Whereas a small group of devoted explorers returned in 2022 to advance manufacturing and growth tasks in Nunavut, a rising variety of newcomers fanned out throughout the northern territory searching for quite a lot of minerals.

Some got here looking for gold deposits like these being explored and mined by Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., whereas others chased historic occurrences of newly designated essential metals, particularly copper and sure base metals, now in excessive demand for manufacturing electrical autos, wind generators and different inexperienced applied sciences.

Representing one‑fifth of Canada’s land mass, Nunavut has super useful resource potential and is a spot of great alternative. In 2021 the consequences of the COVID‑19 pandemic have been nonetheless being felt by the mineral business, however extra proponents have been capable of transfer forward with applications, following the Authorities of Nunavut’s restrictions to stop the unfold of the virus within the territory.

In recognition of the challenges posed by the pandemic, Crown-Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, in 2021, as soon as once more supplied reduction of reporting necessities to prospecting allow and mineral declare holders below Nunavut’s mining laws.

A complete of C$123.2 million was spent on mineral exploration and deposit appraisal in Nunavut throughout the yr, in accordance with statistics launched by Pure Assets Canada.

That is down dramatically from the federal government’s midyear projection of C$149.2 million, but the outlay was larger than comparable expenditures in 2020 however in contrast poorly with the 10-year common within the territory of roughly C$186.3 million. NRCan’s estimates are based mostly on explorers’ spending intentions.

For 2022, NRCan projected complete spending for mineral exploration and deposit value determinations in Nunavut would prime C$143 million.

Agnico Eagle’s ‘Midas Contact’

In every single place Agnico Eagle appeared in Nunavut in 2022 – probably the most lively mineral explorer within the territory – discovered gold.

The corporate additionally accelerated the tempo of exploration and growth at its two working mines – Meliadine close to Rankin Inlet and the Meadowbank Complicated (together with the Amaruq satellite tv for pc deposit) within the coronary heart of the Kivalliq area.

Reporting greater than 774,000 ounces of gold manufacturing in 2021 at Meliadine and Meadowbank, Agnico additionally celebrated hitting the 1-million-ounce gold manufacturing milestone in March at Meliadine.

The miner carried out aggressive exploration applications in any respect three operations it owns outright, specializing in growing reserves at Meliadine and Meadowbank with definition, infill, and exploratory drilling.

Agnico additionally undertook a US$56 million program in 2022 at Hope Bay, its latest gold mine undertaking in Nunavut. The corporate is holding off on resuming operations at Hope Bay whereas it develops new exploration drifts and completes drilling on the Doris deposit; and conducts floor exploration drilling on the Madrid deposit and on regional targets alongside the 80-kilometer (50 miles) Hope Bay greenstone belt.

The explorer mentioned the work at Hope Bay would proceed by means of 2023 whereas it evaluates bigger manufacturing situations for the undertaking. Optimistic drill ends in early 2022 additionally prompted Agnico so as to add one other C$30 million later within the yr to its 2022 exploration funds in Nunavut.

In 2021, Agnico accomplished a diamond drilling program at its Greyhound base metallic gold and three way partnership undertaking with Gold79 Mines Ltd., previously Aura Assets Inc.

The exploration targeted on three precedence goal areas, with the target of figuring out gold-bearing buildings or veins at two targets and VMS-type mineralization at one other goal space. The drilling program comprised 9 holes for about 1,815 meters.

As of June 30, 2022, Gold79’s possession curiosity within the Greyhound undertaking totaled 36.6%. Agnico had spent practically C$2.92 million on the Greyhound undertaking as of Might 31, 2021.

Nunavut’s subsequent gold mine

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp., lengthy dedicated to growing Again River, spent 2022 primarily targeted on its proposed Goose Mine on this district-scale gold undertaking within the Kitikmeot area of northwestern Nunavut. Following a proper building resolution in September, Sabina scheduled the beginning of gold manufacturing at Goose for the primary quarter of 2025.

Sabina goals to construct a 223,000-ounce-per-year floor and underground gold mining operation with a 3,000-metric-ton-per-day whole-ore leach course of plant, with throughput growing to 4,000 t/d within the second yr.

“Preparations are actually underway for building of the winter ice highway, which when full will allow the transport of essential building provides and tools to Goose early within the spring of 2023,” Sabina President and CEO Bruce McLeod mentioned in November.

Open pit mining at Goose would start two years previous to mill commissioning to generate a stockpile of mill feed. The mill would function for 15 years, producing doré bullion.

