2010 Mining Explorers: Back in production in 2010

When I wrote a first editorial for Mining Explorers last year, it was on the occasion of Nunavut celebrating its first 10 years as a separate territory, and so it was fitting to review some of the accomplishments of the decade. Now, as we enter into a second decade, many of the fruits of those labors are coming to bear.

That first decade, 1999-2009, wasn't, of course, without its share of both accomplishments and setbacks.

Early in Nunavut's short life around 2002, three long-producing mines closed: the Polaris and Nanisivik lead-zinc mines, and the Lupin gold mine.

Little was in the development pipeline at that time.

In 2008, the Jericho diamond mine succumbed to poor recovery rates, cost overruns and the beginning of a bearish diamond market.

But in the meantime, Nunavut's exploration sector was gaining confidence and expanding rapidly, and exploration spending increased 10-fold in the decade.

New discoveries were being made, and known deposits were reaching feasibility.

In this second decade, many of these deposits will be into production.

That much anticipated event, a major new mine, came about early this year, when Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. opened the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake.

The Meadowbank mine plan is a three open-pit operation, with the Portage Pit currently being mined, and a total probable reserve of 3.6 million ounces of gold.

Meadowbank is expected to produce close to 300,000 ounces this year, with an average annual production of 360,000 ounces thereafter, within a projected nine-year mine life.

I had the fortune to visit Meadowbank on a couple of occasions this year, including the official opening in June.

Meadowbank already employs 35 percent of its workforce from the neighboring Nunavut communities, and that percentage seems certain to grow.

Agnico-Eagle strengthened its Nunavut holdings this year by purchasing the Meliadine gold project near Rankin Inlet from Comaplex Minerals. Meliadine holds some 3 million ounces of indicated and inferred gold resources at the principal deposit, Tiriganiaq, with another half-million ounces in two smaller area deposits. Agnico-Eagle currently projects a 2015 start-up date for Meliadine. News of a nearby gold mine is being eagerly greeted in Rankin Inlet, a community with a strong mining history. Indeed, the town is founded around the old North Rankin Nickel Mine site, which operated in the 1950s and 1960s.

Gold is - and will remain - a major focus in Nunavut, given just how much of our territory is in favorable Archean and early Proterozoic geology.

In western Nunavut, Newmont's Hope Bay gold project is nearing production.

Newmont plans to spend nearly C$140 million in pre-development and exploration activity this year, with underground activity at Doris North (one of the related small Doris deposits) in the fall.

The Hope Bay property comprises three developable deposits, Doris and Boston (all high-grade lode deposits), and the high-tonnage, lower grade (4 g/t) Madrid deposit.

Newmont anticipates Doris North could be put into production as early as late 2011.

A plan to develop the rest of the belt is expected later this year.

The gold pipeline continues to advance with a number of promising grassroots projects. On west-central Baffin Island, Commander Resources and partner AngloGold Ashanti are drilling the Malrok and Kanosak (Hebert) prospects, which are returning high gold intercepts in ironstone-hosted vein systems. Within the Committee Bay Belt, west of Repulse Bay, North Country Gold (formerly CBR Gold) will continue to drill the promising Three Bluffs prospect in an effort to add to the present inferred resource of a half-million ounces of gold. Sabina Gold & Silver has discovered a new gold zone at its Back River properties, which host a resource approaching 2 million ounces of gold.

The large base metal and iron ore projects continue to be active this year, adding or further defining resources: These include Hackett River (silver-zinc-copper); Izok Lake (zinc-copper); High Lake (zinc-copper); and Mary River (iron ore).

When the liquidity crisis and the onset of the recession hit in 2008, nobody was certain how deeply the exploration sector would be affected. In 2009, exploration in Nunavut was cut in half (down to about C$200 million), just like in the rest of the nation. Early on it looked like exploration in 2010 might recover to about C$250 million; but now, with some late-season financings coming online, Nunavut might reach close to C$300 million for 2010. This is a resiliency few would have predicted.

The word to describe Nunavut's second decade of mining will be productive. Predictions are inherently risky, but certainly five operating mines in Nunavut for the decade is realistic; perhaps as many as eight or 10 could be built. We currently have the world's largest mining company and one of the largest gold producers searching for minerals in the territory. In Nunavut, we see this as an important step in building an industrial and transportation infrastructure for our new territory, and building a skilled and professional domestic workforce.