As Nunavut celebrated its 10th anniversary as a territory, the exploration and mining industry had reason to be encouraged in 2009 as well. Despite a challenging economy, Nunavut saw the construction of a new gold mine, had 130 active exploration projects and remained one of the top five exploration locations in Canada.
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) initially reported 2009 exploration and mining expenditures in Nunavut at roughly $179 million. With late season activity and expanded programs however, expenditures may be closer to $200 million. Due to aggressive work undertaken in 2007 and 2008, companies were largely able to maintain their land tenure with limited field programs.
Once again, active properties in Nunavut represented a wide range of commodities: gold, base metals, diamonds, gemstones, iron, lithium, precious metals, rare earth elements, and uranium. The properties are spread across the territory’s three regions: the Kitikmeot, Kivalliq and Qikiqtaaluk.
Gold highlights
Agnico-Eagle Mines worked to bring its Meadowbank project, in the Kivalliq region, into production. Meadowbank hosts probable gold reserves of 3.6 million oz. and a large resource. Mine commissioning and first production from the Portage deposit — the first of three deposits mined via open pits — is anticipated in early 2010. Current resources are expected to support a nine-year mine life with annual production averaging 350,000 oz.
Mine site exploration tested for near-surface extensions of the current open-pit reserves at the three deposits, Portage, Goose Island and Vault, and also focused on defining additional regional targets. One containment dyke was completed and the future tailings management facility was dewatered. Work on other dykes was started, with completion scheduled for 2010. Completion of these dykes will extend the Portage pit and allow access to higher-grade ore in Goose Island by 2011. All drill results will be compiled into revised gold resource and reserve estimates, and incorporated into an expansion study. This study will evaluate a possible increase to the proposed production rate at Meadowbank to 10,000 tonnes per day from 8,500 tonnes.
Along the Coronation Gulf, in the territory’s western Kitikmeot region, Newmont Mining controls the 80-km Hope Bay greenstone belt. Within the belt, Newmont and its predecessors have identified two smaller, high-grade lode deposits at Doris and Boston, and the low-grade, high-tonnage Madrid deposit. These three deposits contain indicated and inferred resources of more than 10 million oz. gold. In 2009, Newmont continued to re-evaluate the deposits and the entire greenstone belt with further mapping and drilling.
Throughout 2009, Comaplex Minerals worked on its Meliadine gold project. Comaplex completed a preliminary assessment on Meliadine West and its neighbouring Meliadine East property. Results indicate good potential for both properties. Meliadine West hosts two gold deposits, Tiriganiaq and F, and a third, Discovery, is located on Meliadine East. The Tiriganiaq deposit contains 2 million oz. indicated gold, plus 893,000 inferred oz. The F deposit holds 110,100 indicated oz. plus 113,560 inferred oz., and Discovery hosts 259,200 indicated
oz. and 148,950 inferred oz. All resource estimates are based on an open-pit development option. A preliminary project description is expected in 2010.
Commander Resources finalized terms of an agreement with AngloGold Ashanti on the Baffin Island gold project. The 2009 prospecting program, fully funded by AngloGold, returned encouraging results from the Hbert prospect. Assays from channel samples returned significant gold values in quartz veins and the altered arsenopyrite-bearing sedimentary host rock. Work to date has outlined the prospect over a 3.5-km strike length with a 300-metre width. Commander believes the mineralization may be part of a larger gold system that remains open both to the northeast and southwest. Plans are under way to implement a drilling program in 2010.
There are two significant projects in the western Kitikmeot region: the Back River project (George Lake and Goose Lake gold deposits) and the Wishbone gold and base metal project. Indicated resources at Back River stand at 3.42 million tonnes at 10.9 grams gold per tonne for 1.19 million oz., and inferred resources are 3.56 million tonnes at 10.2 grams gold for 1.16 million oz. Sabina Gold & Silver took over the projects from Dundee Precious Metals early in 2009.
Base metals
With the acquisition of Back River and Wishbone, Sabina now holds most of the Hackett River volcanic belt. This belt hosts the known Yava and Musk base metal deposits. Sabina’s Hackett River advanced exploration project hosts at least eight known volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. The resource has a proposed 13-year mine life with a milling rate of 10,000 tonnes per day. Hackett River contains indicated resources of 43.34 million tonnes containing 200 million oz. silver (at 144 grams per tonne), 2 million tonnes of zinc (at 4.65% zinc), 180,000 tonnes of copper (at 0.42% copper), 279,000 tonnes of lead (at 0.64% lead) and 419,000 oz. gold (at 0.3 gram). Additional inferred resources total 14.62 million tonnes at 136 grams silver, 4.46% zinc, 0.31% copper, 0.57% lead and 0.31 gram gold.
