CAMBRIDGE BAY - Three exploration and mining companies developing projects in the Kitikmeot region spoke of their plans for 2010 last week at the 11th annual Kitikmeot Trade Show in Cambridge Bay.

Donald Havioyak, Kugluktuk-based community relations officer for Chinese state-owned subsidiary MMG Resources, talks business with Peter Manojlovic, chief geologist with Sabina Silver Corporation, at the 2010 Kitikmeot Trade Show held last week in Cambridge Bay. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

Newmont Mining Corporation, which is developing the Hope Bay gold project located 130 km southwest of Cambridge Bay, will be spending a whopping $139 million in 2010 alone on the project, said Brian Anderson, Newmont's acting commercial director. The company has spent $80 million on the project so far since its acquisition in 2007, in addition to $1 million in salaries for Inuit employees.

The project's previous owner, Miramar Mining Corporation, envisioned a brief two-and-a-half year mine life for Doris North, one of three significant deposits at Hope Bay. So far, it is the only part of the future mine which is already permitted.

Newmont had other plans, envisioning a longer-term project that also incorporated two other deposits and favouring a staged approach to development.

After two years of drilling and infrastructure building, Hope Bay is kicking into high gear.

This fall, Newmont plans to extract an underground bulk sample from Doris North. If the sample proves promising, the company will transport a mill to site on the 2011 sealift, leading to a test mine and the first pouring of gold for the project, said Chris Hanks, director of environment and social responsibility for Newmont.

"It would be modest, but having a mill in the belt would really help exploration because you really need to mill some of the ore deposits to get a feel for what the grades are really like," said Hanks. "It will produce some gold, and that's not a bad thing."

The company hopes to have two other deposits permitted within the next three years, said Alex Buchan, manager of community and external relations for Newmont.

More importantly for residents of the Kitikmeot region, going underground means Newmont and its employees will be able to work year-round, added Buchan.

"For the past two seasons that we've been operating here in Nunavut, the most that we were ever able to provide is a seasonal employment opportunity. We've done a lot of work to extend our season so that we have probably the longest exploration program in the region right now," said Buchan.

Newmont is currently drilling at Doris North, with over 100 people on site. Out of the total direct Newmont hires and contract employees, approximately 20 per cent are Inuit, added Buchan.

Sabina Silver and Gold Corp. was also present at the trade show.

This year, Sabina will conduct drilling at both its Hackett River and Back River base metals projects. Hackett River is located 104 km south-southwest of Bathurst Inlet, while Back River is located 40 km from Hackett River.

"We plan to spend $10 million at Hackett River and $10 million at Back River," Nicole Hoeller, director of investor relations for Sabina, recently told News/North.

"We are still calculating our numbers for 2009, but northern employment at both camps in 2008 was approximately 25 jobs, which is about 25 per cent of the jobs required for the programs. This was likely in the ball park for 2009 and may increase for 2010 as we will have larger programs."

Rounding out the mining industry at the show was Donald Havioyak, the Kugluktuk-based community relations officer for Chinese state-owned subsidiary MMG Resources. The company is developing both the Izok Lake and High Lake precious metals projects located 245 km and 175 km southeast of Kugluktuk, respectively.

Last week marked Havioyak's fourth time attending the Kitikmeot Trade Show, which he said is a must-attend event.

"It's important for the industry, for the different levels of government to continue that communication. Without this trade show, the communication breakdown can happen," said Havioyak.

While giving no hard numbers, Martin McFarlane, president of MMG's Canadian division, recently told News/North, "We're actually going to have a very active exploration project up at Izok this year ... We've also got an active drilling program (planned) at High Lake."

Like many other companies, MMG scaled back its spending on exploration in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.

"We're going to spend multiple times what we spent in 2009 - at least three times, and probably more," said McFarlane. Local businesses stand to benefit from both projects, he added.

"We do actively pursue as many opportunities as we can at the stage of development that we're at, to utilize either businesses or or individuals as employees during our seasonal programs," said McFarlane. "We will recruit as many as we can, primarily from Kugluktuk, because that's the closest community to it. If there's opportunities from further afield, we may look there as well.

"We also try and use Inuit-owned businesses as well. In the past, we've used catering organizations, and various others to supply other services we may need. That will continue this year."

This year's trade show drew 51 exibitors and 200 delegates, compared to 47 exibitors and 152 delegates last year. Among first time attendees was Miranda Atatahak, economic development officer for Kugluktuk.

"It's great just having this opportunity to meet everybody," she said. "I've met so many different people and I know what kind of stuff they've got going on in their businesses or their organizations. It's really informative."

Among the news tidbits offered by Atatahak: Kugluktuk-based Kikiak Contracting will likely hire 40 people to work two dew line sites this year.

In addition, the community is bracing for the reopening of its visitor centre.

"We just hired someone in Kugluktuk to manage our centre," said Atatahak. "We're just in the process of setting up our office now. I would say probably within three weeks."