Darrell Carey of Slinky mine in Dawson City, Yukon, has applied for a 10-year permit to mine 31 new claims on the eastern side of Dome road. If the placer operation passes the environmental assessment process, it would receive approval to mine gold in the area.
The application is awaiting a decision by the yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB).
Rio Tinto has unveiled one of the largest diamonds ever discovered in Canada.
The 187.7-carat gem-quality rough diamond, called, The Diavik Foxfire, was discovered at the Diavik Diamond mine in the remote Northwest Territories, 220 km south of the Arctic Circle. The Diavik Foxfire has also been bestowed an indigenous name, Noi?eh Kwe, which references the strong ties to the Tlicho land.
Kaminak Gold has plans to build an open-pit gold mine at a property 130 kilometres south of Dawson City, Yukon. They just need to complete another 25 kilometres of road access and have received support from the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation.
The planned access route runs approximately 190 kilometres from Dawson City to the Coffee Gold mine site. About 160 kilometres of public road already exists. The route includes two river crossings at the Stewart and Yukon, where barges will transport trucks in summer. About four trucks a day will be needed to bring in supplies.
The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation says the direct route from Dawson City will maximize economic opportunities for its citizens.
Gold bars will be produced on site and then flown out. It is estimated that the $300-million construction costs will be recouped within two years of start-up.
Dominion Diamond Corporation’s Ekati Underground Competition team was the overall winner of the underground events at the 12th Biennial National Western Regional Mine Rescue Competition in Fernie, British Columbia. The team made history when they took the overall underground prize for the first time, dominating in all events and coming in first place in four out of the seven competition events.
The Emergency Response Team (ERT) at the Ekati mine is a dedicated team of employees who protect their workforce during emergencies. They volunteer and devote an extensive amount of time to the team, expanding their skills and knowledge to handle real-life crisis management situations if called upon.
Mine development in western Nunavut has mostly come to a halt. Projects that have scaled back or stopped, include:
TMAC Resource’s Hope Bay project, however, continues to develop and will include payments to the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA) of one per cent of the value of all gold produced if the mine goes into production. The KIA will also receive $1 million a year to offset land management, environment permitting and the implementation of the Inuit Impact and Benefits Agreement.
The Iron Ore Co. of Canada’s (IOC) Wabush 3 Open Pit Mine Project in Labrador has cleared the province’s environmental assessment process and been given a green light for development.
The project is estimated to generate over 2,400 person months of employment during the construction phase and will involve a variety of jobs of different durations, made up of a mix of contractors, sub-contractors and existing IOC personnel. It will contain 744 million tonnes of iron ore, an overburden storage area, a waste rock disposal pile, haulage roads, a pole line, a groundwater extraction system and a mine water collection, treatment and disposal system.
The project is expected to help provide security, sustainability and job opportunities for the residents of Labrador West.
The Government of Greenland, Qeqqata Kommunia and Hudson Greenland have signed of an exclusive Exploitation Licence and Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) for the Qaqortorsuaq/White Mountain (Naajat) Anorthosite project.
The Exploitation Licence gives Hudson Greenland an exclusive licence to exploit anorthosite in the Naajat area, situated in Qaqortorsuaq between Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq. The area covers 96 square kilometres.
Locals will constitute 50 per cent of the mine workforce in the construction phase. A number of internship and apprenticeship positions will be implemented in the project, including training and education programs for new employees.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. continues work on a number of projects.
The Kivalliq Inuit Association and Agnico Eagle have completed and signed an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement for the Meliadine gold project.
The Nunavut Impact Review Board has approved Agnico Eagle’s latest environmental impact submission to expand its Meadowbank gold mine operations, and have launched a public review of the project.
And, about 50 kilometres northwest of the Meadowbank mine near Baker Lake, in a recent update to their Amaruq exploration project, the company has also announced they have found a promising vein of gold near an existing deposit called Whale Tale. The gold is about 300 metres underground.
Glencore, the corporation that operates the Raglan nickel mine in Nunavik, is preparing an environmental and social impact assessment to the Kativik Environmental Quality commission for viable nickel deposits on the eastern half of the Raglan property.
Glencore hopes to dig four new underground mines, which could extend the mine’s life until 2039 and result in total annual production of 1.32 million metric tonnes.
The new development would require an expansion of the existing tailings site, construction of new access roads, and an electric supply connected to the new sites.
