Newmont starts long-awaited expansion of Nunavut gold project

A visitor examines a vein of gold-beaing quartz at Newmont’s Doris North gold mine project in the Kitikmeot. The company now plans to develop much larger ore bodies to the south of Doris North. (FILE PHOTO)

The Newmont Mining Corp. took the first step this past December towards developing the rich gold fields that lie south of its Doris North site in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.

On Dec. 7, Newmont filed licence applications and a project proposal with the Nunavut Impact Review Board and the Nunavut Water Board, the first moves in what will likely become an environmental review of the project.

“It is [our] expectation that a Part 5 review is appropriate,” Chris Hanks, the vice president for environmental affairs at Hope Bay Mining Ltd., a Newmont subsidiary created after Newmont bought the property from the Miramar Mining Corp.

Newmont is already forging ahead with development of the small Doris North mine at the northern end of its vast property — a small mine with an expected lifespan of only two to three years.

But the largest ore bodies in the Hope Bay property lie to the south, in two areas called Madrid and Boston.

Newmont estimates the ore bodies scattered across the region contain at least nine million ounces of gold.

To mine that ore, they propose a combination of small open pits and underground mines, which would operate for at least 15 years.

The property covers more than 1,000 square kilometres of land, most of which is surface-rights land owned by Inuit, and is governed by seven exploration agreements with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and 73 mineral leases with the Crown.

After construction, the project will require about 540 workers. During construction, the company will require about 900 workers.

Another 180 workers would be employed on mineral exploration programs.

To supply its network of ore extraction sites, the company will build a deep sea port at Roberts Bay, all-weather roads, airstrips, a variety of residential and construction camps and milling facilities.

They will also re-negotiate an Inuit impact and benefits agreement with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.