GN departments, but an overarching accord was lacking up until the MOU was formally signed on Sept.

20, MacIsaac explained.He pointed to Nunavut’s

high unemployment rate, which is 15 per cent and tow-ers above the Canadian aver-age of 6.2 per cent. Accord-ing to the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics, there are 2,500 unemployed Nunavummiut in a workforce of 16,100.

The mining projects in the territory combined with the number of vacant positions within the GN could put all those people to work, he sug-gested.

"It's not going to happen overnight but there's no rea-son why we can't have that as our aspiration and say, 'OK, that's our goal.' There's enough jobs in this territory for everybody," he said.

When Nunavummiut get hired by the government or a mining company, there are a multitude of training oppor-tunities that exist, said Mac-Isaac.

"But it's helping people get to that first rung of the lad-der. It's not necessarily cov-ered by IIBAs (Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreements)," he said. "IIBAs kind of set out

various targets for employ-ment, business opportunities, training, but it all presupposes that you're working. How do we help people get to that first rung?"

More can be done to remove barriers to employ-ment such as assisting with pre-employment and life skills, helping people prepare to write pre-apprenticeship exams and be ready for life

away from home, as well as improving literacy rates and daycare availability, Mac-Isaac said. Those hurdles exist across the entire territory and assisting individuals in over-coming them would also help them become eligible to get into more government pos-itions, MacIsaac noted.

The MOU signing came eight days after land claims organization Nunavut Tunnga-

vik Inc. released a report and held a press conference to highlight an estimated $1.3 billion in lost wages to the territory's Inuit between 2017 and 2023 due to a failure to meet the 85 per cent target of Inuit employment within gov-ernment. The GN's Inuit staff has hovered at close to 50 per cent for several years while the federal government's rate is even lower.

OTHER MINES INVITED TO SIGN

Agnico Eagle did not make anyone available to comment on the MOU sign-ing.

Asked whether the GN will also sign MOUs with Baffinland and TMAC, Mac-Isaac said "we're in discus-sions with them."

"We'd like to develop those relationships," he said.

The MOUs could also uncover areas where the GN can aid the mines, MacIsaac noted. For example, the gov-ernment may be able to offer certain services, such as health-related testing to "take some of the pressure off" the mining firms, he said.

"If you talk to a lot of these companies they feel that they're kind of doing it all, from A to Z when it comes to hiring people," said MacIsaac. "Is there a role for government in there to help us achieve the goals we might have?"

The MOU with Agnico Eagle is not legally binding, which was agreeable to both parties as they negotiated it "in good faith," according to MacIsaac.

"There's a good relation-ship between ourselves and the company right now," he said. "This just kind of brings it all together and puts it on paper on a number of differ-ent levels, all the way from the top right down to the bottom."

The agreement defines how the committees and sub-committees will be formed but doesn't set any specific timelines for meetings. Mac-Isaac said no dates had been set for an initial meeting since late September.


Iqaluit

Territorial government agreement with Agnico Eagle aims to maximize jobs and benefits

photo courtesy of the Department of Economic Development and Transportation

Monica Ell-Kanayuk, then Nunavut minister of Economic Development and Transportation, and Ammar Al-Joundi, president of Agnico Eagle, sign a memorandum of understanding on Sept. 20, prior to the Oct. 30 territorial election. The agreement's objective is to strengthen the relationship between the mining com-pany and the Government of Nunavut in 10 areas, including economic development, training and climate change.

MINING NWT/NUNAVUT

Nunavut seeks to halt 'leakage'

• Education• Training• Economic Development• Infrastructure• Wildlife

• Climate Change• Public Safety• Health • Housing • Heritage Resources

PRIORITY AREAS IDENTIFIED IN THE MOU:

Source: Government of Nunavut

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Documents

MINING - NNSL Media nwt nunavut 2017.pdfThe owners of the NWT's long-running diamond mines have cleared the way to keep producing gems for additional years – Ekati tacking on seven