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Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services
 Cambridge Bay's Sam De Beer, left, and Ruth Wilcox ready packages for last week's Nunavut Mining Symposium delegates. - Thorunn Howatt/NNSL photo |
"It's really interesting. I'm really interested in the diamonds," said 19-year-old Leah Kadlun referring to last week's Nunavut Mining Convention in Cambridge Bay. "Before, I didn't know there was a diamond rush."
The show brought geologists, mine company executives and related services industry representatives together over an extended weekend April 5-8 to talk
about the latest resource news in Nunavut.
As for Kadlun, top marks in her Kugluktuk school geology class earned her a position with 11 other Kitikmeot Region students at the meeting of nearly 250 delegates.
After years of exploration doldrums, last autumn's Kitikmeot diamond staking rush gave junior miners a reason to ask for exploration dollars and cause everyone at the mining show to wonder who will build the next mine in Nunavut.
Conference organizers hope the young adults realize mining can improve Northern lifestyles. "I can see it makes people want to learn and get motivated," said Kadlun after listening to presentations including Miramar Resources' Hope Bay gold project and Tahera's diamond exploration in the territory.
That was what made this year's show different than previous ones. Developers discussed manoeuvring within the land claim that blankets Nunavut's vast mineral resources and Nunavummiut learned how to optimize opportunities rising from mining. So technical geoscience and financial discussions shared floor space with Inuit land development concerns.
"They wanted to get Inuit youth interested in careers related to mining. We are not necessarily trying to make everyone into a legion of geologists.
"We just want to open their eyes to the fact there is an industry developing out there and there are a lot of different jobs they can do in relation to that," said Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. geologist Robin Wyllie explaining that conference presenters were asked to keep lectures non-technical. "Because they weren't so much addressing an audience of their peers as the people of the region who want to find out more about exploration and mining."
All but one of the students from Taloyoak, Gjoa Haven, Pelly Bay and Kugluktuk were sponsored by the symposium.
On Saturday, after the technical sessions and trade show, Ashton Mining Canada's Brooke Clements told them about life as a geologist and diamond exploration.
But most of the group thought Nunasi Helicopter's tours over Cambridge Bay were the most exciting part of the conference.
The Nunavut Mining Symposium moves each year between the Kitikmeot, Kivalliq and Baffin regions.
"In the Kitikmeot right now there are so many opportunities in the mining sector," said Nunavut sustainable development director Steve Hannah. That was characterized by the event's Alaskan keynote speaker, Jack Zayon, who related the Inupiat Eskimo's experience with the state's Red Dog Mine. He relayed instances where American aboriginals were able to seize development opportunities.
"The conference went very well. It was definitely a success," said consultant-organizer, Brenda Mercer. The symposium cost nearly $200,000 but was covered mostly by sponsorships. It included a two-day trade show at Kiilinik High School that attracted Cambridge Bay residents.
