Renewed hope for Nunavut mine as new company takes over

People in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, hope a junior mining company has what it takes to breathe new life into the Hope Bay gold mine.

For more than a year, the nearly completed mine has been inactive ever since Newmont Mining Corporation shut the project down.

Now Toronto-based TMAC Resources is pushing hard to get the mine into production by 2015.

Irvin Kuptana's laptop is filled with pictures from his years living and working at the Hope Bay mine site. Kuptana did everything from assisting geologists in the field to waste management.

Newmont shut down the mine in 2012, just months after the companyhad announced an expansion.

"When it shut down, I was like what am I going to do now?," he asked.

Newmont began shipping sea cans will with equipment to put in storage down south. About 150 people from across the Kitikmeot region in Nunavut lost jobs, and businesses involved in the project lost contracts.

Only a small crew was left behind to do care and maintenance.

"It was devastating for me and not only me but for my family and my friends," said Allen Hikoalok, who also worked at the mine.

TMAC starting work at Doris site

But now, theres renewed hope for the mine.

TMAC Resources took over in March, with Newmont staying on as a major shareholder. The deal includes three significant gold deposits: sites called Doris North, Madrid and Boston.

"Obviously the program is going to be much more modest than it was during the Newmont days. But still we explain that to people who are interested in work and they are still very interested," said Alex Buchan, TMAC's manager of external and community affairs.

Twenty people are on site re-opening the Doris camp, and the company expects to see about 40 to 50 people working on site soonmainly geologists, drillers and environmental assistants.

For many businesses which supported operations at Hope Bay in the past, the road ahead is one of caution and optimism.

"We've seen activities where there's interest in the mining sector and different companies come and leave," said Kitikmeot Corporation president David Omilgoitok. "Hopefully TMAC will stay."

This summer, TMAC plans to focus on exploration on the north section of the green stone belt.

So far, the company has raised $50 million in financing, but the company still needs hundreds of millions of dollars to put the mine into production.