Complications from Covid-19 put a damper on some companies’ exploration plans over the past 18 months, but others have pushed on despite having to incorporate new safety protocols. Below is a round up of projects that could one day lead to the next mine in the NWT or Nunavut.
NWT
Project: Yellowknife City Gold
Owner: Gold Terra
Resource: Gold
Location: 10 km northeast of Yellowknife
Status: Gold Terra reported 5.07 grams of gold per tonne over 8.35 metres, including 11.87 g/t of gold over 3.08 metres at the Campbell Shear, south of Con Mine, during the company’s 10,000-metre phase two drilling program. “Our drilling results continue to confirm and extend the potential of the Yellorex zone to add to our current resource of 1.2 million inferred ounces,” president and CEO David Suda stated in mid-October.
Project: Pine Point
Owner: Osisko Metals
Resource: Lead, zinc
Location: 42 km east of Hay River
Status: Osiskso announced in October its intentions to release an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) during the first quarter of 2022. That document will reveal cost reductions based on dewatering volume estimates and a new 3D hydrogeological model. The 2020 PEA indicated a cost of $550 million to get the mine into production, which would result in more than 327 million pounds of zinc per year – a total of 39.1 million tonnes of mined resource – making Pine Point the eighth largest zinc producer globally. The mine life is projected at 10 years, but could be extended by continued drilling.
Project: Kennady North
Owner: Mountain Province Diamonds/Kennady Diamonds
Resource: Diamonds
Location: 280 km northeast of Yellowknife
Status: Hundreds of till samples from the eastern and western claims were collected during summer 2021. Those samples were to be shipped to a lab in Saskatoon for testing to detect kimberlite indicator minerals. The results are expected in early 2022, prior to the winter exploration season getting underway. Mountain Province holds a 100-per-cent interest in Kennady North, which covers more than 1,000 square km around the Gacho Kue Mine. The Kelvin kimberlite contains an indicated 13.6 million carats while the Faraday 2 kimberlite contains an estimated 5.45 million carats.
Project: NICO
Owner: Fortune Minerals
Resource: Gold, bismuth, cobalt, copper
Location: 50 km northeast of Whati
Status: Fortune Minerals announced a 3,000-metre drill program to begin at the NICO deposit in late September. In early November, company president Robin Goad extended congratulations to the Tlicho people on the pending opening of the Tlicho All-Season Highway to Whati, which is expected to be accessible to the public on Nov. 30. Fortune Minerals has approvals to build a 50-km spur road from Whati to the NICO mine site.
Project: Indin Lake Gold
Owner: Nighthawk Gold Corp.
Resource: Gold
Location: 200 km north of Yellowknife
Status: Nighthawk completed an ambitious 72,325-metre drill program over 272 drill holes in mid-October. Some of the drilling is intended to expand known mineralized zones while other targets were in greenfield areas of the 930-square-km property within the Indin Lake Greenstone Belt. Indin Lake contains an inferred 2.25 million ounces of indicated gold and 0.79 million ounces of inferred gold.
Project: Prairie Creek
Owner: NorZinc
Resource: Zinc, lead, silver
Location: 90 km northwest of Nahanni Butte
Status: NorZinc’s mid-October preliminary economic assessment for the Prairie Creek project is based on a mine life of 20.3 years at 2,400 tonnes of ore per day. With $368 million required to get the mine started, it’s estimated that 261 million pounds of payable zinc equivalent production – including 2.6 million ounces of silver – is achievable annually, which would provide payback after 4.8 years. Over the life of the mine, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are estimated at $2.5 billion cumulatively. The Prairie Creek mine is home to 9.8 million tonnes of measured and indicated resource at 22.7 per cent zinc equivalent. There’s potential for 6.4 million tonnes of inferred resources at 24.1 per cent zinc equivalent.
Project: Diagras
Owner: Arctic Star Exploration/Margaret Lake Diamonds
Resource: Diamonds
Location: 22 km northeast of Diavik diamond mine
Status: Arctic Star’s $2.1 million spring drilling program found five new kimberlites: Birch, Sequoia, Alder, Cedar and Black Spruce. Sequoia has the largest diamond count and the results “hint at a coarser diamond size distribution, as does the diamond indicator chemistry,” Arctic Star stated in late September. The company hired geophysical crews to fly close to 6,000 line kilometres by helicopter for surveying to identify more exploration targets for undiscovered kimberlites. Arctic Star also expanded its claims this year, broadening Diagras to 483 square km.
