About Northwest Territories
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About NWT
From the development of world-class diamond mines and massive oil and gas reserves, to a thriving tourism industry that attracts visitors from around the globe, the enormous economic potential of the North is being unlocked. The Government is taking action to encourage future exploration and development by improving Northern regulatory systems and investing in critical infrastructure to attract investors and developers to the North. The Slave Geological Province, or Slave craton, is where most of the mines, diamond and otherwise, in the Northwest Territories are located. It extends from Slave Geographic Province to Coronation Gulf on the Arctic Ocean.
The Yellowknife Supergroup has an early cover sequence comprised of quartzite and banded iron formation. This area contains some of Canada's largest undeveloped volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. Over time, numerous gold deposits formed throughout the Slave craton, either as shear- or vein-hosted deposits in deformed greenstones or within the chemical traps provided by banded iron formations. The abundant mineral endowment of the Slave Geological Province (SGP) has been known for several decades. The SGP has produced minerals continuously since the 1930s. However, the full potential of this area has not yet been realized due, for the most part, to the lack of transportation infrastructure.
The Slave Geological Province has become one of the most widely known mineral exploration and development regions in the world. Known to host deposits of gold, copper, zinc, nickel, a nd now diamonds, this ancient rock is among the world's oldest and was formed about 2.7 to 2.5 billion years ago. The Slave Geological Province has produced much of the North's mineral wealth, most recently including such diamond mines as Ekati, Diavik, and even more recently, Tahera Diamond Mine (currently under construction). But the development of this area has been hindered by the remoteness and lack of transportation infrastructure. The development of an Arctic port and road network would foster mineral production in the Slave Geological Province, and would bring many long-term economic benefits to the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, as well as to Nunavut as a whole.
About the Proposed Road
Once constructed, the road will see trucks moving construction materials, as well as offshore fuel, to 'budding' mine sites, as well as to existing mine sites in the area. The project could slash the cost of getting supplies and fuel to these hard-to-reach areas. For example, materials for the Diavik mine are currently hauled overland 2,300 kilometers from Edmonton, by rail and across winter ice-roads. Shipping goods through the Arctic Ocean to Bathurst Inlet would be far cheaper, and the all-weather road would also lengthen the trucking season. The current trucking season is currently limited by ice conditions to only a few months in late winter. Access across Contwoyto Lake would be by ice road in the winter and barge in the summer. The project would have many spin-off benefits including reduced consumer costs in Kitikmeot communities through the provision of fuel and other bulk goods. The project will eventually be built through a 50-50 joint venture between Kitikmeot Corporation and Nuna Logistics, a majority-Inuit-owned company "renowned for its expertise in ice-road construction and transportation"
Kinross acquired the Lupin underground gold mine from Echo Bay Mines in 2003, and operated it until its closure in 2005. Since 1982, the Lupin Gold Mine has produced more than 3 million ounces of gold.
Lupin is located within Nunavut, approximately 80 km east of the Izok deposit, very close to the southern boundary of Nunavut with the NWT.
In February, 2006 Wolfden announced that it would acquire a 100% interest in the Lupin Gold Mine from Kinross, and in March, 2007 announced that it had completed this transaction. At this time there had been some discussion of reopening Lupin to mine any gold that may still remain.
During 2007 Zinifex Ltd. acquired Wolfden Resources, and in mid-2008 Oxiana Resources merged with Zinifex to form OZ Minerals.
OZ Minerals then announced that Izok would be their top development priority (our expectation at that time being that Izok may, to some degree, rely on the existing infrastructure at Lupin - and which remains a possibility, depending on which company ultimately develops Izok). However OZ Minerals subsequently announced that they were deferring several capital projects and making substantial cuts to operating cost budgets. As such, the feasibility study of the Izok project, for one, was deferred.
On June 11th, 2009, China Minmetals Corporation completed the acquisition of OZ Minerals (assets acquisition). A new Australian company called Minerals and Metals Group Ltd. (MMG) will be set up to manage these assets. Further information on plans for project development is not available at this time.