China Minmetals Non-ferrous Co. (a division of China Minmetals) took ownership of OZ Minerals in 2009. Through its Canadian entity, MMG Resources, Minmetals now owns all of OZ Minerals’ assets in the Kitikmeot region. These include the Izok Lake deposit (copper-zinc-lead-silver), the base metal deposits of Gondor and Hood, the former Lupin gold mine and a satellite gold deposit, Ulu, and the massive sulphide High Lake deposit (copper-zinc-gold-silver). High Lake contains a known resource of 17.3 million tonnes averaging 3.3% zinc and 2.2% copper. Izok Lake, located south of High Lake along the Nunavut/N. W.T. border, hosts a resource of 14.8 million tonnes grading 2.6% copper and 12.8% zinc, similar to the zinc grade of the now-closed Polaris mine.
Diamonds
This past year, diamond exploration across the territory produced encouraging results. The largest programs were conducted on the Chidliak and Amaruk projects. BHP Billiton fully funded the 2009 program at Peregrine Diamonds’ Chidliak, located northeast of Iqaluit, and is earning up to 51% of the project. Thirteen kimberlites were discovered, adding to the three discovered in 2008, and bringing the total to 16. Fifteen of these kimberlites have proved diamondiferous. Three kimberlites, including the first discovered (CH-1), display characteristics consistent with other diamondiferous and economically viable kimberlites in Arctic settings. The company additionally considers four kimberlites to warrant further work based on promising coarse diamond size distributions. A budget of $13.5 million has been approved for the 2010 Chidliak exploration program. Scheduled work will include drilling, mini-bulk sampling, airborne and ground geophysics, and prospecting.
On Diamonds North Resources’ Amaruk project, located in the eastern Kitikmeot region, 24 kimberlites have been discovered to date. Of these, 90% contain diamonds. Work last year included drilling 30 kimberlite targets and collecting a 10-tonne sample from the Beluga-3 kimberlite. This kimberlite returned several significant diamonds in an early sampling program. Amaruk also holds potential for gold, with mineralization discovered in a 3-to 5-metre-wide zone that is exposed for roughly 50 metres.
Other metals
Uranium exploration was limited to the Kivalliq district in 2009, with 36 active projects. Areva Resources Canada, together with partners JCU (Canada) Exploration and DAEWOO Corp., completed a third field season on the Kiggavik property, conducting baseline evaluations, infill and mine-design drilling, and engineering studies. The project entered the regulatory process wi
th the submission of a project description to territorial regulators and boards in November 2008.
Cameco had three active projects in the Kivalliq region in 2009: Nueltin Lake, Aberdeen and Turqavik. Geophysical and drilling programs were carried out at all three properties, with the most extensive programs conducted on Aberdeen and Turqavik.
Uranium North Resources released an NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate for the Main zone on its Amer Lake uranium property. At a cutoff grade of 0.01% U3O8, the zone holds an inferred resource of 19.3 million lbs. at an average grade of 0.04% U3O8 .
Kivalliq Energy completed a program of ground geophysics and drilling on its Angilak property, 330 km west of Rankin Inlet. Drilling evaluated the previously identified Lac Cinquante uranium deposit. Results confirmed mineralization occurs in near-surface zones 0.6 to 4.7 metres wide, and along strike for about 1 km.
Mapping, prospecting, till and outcrop sampling was completed by Forum Uranium on its North Thelon project. Results included the identification of uranium values grading from 1544 ppm U3O8 to 2.21% U3O8 and a rare earth element occurrence.
Baffinland Iron Mines continued work on the high-grade magnetite and hematite deposits of its Mary River project on northern Baffin Island. The 2009 drilling on Deposit No. 1 was designed to define hangingwall contacts and to allow for upgraded resource estimates. Recent reserve estimates for the deposit indicate 365 million tonnes grading over 64.6% iron. Additional resources have been identified on the property and indicate 448 million tonnes at 65.5% iron. The current plan will see Deposit No. 1 mined at a rate of 18 million tonnes annually over the first 20 years of production. Reconnaissance exploration work at Mary River in 2009 identifiedf a hematite-dominant mineralized zone designated as Deposit No. 5, about 5 km southeast of Deposit No. 4. This new deposit was the first target assessed from a 2008 property-wide airborne magnetic survey. A highly prospective iron formation horizon, it can be traced along strike over 60 km. Further regional exploration is planned for 2010 as part of a $30-million field program.
There was limited activity in 2009 at the Ferguson Lake property, Nunavut’s largest nickel-platinum group elements project. Owner Starfield Resources completed an airborne geophysical survey in the spring. A drilling campaign late in the season funded by Thanda Resources on select geophysical anomalies identified prospective kimberlite targets at Ferguson Lake.
Since Nunavut’s inception in 1999, industry has invested an estimated $1.84 billion on exploration and deposit appraisal activities in the territory. This investment, along with steady prospecting permit acquisition and the anticipated opening of the Meadowbank mine, underlines Nunavut’s key role in the Canadian mining and exploration industry. Visit www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nunavut for more information.
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