Stephanie McDonald
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 24, 2007
CAMBRIDGE BAY - Five years after its water licence application was initially submitted for the Doris North gold mine, Miramar Mining Corporation received territorial approval on Sept. 19.
The Nunavut Water Board decision has been passed on to the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs for review. The five-year licence covers construction, operation and reclamation of the mine located 75 kilometres northeast of Umingmaktuuq.
"That's a major hurdle passed," said Larry Connell, general manager of environment with Miramar Mining.
Between $7 million and $9 million has been spent to date on the permitting process, he said.
"Over the Christmas break, instead of telling us the application was accepted, they sent out additional guidelines that we had to meet," he said of the bad news the company received at the end of 2006.
Miramar submitted the requested documentation in April of this year, including detailed design plans for the facilities, management plans and reclamation plans.
The request for additional documentation, four years into the process, created an outcry from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA), which accused the board of dragging its feet. The firing of the executive director of the Nunavut Water Board, Philippe Di Pizzo, on March 23 came on the heels of a letter of complaint from the KIA. In the weeks that followed, four technical staff on the board resigned.
The KIA had concerns about whether the proper process for the water licence review was being followed, said Geoff Clark, director of lands and environment with the organization. The licence hadn't originally passed based on technical points, issues that would've been discussed in the next step of the review.
"The process, after that small blip, got back on track and followed through as one would expect it would go," Clark said.
Construction of the site can now begin as soon as the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, Chuck Strahl, signs the licence. Miramar still needs to finalize three agreements and several minor ones. The first is a commercial mining lease from the KIA. A draft lease has been written, but the KIA wanted to wait for the water license to come through before finalizing plans.
The mining company needs to complete a royalty agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., which Nicole Hoeller, director of investor relations with Miramar, estimates will be set at 12 per cent of the mine's net profit.
In addition, Miramar is waiting for authorization under the Fisheries Act for the use of a lake for tailings from Environment Canada.
"We're currently receiving all the construction equipment and camp buildings," Connell said. Thirteen barges of supplies have been sent via Hay River, to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT. From there it will be transferred to the Doris North site.
Connell said that mine production could start by the end of 2008.
Miramar is currently working on an environmental assessment for Doris Central, close to a kilometre from Doris North. The second project will be an extension of the underground mine and will cause little change to the surface, according to the company. Miramar hopes to have the assessment and permitting process finished in time to extend the life of the mine beyond Doris North's two-year life expectancy, Connell said.
"A longer mine life could mean more employment, more training, more contracts for Inuit of the region," Clark said.
Calls to the Nunavut Water Board were not returned.