The Izok Lake and High Lake properties are two undeveloped high-grade VMS deposits located between the communities of Bathurst Inlet and Kugluktuk. Reserve estimates for both deposits have to be confirmed, but resources at Izok Lake include 14.8 million tonnes grading 12.7% Zn, 2.5% Cu, 1.3% Pb and 70.5 g/t Ag; while High Lake contains resources of 17.3 million tonnes grading 17.3% Zn, 2.3% Cu, 0.3% Pb, 70.1 g/t Ag and 1.0 g/t Au. The High Lake property consists of 15 leases (1,710 ha) located mainly on IOL surface and subsurface parcels.
Ownership of these deposits has changed several times in recent years. At the beginning of 2009, they were 100 per cent owned by OZ Minerals Ltd., a public company based in Australia, and both were entering the pre-feasibility stage of development. In early 2009, the Chinese state mining company China Minmetals Corporation (CMM) and its 100 per cent owned subsidiary China Minmetals Non -ferrous Metals Co. Ltd. attempted to acquire all outstanding shares in OZ Minerals. In June 2009, CMM (or Min - metals) succeeded in acquiring a signifi - cant portion of the OZ Minerals' assets. The Izok Lake and High Lake deposits are now owned by Minmetals through its Canadian subsidiary MMG Resources Inc. Izok Lake and High Lake deposits lie near to the surface, and are hosted in a series of felsic pyroclastic, dacitic and basaltic flows, sulphide-rich iron formation and turbiditic sedimentary rocks. Dacitic and gabbroic dykes, which feed overlying flows, intrude into the felsic volcanic sequences. The complex is Archean in age. Mapping, prospecting and detailed ground geophysics were completed at Izok Lake in 2009. Fifty-seven electromagnetic targets were selected for exploratory drilling. At High Lake, a regional exploration program was completed and drilling confirmed significant mineralization at nearby Sand Lake.
A pre-feasibility study was undertaken on Izok Lake. Due to the remoteness of this site, the study included assessment of transportation options and localities for building an all-weather road from the Arctic Ocean to the potential mine-site. Several port and road combination routes were examined, including: Grays Bay, Bathurst Inlet and east of Kugluktuk. After initial research, the Grays Bay option was favoured as this route would allow ore to be shipped to the Coronation Gulf and the Northwest Passage. The mine plan proposed both an open pit and under - ground operation, producing 4,000 tonnes per day for 10.5 years.
After completing economic assessment and pre-feasibility studies, the company concluded that the Izok Lake deposit in its current form could not provide sufficient return on investment as a stand-alone project. Instead, a combination of several high-grade deposits (e.g. High Lake, Izok Lake, Gondor and Ulu) could make the region economical when extracted, shipped and processed together. During 2008, with the depression of the world markets and an increased debt load, OZ Minerals announced the postponement of the planned feasibility studies on the Izok and High Lake properties.
MMG Resources also intends to explore further the Izok Lake and High Lake properties using reconnaissance geo - logical mapping and prospecting to expand the knowledge base of the properties and potentially discover additional base-metal showings. No work was completed at the Izok Lake site in 2009. At the High Lake site, a limited drill program plus care and maintenance work was undertaken. No information is available regarding future work, exploration or development plans for either site. MMG Resources is completing a multi-million dollar exploration program on the Izok deposit in 2010. Novus Golds REN property is approximately 20 kilometres from Izok Lake.
Gondor and Hood are known base metals systems have been explored for many years. OZ Minerals considered these deposits to be peripheral deposits to Izok Lake, and a possible additional source of base- and precious-metal ore to augment supply from a future Izok Lake Mine. The Gondor deposit hosts historical resources of 4.38 million tonnes at 0.1% Cu, 1.2% Pb, 9.7% Zn, 0.78 g/t Au and 64.6 g/t Ag, and remains open in all directions and at depth. The deposit is believed to offer significant potential and may be large enough to be developed as a stand-alone property. In 2009, before the properties' acquisition by CMM and MMG Resources Inc., OZ Minerals had completed analysis of a regional airborne survey (flown in 2007 and 2008), and followed-up on geophysical targets using mapping, prospecting and ground geophysical surveys. Twenty-five electromagnetic targets were selected for follow-up evaluation and were identified for future drilling.