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Project: Loki
Owner: North Arrow Minerals
Resource: Diamonds
Location: 30 km southwest of Ekati
Status: North Arrow reported in June that six holes of exploration drilling at the 21,300-acre Loki Project failed to turn up kimberlite.
“The prominent kimberlite indicator mineral train that terminates in the Loki area remains unexplained. Overburden samples collected during the program will be processed for indicator minerals to help with ongoing interpretation,” the company stated.
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Project: LDG
Owner: North Arrow Minerals/Dominion Diamond Mines
Resource: Diamonds
Location: Lac de Gras region
Status: North Arrow and then-senior joint venture partner Dominion Diamond Mines conducted $3.5-million worth of exploration at LDG in 2020 that included a geophysical survey program. The 1,472-square-km claim is located south of the Diavik diamond mine. No further announcements followed as the financially-troubled Dominion Diamond Mines sold its assets in early 2021.
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Project: Sparta
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 84 km northeast of Yellowknife
Status: The Sparta property features multiple gold-rich quartz veins and it attracted the interest of Treminco Resources in the 1980s and drilling as long ago as the 1940s.
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Project: Mon
Owner: Sixty North Gold
Resource: Gold
Location: 40 km north of Yellowknife
Status: Project manager New Discovery Mines Ltd. revealed in February that a winter road to the site was being established. The property boasts two parallel dominant gold trends stretching over three kilometres. A camp exists at Mon and drill permits are approved.
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Project: Clan Lake
Owner: Dave Webb, Coulter Hess
Resource: Gold, platinum, palladium
Location: North of Yellowknife
Status: Prospectors Dave Webb and Coulter Hess did some grab sampling and collected biogeochemical samples in August 2020. The best gold value returned was 2.9 grams of gold per
tonne.
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Project: Stratus
Owner: Brayden St. Pierre
Resource: Gold
Location: Near Point Lake
Status: St. Pierre carried out prospecting, mapping and sampling in August 2020, bringing back 22 grab samples. The best result measured 0.82 grams of gold per tonne from rock along the Fubar Fault.
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Project: Seahorse
Owner: Talmora Diamond Inc.
Resource: Diamonds
Location: About halfway between Colville Lake and Paulatuk
Status: Covid-19 restrictions prevented Olivut Resources from getting into the field in 2020 and 2021. The company previously stated that it considers the property to “have the potential to host diamondiferous kimberlite bodies of significant size.”
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Project: HOAM
Owner: Olivut Resources
Resource: Diamonds
Location: 15 km north of Fort Simpson, stretching to 20 km from Deline
Status: Olivut Resources has “numerous” targets ready to drill and would like to proceed with helicopter-supported geophysical mapping to identify more targets and prioritize its drill list, but that’s subject to the raising of funds.
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Project: Astro
Owner: Orogen Royalties
Resource: Gold
Location: Along the Canol Road, near the Yukon border
Status: Orogen Royalties says the 288 square-km property contains “outcropping gold mineralization in a 10-kilometre-long structural corridor.” Two field seasons of exploration have been conducted in partnership with Newmont.
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Project: Fox Lake
Owner: BNT Gold Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 275 km northeast of Yellowknife
Status: Mapping, prospecting, soil sampling, glacial till sampling, and geophysical surveys have been done on the 47,400-acre property.
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Project: Courageous Lake
Owner: Seabridge Gold
Resource: Gold
Location: 240 km northeast of Yellowknife
Status: Seabridge hasn’t provided any updates since 2018 when it identified two new gold zones as a result of a winter drilling program. A prefeasibility study in 2012 indicated that the nearby FAT deposit is home to 6.46 million ounces of proven and probable gold, which could be produced at an average of 385,000 ounces per year over 16 years.
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Project: Little Nahanni
Owner: Lake Winn Resources
Resource: Lithium
Location: 39 km northwest of Cantung mine; near the Yukon border
Status: Samples have returned up to 3.77 per cent lithium on the 13,300-acre Little Nahanni property. Equitorial Exploration, which later became Lake Winn Resources, released news of 1.47 per cent lithium over 9.66 metres in November 2018.
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Project: Up Town Gold
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: West side of Giant Mine, six kilometres from downtown Yellowknife
Status: Spanning nearly 8,000 acres, Up Town Gold hosts 10 high-grade gold occurrences.
