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This is a list of mines in Nunavut, Canada. It includes mines that were operating prior to 1999 in what was then Northwest Territories. Start and end dates set in the future are projected, or "expected".
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks that forms the ancient geologic core of the North American continent. Glaciation has left the area with only a thin layer of soil, through which the composition of igneous rock resulting from long volcanic history is frequently visible. As a deep, common, joined bedrock region in eastern and central Canada, the Shield stretches north from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean, covering over half of Canada and most of Greenland; it also extends south into the northern reaches of the United States. Human population is sparse and industrial development is minimal, but mining is prevalent.
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,144,000 km2 (442,000 sq mi) and a 2016 census population of 41,790, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of 2021 is 45,515. Yellowknife is the capital, most populous community, and only city in the territory; its population was 19,569 as of the 2016 census. It became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.
Coltan is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite, and the tantalum-dominant mineral is the tantalite.
Igloolik is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on the peninsula. The name "Igloolik" means "there is a house here". It derives from iglu, meaning house or building, and refers to the sod houses that were originally in the area, not to snow igloos. In Inuktitut the residents are called Iglulingmiut.
Rankin Inlet is an Inuit hamlet on Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet and second-largest settlement in Nunavut, after the territorial capital, Iqaluit. On the northwestern Hudson Bay, between Chesterfield Inlet and Arviat, it is the regional centre for the Kivalliq Region.
First Quantum Minerals is a Canadian-based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining. Its main product is copper, which accounts for 80% of revenues as of 2016.
Baker Lake is a hamlet in the Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut on mainland Canada. Located 320 km (200 mi) inland from Hudson Bay, it is near the nation's geographical centre, and is notable for being Nunavut's sole inland community. The hamlet is located at the mouth of the Thelon River on the shore of Baker Lake. The community was given its English name in 1761 from Captain William Christopher who named it after Sir William Baker, the 11th Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Iqaluit Airport serves Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada and is located adjacent to the city. It is operated by the government of Nunavut. It hosts scheduled passenger service from Ottawa, Montreal, Rankin Inlet, and Kuujjuaq on carriers such as Canadian North, and from smaller communities throughout eastern Nunavut. It is also used as a forward operating base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In 2011, the terminal handled more than 120,000 passengers.
Nanisivik was a company town which was built in 1975 to support the lead-zinc mining and mineral processing operations for the Nanisivik Mine, in production between 1976 and 2002. The townsite was located just inland from Strathcona Sound, about 20 km (12 mi) east of the community of Arctic Bay in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.
Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which provided this territory to the Inuit for independent government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.
Pebble Mine is the common name of a proposed copper-gold-molybdenum mining project in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark. As of November 2020 the mine developer, Northern Dynasty Minerals, was seeking federal permits from the United States Coast Guard and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. State permitting would then follow, which the developer expected to take up to three years. In November 2020, the developer was denied a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permit for its proposed mine discharge plan. On September 9, 2021, it was reported that the EPA had "asked a federal court to allow for Clean Water Act protections for parts of the bay."
Nanisivik Mine was a zinc-lead mine in the company town of Nanisivik, Nunavut, 750 km (470 mi) north of the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island. It was Canada's first mine in the Arctic. The mine first opened on 15 October 1976 and permanently closed in September 2002 due to low metal prices and declining resources. Mine reclamation began in April 2003. It was one of the most northerly mines in the world.
Ferguson Lake is a lake in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located 150 km (93 mi) north of the tree line, midway between Yathkyed Lake and Qamanirjuaq Lake. The lake's outflow is to the east into the Ferguson River, which flows eastward through several lakes, emptying into northwestern Hudson Bay between Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove. The closest community is Baker Lake, 160 km (99 mi) to the north.
Garry Lake is a lake in sub-Arctic Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. As a portion of the Back River waterway, Garry Lake originates directly east of Lake Pelly and drains to the east by the Back River. A set of rapids separate Buliard Lake from Garry Lake. Two other sets of rapids separate Garry Lake's three sections which are also differentiated by elevation. Garry Lakes are isolated from nearby communities.
Mary River is located on Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, about 936 km (582 mi) northwest of the capital, Iqaluit, and about 176 km (109 mi) southwest of Pond Inlet Inuktitut: Mittimatalik, lit. 'the place where the landing place is' The Inuit, name for the Mary River mountain is Nuluyait, meaning buttocks. There is a 4,000 year history in the area. For hundreds of years the semi-nomadic Inuit from the region that includes the hamlets of Pond Inlet and Igloolik, met at Mary River during the summer hunting caribou. By 2011, the population of the region was about 5,400 people, many of whom continued the traditional hunting and fishing lifestyle living off the land.
Grays Bay is an Arctic waterway in Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Coronation Gulf. Hepburn Island is located at its mouth. The Tree River and the Annielik River flow into the bay.
Hornaday River is a waterway located above the Arctic Circle on the mainland of Northern Canada.
The Mary River Mine is an open pit iron ore mine on Inuit Owned Land (IOL) operated by the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (BIMC), in the Mary River area of the Qikiqtaaluk Region, on Baffin Island, Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. As of 2021, Mary River mine operation consists of an open-pit mine, two work camps for hundreds of workers, a tote road—from the Mary River site to Milne Inlet—and a port infrastructure at Milne Inlet. According to a 4-year study published in 2008, the Mary River Mine, with its four massive iron ore deposits of 65-70% pure iron ore was "one of the most promising undeveloped iron deposits on the planet". It was not until technological advances were in place in 2010, and the market for iron ore had dramatically increased that sizable financial backing for the high cost of development in a remote region known for its inhospitable climate, was available. The mine began operations in 2014, and the first shipment to Europe arrived in 2015. Baffinland is currently planning on expanding the mine. In February 2021, a group of Inuit hunters blockaded access to the mine for a week to protest the expansion.
Polaris zinc mine was an underground zinc mine on Little Cornwallis Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The Polaris mine was located 1,120 kilometres (700 mi) north of the Arctic Circle, and 96 kilometres (60 mi) north of the community of Resolute. The Polaris mine closed in July 2002 following more than twenty years of zinc production.
The Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project is a plan to build an all-weather road from Bathurst Inlet in Nunavut to a complex of mines that are approximately equidistant between Bathurst Inlet and Yellowknife, NWT. There are no paved roads between Yellowknife and the mines, so they have relied on shipping supplies to the mines over winter-time ice roads. However, in 2005, there was a particularly warm winter, and the ice roads weren't safe for a long enough period to bring in supplies.
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