QAMANITTUAQ/BAKER LAKE
The value of mineral production in Nunavut increased in 2012 after a bounce-back in production at the territory's only operating mine.
Preliminary results from Natural Resources Canada showed the value of metallics produced in Nunavut in 2012 rose to $601 million from $427 million over 2011. This value represents a 40-per-cent increase in gold and silver production at Meadowbank Gold Mine, Nunavut's only operating mine.
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.'s Meadowbank project is expected to exceed expectations this year, after losing ground at the mine, located 70 kilometres north of Baker Lake, during its first two years of operation.
Non-metallics produced in Nunavut last year from processed diamond stockpiles at Jericho mine were valued at $3.67 million.
A drop in the value of production at the NWT's diamond mines in 2012 reflected a decrease in the overall value of production to $1.6 billion, from just over $2 billion in 2011.
The roughly $438 million decrease reflects an overall drop in mine production of about three per cent and reported lower global diamond prices, according to the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.
Global diamond prices declined 12.5 per cent in 2012, according to the Conference Board of Canada. Diamond prices are expected to increase in 2015 as global diamond demand outstrips supply.
Mineral exploration spending is forecast to fall in both the NWT and Nunavut this year, according to Natural Resources Canada.
Last month, the department released projections of a drop in exploration and deposit appraisal expenditures to $312.7 million in Nunavut from preliminary figures of $443 million spent last year, and a decline to $81 million in the NWT, down from $114.5 million in 2012.
