Photo: The golden hour

Yes, that’s what you think it is. TMAC Resources Inc. completed its first gold pour Feb. 9 with gold from its Doris North Mine in western Nunavut and said, in a news release, the company is “on track to achieve commercial production this quarter.” The Doris North Mine is located on TMAC’s Hope Bay property east of Bathurst Inlet and southwest of Cambridge Bay on the mainland—and once it goes into production, Inuit groups stand to benefit. The Kitikmeot Inuit Association already has an Inuit impact and benefit agreement in place with TMAC, under which the company would pay the KIA a net smelter royalty of about $69.5 million over six years. The company is also expected to pay out millions of dollars a year in contracts with the Kitikmeot Corp. and its affiliated companies, along with other Inuit-owned businesses and its proposed Phase 2 expansion of Hope Bay gold properties to the south of Doris North. (PHOTO COURTESY TMAC)