Kitikmeot (Aug 07/06) - Vancouver-based Miramar Mining cleared a major regulatory hurdle Wednesday for its proposed Doris North gold mine, which it hopes could be in operation by mid-2008.

Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice approved a March decision by the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) giving the project the green light.

Zane Kaniak and Coady Evalik, Miramar Mining Corporation employees, take a lunch break at the Doris North gold project. With approval from Indian and Northern Affairs minister Jim Prentice, the company is now in the last leg of its permitting process. - photo courtesy of Miramar Mining Corporation

"We are delighted," Miramar president and chief executive officer Tony Walsh said in a news release. "The minister's decision opens the door for us to get down to business."

The company is now in the last leg of the permitting process for development of the property - which stands to become Nunavut's first new gold mine since the territory's creation. But the $40 million project located, 75 km northeast of Umingmaktuuq, still needs a half-dozen licences and permits from federal and territorial agencies, plus a project certificate from the NIRB. The company hopes to have all of these in place in time to take advantage of the 2007 shipping season. The region's MLA thinks Miramar's announcement is a positive.

"I see it as good news," said Keith Peterson, a resident of Cambridge Bay. "It's something our community has been looking forward to."

The Doris North project got a warm reception from elders at a community meeting in Cambridge Bay held by NIRB in February.

"Let's say yes," Taloyoak elder Steve Alookee told the board at the time. "The people of the Kitikmeot don't want this opportunity to go out the door."

For Alex Buchan, Miramar's manager of community relations based in Kugluktuk, the waiting was worth it.

"This is a very big milestone for us," he said.

The Doris North site is almost exclusively on Inuit-owned land, a fact Buchan calls "historic."

"We very much appreciate the significance of this," he said.

Miramar projects the mine would create more than 230 jobs in construction, mining and services. The company aims to fill 40 per cent of those positions with Inuit. It's expected the mine would produce 311,000 ounces of gold in the first year of a two-year lifespan. But the project is part of the larger Hope Bay belt and Miramar hopes profits from Doris North will fund future phases containing nearly six million more ounces of gold.

- with files from John Curran and David Ryan