The Hood deposit is smaller than Gondor and comprises a series of multiple near-surface deposits in proximity to one another. Some of these deposits offer good base metal exploration potential. Further delineation and assessment work is required at this property.
Results from the 2009 season have not been released by MMG Resources Inc.
Source:
http://www.mmgroupltd.com/default.aspx
http://www.nunavutgeoscience.ca/eo/YrPrjct/0/416_e.html
http://www.bipr.ca/project.htm
http://www.nunalogistics.com/projects/clients/bathurst/index.html
http://www.kitikmeotcorp.ca/bathurst.htm
http://www.minetraining.ca/mts_nwtfact.php
NOTE TO WEBSITE VISITORS
This website and all content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as a recommendation for any specific product or service, use or course of action. You should not act or rely on any of the content without seeking advice of a qualified professional. This web site and all content on this web site or made available through this web site are provided "as is" without any representations, warranties, guarantees or conditions, of any kind, whether express or implied, statutory or otherwise. The content may not be accurate, up to date, or complete. You should apply your own judgment in making any use of any content. Novus Gold Corp. does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or appropriateness of the information, data, opinions, advice, or statements accessed through links to other sites, and when you access such sites, you are doing so at your own risk. In providing links to other sites, Novus Gold Corp. is in no way acting as a publisher or disseminator of the material contained on those other sites and does not seek to monitor or control such sites, and such links should not be construed to mean that Novus Gold Corp. is affiliated or associated with same. In no event will Novus Gold Corp., its affiliates or their respective directors, employees or authorized agents, be liable for damages or losses resulting from: viruses, data corruption, failed messages, transmission errors, links to third-party web sites, third-party content, products or services, loss of use or lack of availability of facilities including computer resources, routers and stored data. Novus Gold Corp. assumes no obligation to update the content on this site, and the content on this site may be changed without notice. Novus Gold Corp. disclaims any liability for unauthorized use or reproduction of any portion of the web site.
The Yellowknife Supergroup has an early cover sequence comprised of quartzite and banded iron formation. This area contains some of Canada's largest undeveloped volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. Over time, numerous gold deposits formed throughout the Slave craton, either as shear- or vein-hosted deposits in deformed greenstones or within the chemical traps provided by banded iron formations. The abundant mineral endowment of the Slave Geological Province (SGP) has been known for several decades. The SGP has produced minerals continuously since the 1930s. However, the full potential of this area has not yet been realized due, for the most part, to the lack of transportation infrastructure.
Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project
BackgroundThe Slave Geological Province has become one of the most widely known mineral exploration and development regions in the world. Known to host deposits of gold, copper, zinc, nickel, a nd now diamonds, this ancient rock is among the world's oldest and was formed about 2.7 to 2.5 billion years ago. The Slave Geological Province has produced much of the North's mineral wealth, most recently including such diamond mines as Ekati, Diavik, and even more recently, Tahera Diamond Mine (currently under construction). But the development of this area has been hindered by the remoteness and lack of transportation infrastructure. The development of an Arctic port and road network would foster mineral production in the Slave Geological Province, and would bring many long-term economic benefits to the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, as well as to Nunavut as a whole.
