SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - While the remediation plan for Giant Mine remains stuck in regulatory review, planning for the NWT Mining and Geological Museum at the former gold mine continues, albeit slowly.

"We have quite a vision for what we want to do out there, but we're doing it step by step because we don't have the money right now to do it full-blown," said Ryan Silke, a director of the NWT Mining Heritage Society, which is spearheading the project.

The society wans to locate the future museum inside the former Giant Mine recreation hall, a building dating back to the mid-1950s where mine staff convened for pool, food and movie screenings.

But uncertainty over the duration of the Giant Mine remediation plan review – requested by city council early last year and begun by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board last fall – has made it difficult to raise money to advance the museum, said Silke.

"There's a lot of uncertainty over who's responsible for what and that's also kind of scared away some of our funding sources," he said. "They don't know exactly what they're getting themselves into with the environmental assessment currently underway."

Not that the society – which was formed in 2002, with some members having informal meetings about the museum since 1999 – has been waiting idly.

The group spent $100,000 to replace the roof of the recreation hall two years ago and also plans to reinforce the building's foundation as well as conduct interior gutting.

"We're really focusing on the rec hall right now," Silke said.

The City of Yellowknife owns the lease covering the town site and is currently in negotiations with the society about entering into a sub-lease that would include the recreation hall and a nearby parking lot.

"We've been assured the lease will be done soon. This summer, perhaps," said Silke.

The museum will chronicle the mining past of both the GNWT and Nunavut prior to separation, featuring mineral exhibits and archival photos, many of which were collected by Silke, a former resident of Con Mine, where his father worked as a geologist for 25 years.

"We're not only focused on mining; we also want to look at the social aspect of what Yellowknife was like back then, what people did in their spare time," said Silke. "The mines were very important in providing recreational outlets for employees and their families and the community as a whole."

As for when the museum might open, "It seems quite clear that this environmental assessment could go on for two years, if not more," he said.

"Until that's sorted out, we're not really going to have any idea on when we're going to open."

The society is hosting its annual general meeting tonight at the Giant Mine boat launch area.

"We have a pretty dedicated team," said Silke. "Basically our board of directors hasn't changed in the last eight years."