List of mines in Nunavut

Last updated

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".

Canada Nunavut location map-lambert proj3.svg
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Nanisivik
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Polaris
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Lupin
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Jericho
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Meadowbank
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Mary River (Nunavut)
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Hope Bay
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Meliadine
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Amaruq
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Qilalugaq
MineCommoditiesCoordinatesAssociated townOwnerStartEndCommentsReferences
Nanisivik Mine Zinc, lead 73°02′40″N084°32′14″W / 73.04444°N 84.53722°W / 73.04444; -84.53722 Nanisivik Breakwater Resources 19762002 [1]
Polaris Mine Zinc, lead 75°23′24″N096°54′00″W / 75.39000°N 96.90000°W / 75.39000; -96.90000 Resolute Cominco 19812002Canada's northernmost mine. [2] [3]
Lupin Mine Gold 65°45′N111°15′W / 65.750°N 111.250°W / 65.750; -111.250 Echo Bay Mines Limited 19822006 [4]
Jericho Mine Diamond 65°59′50″N111°28′30″W / 65.99722°N 111.47500°W / 65.99722; -111.47500 Tahera Diamond Corporation 20062008
Meadowbank Mine Gold 65°01′07″N096°04′26″W / 65.01861°N 96.07389°W / 65.01861; -96.07389 Baker Lake Agnico-Eagle Mines 2010
Mary River Mine Iron 71°10′59″N079°21′00″W / 71.18306°N 79.35000°W / 71.18306; -79.35000 Pond Inlet Baffinland Iron Mine 2014 [5]
Hope Bay Mine Gold 68°08′14″N106°36′46″W / 68.13722°N 106.61278°W / 68.13722; -106.61278 Cambridge Bay TMAQ Resources Inc.2017 [5]
Amaruq Mine Gold 65°24′54″N96°41′49″W / 65.41500°N 96.69694°W / 65.41500; -96.69694 Baker Lake Agnico-Eagle Mines 2019 [5]
Meliadine Mine Gold 63°01′58″N092°13′17″W / 63.03278°N 92.22139°W / 63.03278; -92.22139 Rankin Inlet Agnico-Eagle Mines 20192034
Qilalugaq Mine Diamond Naujaat North Arrow Minerals [6]


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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Territories</span> Territory of Canada

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,127,711.92 km2 (435,412.01 sq mi) and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of the second quarter of 2024 is 44,920. Yellowknife is the capital, most populous community, and only city in the territory; its population was 20,340 as of the 2021 census. It became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rankin Inlet</span> Place in Nunavut, Canada

Rankin Inlet is an Inuit hamlet on the 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Cornwallis Island</span> Uninhabited island in the Arctic Archipelago

Little Cornwallis Island is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Canadian Arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada. It is located at 75°30'N 96°30'W, between Cornwallis Island and Bathurst Island in McDougall Sound, and measures 412 km2 (159 sq mi). It is uninhabited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lupin Mine</span> Former gold mine in Nunavut, Canada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iqaluit Airport</span> Airport serving Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada

Iqaluit Airport serves Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada and is located adjacent to the city. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanisivik</span> Former company town in Nunavut, Canada

Nanisivik is a now-abandoned 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 is located just inland from Strathcona Sound, about 20 km (12 mi) east of the community of Arctic Bay in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut</span> Abandoned settlement in Nunavut, Canada

Bathurst Inlet, is a small Inuit community located in Bathurst Inlet in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nunavut</span> Territory of Canada

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 self-government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Nunavut</span>

Nunavut is a territory of Canada. It has a land area of 1,877,787.62 km2 (725,017.85 sq mi). It has a population of 36,858 in the 2021 Census. In the 2016 census the population was 35,944, up 12.7% from the 2011 census figure of 31,906. In 2016, 30,135 people identified themselves as Inuit, 190 as North American Indian (0.5%), 165 Métis (0.5%) and 5,025 as non-aboriginal (14.0%).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanisivik Mine</span> Former zinc and lead mine in Nunavut, Canada

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.

Asger Rye "Red" Pedersen is a former territorial-level Canadian politician. In 1953, he got a job in the Canadian Arctic with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. In the following year, he was sent to Perry River (Kuugjuak) to assist Stephen Angulalik, the Ahiarmiut Inuit owner of the trading post, with the financial records, inventory and ordering, as Angulalik spoke no English. In 1957, Angulalik sold the Perry River post to the HBC and Pedersen was appointed manager. Angulalik returned to the post after resolving legal problems and worked alongside Pedersen; they became lifelong friends. He was, at one time, married to Lena Pedersen and their grandson, Calvin Pedersen was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in July 2020.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garry Lake</span> Lake in Nunavut, Canada

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grays Bay</span> Bay in Nunavut, Canada

Grays Bay is an Arctic waterway in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Coronation Gulf and Hepburn Island is located at its mouth. The Tree River and the Annielik River flow into the bay.

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 a former underground mine on Little Cornwallis Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The zinc mine was located 1,120 km (700 mi) north of the Arctic Circle, and 96 km (60 mi) north of the community of Resolute. It 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.

References

  1. Canadian Mines Handbook 2003-2004. Toronto, Ontario: Business Information Group. 2003. p. 591. ISBN   0-919336-60-4. ISSN   0068-9289.
  2. Spitzer, Aaron (May 11, 2001). "Cominco plots clean-up of Polaris mine". Nunatsiaq News. Archived from the original on November 14, 2006. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  3. "Polaris mine to close next year". CBC. March 29, 2001. Archived from the original on September 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  4. "Echo Bay Mines Ltd". Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  5. 1 2 3 "Principal mineral areas, producing mines, and oil and gas fields in Canada". 2020. doi: 10.4095/321446 .{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "The Naujaat Diamond Project". North Arrow Minerals.