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Projects: Bishop, Zeus, Rhombus, ZIP
Owner: GGL Resources
Resouce: Diamonds
Location: Lac de Gras diamond district
Status: GGL’s holdings are located in the Lac de Gras area, a district that is home to the Ekati and Diavik mines. GGL has concentrated on its Nevada interests over the past year.
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Project: Hidden Lake
Owner: Far Resources and Gaia Metals Corp
Resource: Lithium
Location: 40 km northeast of Yellowknife
Status: Results from a 2018 drill campaign included 1.6 per cent lithium oxide over 9.2 metres. The exploration comprised 1,079 metres of drilling at 10 holes, producing 197 core samples from the 4,568-acre property.
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Projects: AYE 1 and Handle 1
Owner: Dave Nickerson
Resource: Gold
Location: Near the Ingraham Trail turnoff, close to Yellowknife
Status: Prospector Dave Nickerson carried out grid sampling during summer 2018. He previously reported 59.7 grams of gold per tonne from the Fox vein at his 100-per-cent-owned Aye claim based on 2017 trench work and 36.9 grams of gold per tonne at the No. 9 vein on his wholly-owned Handle 1 property based on a 2017 mini-bulk sample.
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Project: Hangstone
Owner: Wayne Kendrick
Resource: Gold
Location: 47 km north of Yellowknife
Status: Grab samples have returned 26.5 and 23.5 grams of gold per tonne at Hangstone.
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Project: Itchen
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 348 km northeast of Yellowknife
Status: This property is 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 highlighted in the years since.
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Project: Terra
Owner: 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 reported since then.
NUNAVUT
Project: Chidliak
Owner: De Beers
Resource: Diamonds
Location: 120 km northeast of Iqaluit
Status: The project has an inferred resource of more than 22 million carats from two kimberlites, but there are 41 kimberlites that have tested positive for the presence of diamonds. De Beers conducted a modest summer program at the site in 2021, maintaining the camp and data collection from sensors in the field.
Project: Back River
Owner: Sabina Gold and Silver
Resource: Gold
Location: 364 km southwest of Cambridge Bay
Status: Sabina is plowing ahead with pre-construction activities for the proposed Goose Mine, with work proceeding on the port facility and camp. Winter ice road construction and an exploration ramp at Umwelt are also on the agenda.
“For the first time at Back River, site operations will continue year-round,” Bruce McLeod, Sabina’s president and CEO, said in early November.
Sabina announced on Oct. 1 that it had raised $13.5 million through the markets. The money is needed for exploration expenses, according to the company. The company’s overall Back River mineral estimate is 6.32 million ounces of measured and indicated gold as well as 2.86 million ounces of inferred gold.
An updated feasibility study released in March estimated $2 billion in post-tax net cash flow on gross revenues of $7 billion over the 15-year life of the mine.
Project: Hood River, Ulu Gold
Owner: Blue Star Gold Corp.
Resource: Gold
Location: 125 km west of Bathurst Inlet
Status: Blue Star’s 5,000-metre summer drill campaign over 25 holes produced 11.06 grams of gold per tonne over 2.18 m from a hole in the Gnu zone that previously turned up 52.7 g/t of gold over two metres. Another target returned 5.53 g/t of gold over 1.54 metres. Results from another 18 holes were still pending as of Oct. 28.
“Continued strong results from the Gnu zone area drilling, located only 750 metres from the Flood zone deposit, and the new realization that multiple near-surface high grade gold zones may exist in this region is very encouraging,” CEO Grant Ewing stated. “Our technical team will continue to evaluate the results of the program as they become available over the coming weeks and update the geology models which will lead to prioritization of untested target zones in preparation for the next drill program.”
The 9.5-square-km Ulu property lies 50 km north of the Arctic Circle in the Kitikmeot region. Based on past work, the Ulu boasts 605,000 ounces of measured and indicated gold and 226,000 ounces of inferred gold.
Project: Sundog Gold
Owner: New Break Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 235 km west of Arviat
Status: New Break is a new player in the Kivalliq region, reaching agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) in October to explore 94 square km of Inuit-owned lands. The project is known as Sundog. The Kivalliq Inuit Association will manage surface rights while NTI will administer mineral rights. Terms of the deal stipulate that if New Break formally files a discovery of one million estimated ounces of gold, then NTI will get a $1 million bonus payment, or $5 million for five million ounces. A Sundog feasibility study would be worth $3 million to NTI, while commercial production would result in a payment of $5 million to Nunavut Tunngavik.