An estimated 18.7 million metric tons of ore will probably be mined at a mill head grade of 6.0 grams per metric ton and a projected gold restoration of 93.4%. A complete of three.35 million oz of gold is projected to be recovered over the lifetime of the mine.

Underground growth at Goose superior in 2022 with about 1,200 meters full with the primary lateral entry to the Umwelt zone and preparations for the primary air flow elevate commencing.

The corporate additionally accomplished plant, camp, and laydown civil works with pre-stripping on the Echo pit properly underway and first ore encountered, and drew US$31.25 million on a US$125 million gold stream facility with Wheaton Treasured Metals, the proceeds of which will probably be used to proceed growth and building of the Goose Mine.

Sabina additionally opened a camp in 2022 close to its George deposit for the primary time in a decade and accomplished a subject program in preparation for exploration drilling at George in spring 2023.

Extra gold targets

Blue Star Gold Corp. recognized and superior a number of exploration targets throughout its Ulu, Hood River, and Roma gold properties in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot area throughout 2022. The properties cowl greater than a 45-kilometer (28 miles) stretch of the Excessive Lake Greenstone Belt about 525 kilometers (326 miles) northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Blue Star accomplished roughly 3,865 meters of drilling in 28 holes, 3,055 line-kilometers of airborne magnetics surveying, and a regional until sampling program on the Roma Mission. This adopted the completion of 5,012 meters of drilling in 25 holes in 2021 that lined 11 targets and led to the invention of a brand new vein gold system northeast of the Flood Zone.

The Roma undertaking covers high-grade gold showings found by earlier explorers, notably BHP Minerals, from 1988 to 1994.

The newest targets embody three precedence ones – Bouncer, Zebra-Dagg, and Gravy.

Blue Star additionally reviewed, prospected, and mapped 58 of the greater than 100 showings in a goal pipeline it’s growing to quickly consider and prioritize targets for future drill testing.

The location of the long run deep-water port at Grey’s Bay is 40-100 kilometers (25-62 miles) to the north of Blue Star’s properties, and the proposed route hall for the all-weather Grey’s Bay Highway passes close to the Roma, Ulu, and Hood River tasks.

Yellow diamonds at Naujaat

North Arrow Minerals Inc. reported outcomes of processing a 2,000-metric ton bulk pattern extracted in 2021 from its Naujaat diamond undertaking on the Melville Peninsula is about midway full.

The C$5.6 million bulk pattern program was funded by Australian diamond miner and marketer Burgundy Diamond Mines below an choice settlement during which Burgundy could earn a 40% curiosity in Naujaat by funding the majority pattern program.

Seen as a world-class diamond undertaking, Naujaat is 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) northeast of the hamlet of Naujaat on Nunavut’s Melville Peninsula. The property covers 10,742 hectares (26,540 acres) of contiguous mineral leases and claims held by North Arrow.

Fifteen kimberlites and eight kimberlite pipes have been recognized on the property, together with the Q1-4 kimberlite, the most important and most diamondiferous, and related kimberlite dykes.

The present useful resource estimate for the Naujaat undertaking totals 48 million metric tons of fabric to a depth of 205 meters, containing greater than 26 million carats of diamonds.

A selected and uncommon coloration, the yellow diamonds at Naujaat have been licensed by the Gemological Institute of America and are anticipated to promote at excessive premiums to white diamond costs.

Ongoing exploration at iron mine

On the Mary River mine on Baffin Island, Baffinland Iron Mines Ltd. spent C$8.7 million to finish a 6,024-meter helicopter-supported infill and exploration drill program in 2021 that targeted on Baffinland’s mining leases. All holes intersected high-grade iron, and the corporate included the drill ends in a revised mineral useful resource estimate.

Infill drilling totaling 5,460 meters in 19 holes was carried out on Deposits 1 and three, and greater than 1,000 core samples have been taken. An extra 564 meters of drilling in two holes have been accomplished as a part of an ongoing geotechnical investigation.

In 2022 exploration, Baffinland drilled 1,595 meters in 4 holes on the North Limb of Deposit 1 to outline the northern extent of the mineralized zone and permit for an improve of Mary River’s assets. Nunavut employees, despatched dwelling because of the pandemic, started returning to the mine website in March.

Drilling of as much as 1,074 meters in 4 holes additionally targeted throughout the Axial Zone to proceed characterization of ore sorts and the down dip extension of the ore zones.

