Review board approves Doris North
Hope Bay gold mine revival goes to federal government for final go-ahead
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Monday, June 27, 2016
IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
TMAC Resources received good news this month when the Nunavut Impact Review Board approved its 2015 amendment application, giving the go-ahead for TMAC to expand operations at the Doris North gold mine at Hope Bay. The only hurdle now is federal approval.
"The NIRB heard from community members ... in the decade that has passed since the original project was approved to proceed," chairperson Elizabeth Copland wrote to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Minister Carolyn Bennett. "The communities have waited with anticipation and wish for the project to be developed in a sustainable manner that would allow the region to realize the full economic opportunity associated with moving beyond exploration to an operating mine."
The mine is located 125 km south of Cambridge Bay on Inuit-owned lands. Copland cited Cambridge Bay community representative Jimmy Haniliak's comments at the April 2016 public hearing into the amendment.
"We have no objections regarding the proponent's desire to mine at the mine site," the letter quoted Haniliak. "But just to be cautioned to be sensitive and to respect the land and the environment and, as well, the people that are working at the mine site."
Copland stated that there is a general level of support for the project to go forward. The Kitikmeot Inuit Association expressed its "strong support" for the project, the letter reads, noting "Inuit in this region will benefit substantially from this project."
The 2015 amendment application brings the life of Doris North to six years, and greatly increases the allowable amount of activity at the mine.
The camp capacity will increase to 280 people from 180. Mining and milling rates will increase to 2,000 tonnes per day for both from 720 and 800 tonnes per day, respectively. Two additional vents will be created and eventually decommissioned at Doris Central Vent and Doris Connector.
The tailings impoundment area will increase five-fold to 2.5 million tonnes, and will no longer be underwater but above ground. Discharge will be allowed at a rate of 7,000 cubic metres per day by pipeline into Roberts Bay.
"The board still has two key technical concerns with this pipeline," Copland stated. "Ensuring that the pipeline remains stable, protected from damage and secure in the portion of the pipeline on land, and avoiding the potential for lasting and adverse effects on the marine environment resulting from the pipeline being abandoned on the ocean floor when it is no longer required."
To ease these concerns, TMAC will either have to remove the pipeline when no longer in use, or prove that its presence will not have adverse effects on the marine environment.
NIRB also expressed concerns about the effects of the mine on fish in Doris Lake, so TMAC will have to monitor water quality in the lake over time.
Miramar Hope Bay Ltd. received approval for Doris North in 2006. Newmont bought Miramar in 2007 and walked away from Hope Bay in 2012. TMAC purchased the mine in 2013.