“We look forward to a productive working relationship, built on respect and our sincere desire to see the Sundog Project benefit the Inuit and New Break shareholders alike,” said Michael Farrant, president and CEO of New Break.
New Break other Kivalliq exploration properties consist of Sy, Noomut/Esker and Angikuni Lake, which cover 220 square km in total.
Project: Naujaat
Owner: North Arrow Minerals
Resource: Diamonds
Location: Nine km northeast of Naujaat
Status: Processing of a 2,000-tonne bulk sample from the Naujaat Diamond Project was started in late October. Partner Burgundy Diamond Mines funded the $5.6-million initiative for the rights to earn a 40 per cent interest in the Naujaat Diamond Project. The purpose of this sample is to confirm that a unique population of fancy yellow to orange yellow diamonds extend into coarser diamond sizes. “The quality of these diamonds will also be very important as we believe these fancy coloured diamonds will be a key value driver for potential future development of the Q1-4 deposit,” said Ken Armstrong, president and CEO of North Arrow.
Project: Meadowbank
Owner: Western Atlas Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: Adjacent to Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank mine
Status: Although the Meadowbank property garnered interest for its gold potential, Western Atlas Resources announced in April that it found nickel and polymetallic mineralization near the surface. One hole intersected 0.14 per cent nickel, 0.01 per cent cobalt, 0.28 per cent chromium, 9.11 per cent iron and 0.8 per cent sulfur over 95 metres from a depth of 18.73 metres. In September, the company served notice that it had amended its permits to allow it to drill up to 20,000 metres per year and enlarge the camp to a maximum of 40 people. Meadowbank covers 580 square km.
Project: Committee Bay
Owner: Fury Gold Mines
Resource: Gold
Location: 130 km southwest of Kugaaruk
Status: Fury Gold announced in September that a five-hole, 2,587 metre drill program was complete. The focus was on an eight kilometre shear zone where the Raven prospect is located. In the past, Raven has yielded 31.1 grams of gold per tonne over 2.8 metres and 9.49 g/t gold over 7.57 metres. Results from this summer’s drill program had not been released publicly as of the first week of November. The overall property encompasses 270 square km along the Committee Bay Greenstone Belt.
Project: Mel
Owner: North Arrow Minerals
Resource: Diamonds
Location: 140 km south of Hall Beach
Status: The last update regarding the Mel property came in February when North Arrow announced a data-sharing agreement with StrategX Elements Corp, which acquired the non-diamond mineral rights in the area. However, North Arrow retains a per cent royalty on non-diamond production. The Mel property encompasses 560 square kilometres.
Project: CSI
Owner: North Arrow Minerals
Resource: Diamonds
Location: West of the Jericho and Muskox kimberlites
Status: CSI is a newly-staked project where North Arrow undertook a modest till sampling program in June. The property covers an area that “could potentially host a bedrock source for regionally anomalous kimberlite indicator mineral samples reported by earlier workers,” according to North Arrow.
Project: Seal/Storm
Owner: Aston Bay Holdings
Resource: Copper, zinc, silver
Location: 120 km south of Resolute Bay
Status: Aston Bay Holdings’ partner American West Metals Limited spent three weeks performing a ground electromagnetic geophysical survey at the Storm copper project on Somerset Island over the summer. The work was intended to find extensions of the known mineralization along strike and at depth. A drilling campaign is anticipated in 2022. Storm encompasses a staggering 3000-sq-km area, including the Seal zinc and silver project.
Project: South Kitikmeot Gold
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 276 to 432 km south of Kugluktuk
Status: Silver Range revealed in August that it optioned the South Kitikmeot Gold Project to Australian company Viridis Mining. The property covers “known gold occurrences along a 200 km long package of metasedimentary rocks which host the Lupin Mine (3.4 million ounces gold production to date) and the Back River Project (5.3 million ounces gold measured and indicated resources) currently being advanced to production by Sabina Gold and Silver Ltd.,” Silver Range stated.
