Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Little Cornwallis Island (Sep 10/01) - The 240 men and women on this island focus on a land reclamation and beautification program while winding down production at TeckCominco's Polaris Mine site.

"On site we're doing cleanup. We're cleaning up the landfills and consolidating them," said Polaris Mine manager John Knapp.

The company is awaiting approval for its closure process submitted last spring. Feedback from various governmental agencies is expected in November.

Approval has to be signed off from Environment Canada, Nunavut Water Board, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and many other government agencies.

"This is such a unique facility and because it is so Northern, it's significant what the impact will be and how we're going to minimize the impact," said Knapp of the High Arctic location.

Polaris' final shutdown is expected next summer.

"We mine roughly a million tonnes annually," said Knapp.

But production of lead and zinc concentrates was down nine per cent last year compared to the previous year at Canada's northernmost base-metal mine.

Polaris is an underground mine whose ore body is accessed by a decline. It is mined by sub-level blast-hole methods with remote control scooptrams. The permafrost is preserved with a freezing plant that cools ventilation air through the summer months.

The mine is 280 metres below sea level and over 25 kilometres of tunnelling has been completed. Crushed ore is conveyed from the mine to a conventional concentrator by a two-kilometre underground conveyor system.

Shipments of concentrates go to Europe during the limited Arctic summer shipping season. Reclamation will carry on for three years after the mine closes and monitoring the fragile environment will continue for seven years. The government of Canada will take over the property in 2011.

There have been plenty of obstacles standing in the way of keeping the mine running in the high North environment.

Knapp named power outages as a road-block to smooth operations. Keeping the camp supplied is also a major operation.

"Anything heavy has to be purchased and arranged for nearly a year in advance," he said.

Goods are flown to the site via Hercules aircraft or they arrive on one of two annual sealifts. Between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of Polaris' workers are Dene and Inuit.

"We've strived to hire Northerners but unfortunately the wage economy and aboriginal cultures have clashed," said Knapp. "We have hired Northerners but mixing cultures presents problems."

Mine employees work various shifts and are flown to Little Cornwallis from points south like Iqaluit or Yellowknife.

Built in 1980, the mine has had its parent company merge to form TeckCominco.

"Timing is everything in the mining business. It may not have been as profitable as expected but Polaris has been good for Cominco," said Knapp.