The miner accomplished as much as 3,425 meters in 11 holes of geotechnical drilling in assist of a pit slope design examine and 6,230 meters in 22 holes of infill drilling throughout the western portion of Deposit 1 to improve inferred assets to the indicated class and deep holes on the west finish to check the down-dip extension of the ore zone.

Baffinland additionally carried out a regional exploration program to develop and preserve worth in high-grade iron ore prospects throughout the Mary River district. This included prospecting, attainable channel sampling throughout the Magnetite Hill declare block in follow-up to a 2021 airborne geophysical survey and finishing a floor gravity survey throughout the Turner River prospect.

The corporate is looking for allow amendments to double allowed annual ore extraction and transportation at Mary River from the present six million metric tons to 12Mt from the mine to Milne Inlet and the development of a railway linking the mine website to the port.

To accommodate this proposed elevated transport from the Milne Inlet port, infrastructure on the mine would must be redesigned and upgraded. In 2021, the Mary River mine produced 5.61Mt of iron ore shipped in 73 hundreds from Milne Inlet, up barely from its output of 5.45Mt shipped in 2020.

In November, Baffinland reported that Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal decided that the enlargement shouldn’t proceed presently.

“Baffinland’s Part 2 enlargement plan would have created long-term stability for our enterprise, for the native communities on Baffin Island and for the territory of Nunavut, whereas decreasing the marine and terrestrial results of our present operations (not growing them) and growing the variety of jobs from the present degree,” mentioned Baffinland Iron Mines CEO Brian Penney. “Given the clear advantages to Inuit, Nunavut and Canada as an entire, and the truth that Baffinland high-grade ore can be the greenest path to metal manufacturing, the Minister’s resolution is each shocking and disappointing.”

Copper exploration picks up

Although Nunavut hosts 1,113 recognized copper mineral occurrences, the territory is basically underexplored and undeveloped for this metallic essential to the inexperienced vitality transition, geologists say.

Of the 521 recorded showings averaging greater than 0.2% (2,000 components per million) copper, 50 occurrences have averaged greater than 10% copper, in accordance with the Nunavut Mineral Prevalence Database. The database incorporates greater than 2,700 mineral showings, exploration evaluation stories and different authorities stories and publications.

American West Metals Ltd. is one explorer that acknowledged the territory’s prospectivity for copper and acted on that realization. Taking an 80% earn-in choice on the Storm Copper undertaking from Aston Bay Holdings Ltd., the Australia-based firm accomplished a second yr of exploration on the undertaking in 2022. The undertaking encompasses each the Storm copper and Seal zinc properties. The exploration targeted primarily on the Storm property.

Dave O’Neill, managing director of American West Metals, reported outcomes of a maiden drill program in 2022 at Storm during which the corporate intersected “extraordinarily” high-grade copper near-surface, doubtless doubling the amount of mineralization on the undertaking’s 2750N Zone and found a possible massive, new sedimentary copper system under the near-surface mineralization.

“The subsequent drill program at Storm will look to outline additional assets on the 2750N Zone, and to judge the financial potential of different extremely potential near-surface occurrences of high-grade copper such because the 2200N and 4100N zones,” O’Neill mentioned.

One other explorer, StrategX Parts Corp., is actively exploring three properties on the Melville Peninsula. Having recognized 12 high-priority targets from a high-resolution geophysical dataset, StrategX deliberate to conduct a first-phase, 2,000-meter diamond drill program on the Nagvaak undertaking in 2022.

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.

Sabina has accomplished important predevelopment actions at Goose, together with the development of an underground ramp to the primary ore entry sublevel on the gold mine in Nunavut.

The property contains a 6,000-meter-long, 400-meter-wide zone with excessive grades of an uncommon mixture of parts – vanadium, nickel, copper, cobalt, molybdenum, zinc, silver, platinum group parts and gold.

With about 95,000 hectares (234,750 acres) of claims and permits encompassing not solely Nagvaak but in addition the cobalt-nickel-copper Mel undertaking and the nickel, copper, cobalt, and PGE Tasijuaq undertaking, StrategX mentioned it has a definite aggressive benefit as a primary mover within the underexplored area.

The corporate acquired 13 mineral claims in 2021, seven of that are adjoining to the Mel undertaking owned by North Arrow Minerals Inc.

StrategX signed an settlement with North Arrow that offers StrategX non‑diamond mineral rights inside North Arrow’s 56,000-hectare property, in addition to a royalty on diamond manufacturing.

StrategX is primarily enthusiastic about nickel, cobalt, vanadium, copper, and treasured metals.