Project: Greyhound
Owner: Gold 79 Resources/Agnico Eagle
Resource: Gold/silver
Location: 40 km northeast of Baker Lake
Status: Agnico Eagle is the operating partner at the 13.6-square-km Greyhound property, which lies 32 km south of Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank gold mine. Gold 79 Resources, formerly known as Aura Resources, holds a 37 per cent interest. Agnico Eagle was expected to undertake an 1,100-metre, eight hole drill program in May, but no results were announced as of early November.
Project: Yava
Owner: Blue Moon Metals
Resource: Zinc, lead, copper, silver, gold
Location: 450 km northeast of Yellowknife
Status: The 14,216-acre Yava project lies 32 km from Glencore’s Hackett River deposit. Historical resource estimates at Yava indicate 1.3 million tons of resource containing 4.96 per cent zinc, 1.03 per cent copper, 1.60 percent lead, 3.42 ounces per ton of silver, and 0.008 ounces per tons gold to a depth of 91.5 metres. Blue Moon stated that next steps for the project include exploring the five shallow holes the company has drilled.
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Project: Hard Cash and Nigel
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 700 km east of Yellowknife
Status: Hard Cash and Nigel are located at the western end of the Ennadai-Rankin greenstone belt, which extends from Rankin Inlet to southwestern Nunavut. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. has built the Meliadine high-grade gold mine at the eastern end of the belt.
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Project: Tree River
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 155 km southeast of Kugluktuk
Status: University of Albera researchers brought back three alluvial, kimberlitic diamonds from two small, separate samples in 2020, according to Silver Range Resources in October of that year. Subsequent sampling from the property showed 36.3 grams of gold per tonne from a one-metre by one-metre panel. The company expressed its intentions to systematically test the gold and diamond potential in the area.
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Project: Qaiqtuq
Owner: Solstice Gold
Resource: Gold
Location: 26 km from Rankin Inlet
Status: Solstice carried out mapping and sampling at the Qaiqtuq project – formerly known as Kahuna – during the summer of 2020. Aiming to identify drill targets, the work was done within a 40 square km area containing gold-bearing boulders on the 866-square-km property. Qaiqtuq is only seven kilometres from Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine.
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Project: Kiyuk Lake
Owner: Cache Exploration
Resource: Gold
Location: 350 km west of Arviat
Status: Kiyuk Lake comprises 70 mineral claims over 590 square km. The site’s mineralization trend covers a 13-km strike length and is open in all directions.
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Project: Baffin Gold
Owner: ValOre Metals Corp.
Resource: Gold
Location: 230 km southwest of Clyde River
Status: Baffin Gold has turned its attention to a platinum group metals property in Brazil.
A summer exploration program at Baffin Gold in 2018 gathered airborne data, 431 till samples and 31 rock geochemical samples. The survey work gave ValOre continuous airborne geophysical data covering 120 km of the prospective Foxe Fold Belt. The entire property sprawls over one million acres. Fieldwork in 2017 returned numerous high-grade gold assays.
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Project: Atlantis
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 55 km northwest of Agnico Eagle’s Amaruq deposit
Status: “Silver Range considers the Atlantis Project to be highly prospective to host economic gold mineralization given the proximity of the project to the Meadowbank mine complex and the fact that the target is underlain by the same rock types hosting the Amaruq Deposit,” the company stated in a 2019 news release regarding the 78,500-acre Atlantis project.
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Project: Yandle, Noomut, Quartzite
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 151 km northwest of Arviat, 149 km northwest of Arviat, 143 km north of Arviat, respectively
Status: Silver Range Resources disseminated news in November 2017 of the existence of a gold trend over three kilometres at Yandle. Grab samples gathered along the trend returned up to 15.1 grams of gold per tonne. Past grab samples at Noomut have shown values of up to 89 grams of gold per tonne while Quartzite grab samples have graded up to 27.3 grams of gold per tonne. The properties lie in the Ennadai-Rankin greenstone belt.
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Projects: Grumpy, Happy Thought
Owner: Silver Range Resources
Resource: Gold
Location: 182 km and 262 km southeast of Kugluktuk, respectively
Status: These two properties host nine documented gold showings. Up to 20 grams of gold per tonne over one metre were found in historical trench samples from the Grumpy site while Happy Thought historical samples have returned up to 13.44 grams of gold per tonne.
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Project: Muskox/Contwoyto/Hood
Owner: Benchmark Metals
Resource: Gold/diamonds
Location: 14 km southwest of the former Jericho diamond mine
Status: Benchmark Metals continues to focus on its properties in British Columbia.