About the Proposed Road
Once constructed, the road will see trucks moving construction materials, as well as offshore fuel, to 'budding' mine sites, as well as to existing mine sites in the area. The project could slash the cost of getting supplies and fuel to these hard-to-reach areas. For example, materials for the Diavik mine are currently hauled overland 2,300 kilometers from Edmonton, by rail and across winter ice-roads. Shipping goods through the Arctic Ocean to Bathurst Inlet would be far cheaper, and the all-weather road would also lengthen the trucking season. The current trucking season is currently limited by ice conditions to only a few months in late winter. Access across Contwoyto Lake would be by ice road in the winter and barge in the summer. The project would have many spin-off benefits including reduced consumer costs in Kitikmeot communities through the provision of fuel and other bulk goods. The project will eventually be built through a 50-50 joint venture between Kitikmeot Corporation and Nuna Logistics, a majority-Inuit-owned company "renowned for its expertise in ice-road construction and transportation"
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Lupin Mine Site
 Lupin Mine |
Lupin is located within Nunavut, approximately 80 km east of the Izok deposit, very close to the southern boundary of Nunavut with the NWT.
In February, 2006 Wolfden announced that it would acquire a 100% interest in the Lupin Gold Mine from Kinross, and in March, 2007 announced that it had completed this transaction. At this time there had been some discussion of reopening Lupin to mine any gold that may still remain.
During 2007 Zinifex Ltd. acquired Wolfden Resources, and in mid-2008 Oxiana Resources merged with Zinifex to form OZ Minerals.
OZ Minerals then announced that Izok would be their top development priority (our expectation at that time being that Izok may, to some degree, rely on the existing infrastructure at Lupin - and which remains a possibility, depending on which company ultimately develops Izok). However OZ Minerals subsequently announced that they were deferring several capital projects and making substantial cuts to operating cost budgets. As such, the feasibility study of the Izok project, for one, was deferred.
On June 11th, 2009, China Minmetals Corporation completed the acquisition of OZ Minerals (assets acquisition). A new Australian company called Minerals and Metals Group Ltd. (MMG) will be set up to manage these assets. Further information on plans for project development is not available at this time.
Izok Lake / High Lake Deposits
 Click to Enlarge |
Ownership of these deposits has changed several times in recent years. At the beginning of 2009, they were 100 per cent owned by OZ Minerals Ltd., a public company based in Australia, and both were entering the pre-feasibility stage of development. In early 2009, the Chinese state mining company China Minmetals Corporation (CMM) and its 100 per cent owned subsidiary China Minmetals Non -ferrous Metals Co. Ltd. attempted to acquire all outstanding shares in OZ Minerals. In June 2009, CMM (or Min - metals) succeeded in acquiring a signifi - cant portion of the OZ Minerals' assets. The Izok Lake and High Lake deposits are now owned by Minmetals through its Canadian subsidiary MMG Resources Inc. Izok Lake and High Lake deposits lie near to the surface, and are hosted in a series of felsic pyroclastic, dacitic and basaltic flows, sulphide-rich iron formation and turbiditic sedimentary rocks. Dacitic and gabbroic dykes, which feed overlying flows, intrude into the felsic volcanic sequences. The complex is Archean in age. Mapping, prospecting and detailed ground geophysics were completed at Izok Lake in 2009. Fifty-seven electromagnetic targets were selected for exploratory drilling. At High Lake, a regional exploration program was completed and drilling confirmed significant mineralization at nearby Sand Lake.
A pre-feasibility study was undertaken on Izok Lake. Due to the remoteness of this site, the study included assessment of transportation options and localities for building an all-weather road from the Arctic Ocean to the potential mine-site. Several port and road combination routes were examined, including: Grays Bay, Bathurst Inlet and east of Kugluktuk. After initial research, the Grays Bay option was favoured as this route would allow ore to be shipped to the Coronation Gulf and the Northwest Passage. The mine plan proposed both an open pit and under - ground operation, producing 4,000 tonnes per day for 10.5 years.
After completing economic assessment and pre-feasibility studies, the company concluded that the Izok Lake deposit in its current form could not provide sufficient return on investment as a stand-alone project. Instead, a combination of several high-grade deposits (e.g. High Lake, Izok Lake, Gondor and Ulu) could make the region economical when extracted, shipped and processed together. During 2008, with the depression of the world markets and an increased debt load, OZ Minerals announced the postponement of the planned feasibility studies on the Izok and High Lake properties.
