Back River gold mine could break ground this spring in Kitikmeot

Sabina Gold and Silver announced Wednesday it hadreceived approval from Carolyn Bennett, minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, to build a gold mine approximately 400 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

The minister's decisionfollows approval of the Back River gold mine projectfrom the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) in July, after previously rejecting the project in 2016.

• Once-rejected gold mine in Kitikmeot gets go-ahead from Nunavut review board

"The government of Nunavut and the Inuit associations have acknowledged for some time that resource development is an important part of their potential future, so they are always cautious about industrial development, including mining, but at the same time they're very supportive," saidMatthewPickard, Sabina's vice president of environment and sustainability.

"They work through the challenges and they take their time to figure out the best way."

On Dec. 14, the government ofNunavut, the federal government, and the Kitikmeot Inuit Associationwilldiscuss the draft project certificate issued lastJuly. The NunavutImpact Review Boardis expected to agree on a final projectcertificate by early January.

Sabina and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association recently agreedon the terms that will eventually define the project's Inuit ImpactBenefit Agreement.

The association will receive royalties from the mine, as well as three per cent of shares in Sabina Gold and Silver. The two will continue to work on how to advance Inuit employees to higher level positions, and on infrastructure projects to bring more economic development to the region.

Some minor federal approvals remain, as well as licensing from the Nunavut Water Board before ground can be broken at the mine site.

Sabina has applied for two kinds of water licences. Onewill allowpreliminary earthwork building culverts, for example while the companyawaits approval for a full water licence,expected sometime in late 2018.

Now that the minister has approved the project, the company can start searching for financing for the project, which will cost around $400 million to build,Pickard says. He expects the company to have enough money raised to break ground in March, pending licence approvals.

According to company reports, the mine couldoperate for more than 15 years and employ up to 900 on a fly-in-fly-out rotation.