The Muskox Project encompasses an enormous 600-square-km. De Beers discovered the Muskox kimberlite in 1996 and the property has been explored by several companies.
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Project: Coppermine
Owner: Kaizen Discovery
Resource: Copper, silver
Location: 80 km south of Kugluktuk
Status: Kaizen Discovery has turned its attention to a property in Peru. There’s been no reported activity at Coppermine since public acknowledgment in 2016 that some of the company’s 3,500-square-kilometre property was identified in the draft Nunavut Land Use Plan as being under limitations or prohibitions relating to exploration and mining. The company’s website identifies the property as a possible sale option or joint venture opportunity.
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Project: Pistol Bay
Owner: Northquest Ltd.
Resource: Gold
Location: 35 km northwest of Whale Cove
Status: Nordgold more than doubled mineral resources at Pistol Bay in February 2020. Inferred open pit resources increased to 1.58 million ounces of gold at a grade of 2.2 grams of gold per tonne from the previous estimate of 739,000 ounces at 2.95 g/t. Pistol Bay is a vast property encompassing 860 square km.
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Project: Arcadia Bay
Owner: Transition Metals Corp./Nunavut Resources Corp.
Resource: Gold
Location: 153 km southeast of Kugluktuk
Status: The 26.5-square-km property, located in close proximity to the Coronation Gulf and the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, has a number of gold showings. However, Arcadia Bay didn’t even get a mention in Transition Metals’s 2019 year in review and shareholder update as other projects are at the forefront.
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Project: Kuulu
Owner: NxGold Ltd.
Resource: Gold
Location: 40 km northwest of Rankin Inlet
Status: International Consolidated Uranium Inc. became a shareholder of Meliadine Gold Ltd. in January 2020. Work on the Kuulu property encountered delays due to an inability to renew the land-use agreement. “Both groups recognize the potential of the project but also that the path forward requires a patient and focused approach which the team at MGL is well equipped to undertake,” Glen Dickson,
president and CEO of Meliadine Gold stated in January 2020. There have been no updates since.
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Project: Angilak
Owner: ValOre Metals Corp.
Resource: Uranium
Location: 350 km west of Rankin Inlet
Status: The last news release relating to developments at Angilak was issued in 2016. With uranium prices languishing at between $20 and $25 per pound for much of the past two years, Kivalliq Energy Corp. has turned its attention to its Baffin Gold Project. “Discovery potential at Angilak is significant, providing excellent potential to add value with an upward move in uranium prices,” the company states on its website.
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Project: Kiggavik
Owner: Areva
Resource: Uranium
Location: 80 km west of Baker Lake
Status: Areva suffered a major setback in July 2016 when the minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs 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.
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Project: North Thelon
Owner: Forum Energy Metals Corp.
Resource: Uranium
Location: 50 km west of Baker Lake
Status: Forum Energy Metals Corp., formerly Forum Uranium, has placed its North Thelon project on care and maintenance until uranium prices recover. Forum was hoping to process its future ore at the nearby Kiggavik mill but that project by Areva has been rejected by regulatory authorities. There’s an estimated recoverable 114 million pounds of U308 on the 950-square-km North Thelon property, equating to a mine life of 17 years, according to Forum Uranium. The project would support 400 to 600 jobs.
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Project: Mountain Lake
Owner: ISOEnergy Ltd.
Resource: Uranium
Location: 95 km west of Kugluktuk
Status: IsoEnergy established five claims in the Hornby Bay Basin in February 2017. Several companies have explored the Mountain Lake uranium deposit since the mid-1970s. The company has been concentrating on its properties in Saskatchewan.
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Project: Izok Corridor
Owner: MMG Resources
Resource: Zinc, lead, copper, silver, gold
Location: 260 km southeast of Kugluktuk
Status: Izok remains in care and maintenance status. The last work done at the property was 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, contains 2.5 per cent copper and 3.8 per cent zinc over 14 million tonnes.
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Project: Hackett River
Owner: Glencore
Resource: Silver, gold, copper, zinc, lead
Location: 355 km southeast of Kugluktuk
Status: 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.
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Project: Haig Inlet Iron
Owner: Hemlo Explorers
Resource: Iron
Location: 22 km south of Sanikiluaq
Status: Hemlo Explorers’ 230-square-km 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. The company’s focus has been on its Ontario properties, however.