MMG Resources also intends to explore further the Izok Lake and High Lake properties using reconnaissance geo - logical mapping and prospecting to expand the knowledge base of the properties and potentially discover additional base-metal showings. No work was completed at the Izok Lake site in 2009. At the High Lake site, a limited drill program plus care and maintenance work was undertaken. No information is available regarding future work, exploration or development plans for either site. MMG Resources is completing a multi-million dollar exploration program on the Izok deposit in 2010. Novus Golds REN property is approximately 20 kilometres from Izok Lake.
Gondor / Hood Deposits
China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co. Ltd. - a subsidiary of the state-owned China Minmetals Corporation (CMM or Minmetals) - acquired the Gondor and Hood deposits from OZ Minerals in June 2009. The acquisition was coupled with the acquisition of other high-grade pre-feasibility grade properties in Nunavut. Through its Canadian subsidiary MMG Resources Inc., Minmetals now also owns the zinc-copper-lead- silver Izok Lake property, the copper-zinc- gold High Lake project and the past producing Lupin Gold Mine.Gondor and Hood are known base metals systems have been explored for many years. OZ Minerals considered these deposits to be peripheral deposits to Izok Lake, and a possible additional source of base- and precious-metal ore to augment supply from a future Izok Lake Mine. The Gondor deposit hosts historical resources of 4.38 million tonnes at 0.1% Cu, 1.2% Pb, 9.7% Zn, 0.78 g/t Au and 64.6 g/t Ag, and remains open in all directions and at depth. The deposit is believed to offer significant potential and may be large enough to be developed as a stand-alone property. In 2009, before the properties' acquisition by CMM and MMG Resources Inc., OZ Minerals had completed analysis of a regional airborne survey (flown in 2007 and 2008), and followed-up on geophysical targets using mapping, prospecting and ground geophysical surveys. Twenty-five electromagnetic targets were selected for follow-up evaluation and were identified for future drilling.
The Hood deposit is smaller than Gondor and comprises a series of multiple near-surface deposits in proximity to one another. Some of these deposits offer good base metal exploration potential. Further delineation and assessment work is required at this property.
Results from the 2009 season have not been released by MMG Resources Inc.
 Base Metals Deposits 2007 |
 Diamond Properties 2007 |
 Gold Properties 2007 |
 Land Tenure 2007 |
 REN Area Resource Projects |
 Tungsten Uranium Deposits 2007 |
Source:
http://www.mmgroupltd.com/default.aspx
http://www.nunavutgeoscience.ca/eo/YrPrjct/0/416_e.html
http://www.bipr.ca/project.htm
http://www.nunalogistics.com/projects/clients/bathurst/index.html
http://www.kitikmeotcorp.ca/bathurst.htm
http://www.minetraining.ca/mts_nwtfact.php
NOTE TO WEBSITE VISITORS
This website and all content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as a recommendation for any specific product or service, use or course of action. You should not act or rely on any of the content without seeking advice of a qualified professional. This web site and all content on this web site or made available through this web site are provided "as is" without any representations, warranties, guarantees or conditions, of any kind, whether express or implied, statutory or otherwise. The content may not be accurate, up to date, or complete. You should apply your own judgment in making any use of any content. Novus Gold Corp. does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or appropriateness of the information, data, opinions, advice, or statements accessed through links to other sites, and when you access such sites, you are doing so at your own risk. In providing links to other sites, Novus Gold Corp. is in no way acting as a publisher or disseminator of the material contained on those other sites and does not seek to monitor or control such sites, and such links should not be construed to mean that Novus Gold Corp. is affiliated or associated with same. In no event will Novus Gold Corp., its affiliates or their respective directors, employees or authorized agents, be liable for damages or losses resulting from: viruses, data corruption, failed messages, transmission errors, links to third-party web sites, third-party content, products or services, loss of use or lack of availability of facilities including computer resources, routers and stored data. Novus Gold Corp. assumes no obligation to update the content on this site, and the content on this site may be changed without notice. Novus Gold Corp. disclaims any liability for unauthorized use or reproduction of any portion of the web site.
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