Qikiqtani Region Arctic Ocean
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OVERVIEW 2017 NUNAVUT MINERAL EXPLORATION, MINING & GEOSCIENCE QIKIQTANI REGION ARCTIC OCEAN OCÉAN ARCTIQUE LEGEND Commodity (Number of Properties) Base Metals, Active (2) Mine, Active (1) Diamonds, Active (2) Quttinirpaaq NP Sanikiluaq Mine, Inactive (2) Gold, Active (1) Areas with Surface and/or Subsurface Restrictions 10 CPMA Caribou Protection Measures Apply ISLANDS Belcher MBS Migratory Bird Sanctuary NP National Park Nares Strait Islands NWA National Wildlife Area - ÉLISABETH Nansen TP Territorial Park WP Wildlife Preserve WS Wildlife Sanctuary Sound ELLESMERE ELIZABETHREINE ISLAND Inuit Owned Lands (Fee simple title) Kane Surface Only LA Agassiz Basin Surface and Subsurface Ice Cap QUEEN Geological Mapping Programs Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office ÎLES DE Kalaallit Nunaat Boundaries Peary Channel Müller GREENLAND/GROENLAND NLCA1 Nunavut Settlement Area Ice CapAXEL Nunavut Regions HEIBERG ÎLE (DENMARK/DANEMARK) NILCA 2 Nunavik Settlement Area ISLAND James Bay WP Provincial / Territorial D'ELLESMERE James Bay Transportation Routes Massey Sound Twin Islands WS Milne Inlet Tote Road / Proposed Rail Line Hassel Sound Prince of Wales Proposed Steensby Inlet Rail Line Prince Ellef Ringnes Icefield Gustaf Adolf Amund Meliadine Road Island Proposed Nunavut to Manitoba Road Sea Ringnes Eureka Sound Akimiski 1 Akimiski I. NLCA The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Island Island MBS 2 NILCA The Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement Norwegian Bay Baie James Boatswain Bay MBS ISLANDSHazen Strait Belcher Channel Byam Martin Channel Penny S Grise Fiord Nirjutiqavvik 025 50100150 NWA Kilometres Hannah Bay MBS Qausuittuq trait Lady Ann Strait NP Jones Sound Wellington Channel BATHURST ELVILLE ISLAND Polar Bear Pass Devon NWA ISLAND Ice Cap BAFFIN BAY Cornwallis DEVON ISLAND Island BAIE DE BAFFIN Polaris Mine Resolute Melville Sound P A R R Y Lancaster Sound Barrow Strait C H A N N E L Prince Leopold Island MBS Bylot Island Seal Bylot Island Stefansson 102 Storm MBS 101 Nanisivik Mine Sirmilik NP Island Peel Sound Admiralty Inlet Pond Inlet SOMERSET Arctic Bay Tasiujaq Borden M'Clintock ISLAND Storkerson Sirmilik Milne Inlet NP Peninsula Davis Strait Peninsula PRINCE OF WALES Brodeur Prince Regent Inlet Clyde River ISLAND ! Channel Peninsula 401 2 Mary River Mine BAFFIN 8 Niginganiq NWA Détroit de Davis Gulf of Boothia ÎLE Barnes Franklin Strait AND 3 Qikiqtani Steensby Inlet Ice Cap Boothia DE Qaqulluit NWA Qikiqtarjuaq Akpait NWA Larsen Sound ! Collinson Peninsula Fury and Hecla Strait ISLAND Kitikmeot Baffin Gold Peninsula 306 BAFFIN ttuq NP Igloolik Auyui CUMBERLAND Penny PENINSULA Taloyoak Ice Cap King Hall Beach t Cambridge Bay Victoria Strait William Rasmussen Prince Pangnirtung Island ! Gjoa Haven Charles Basin Kugaaruk MELVILLE Island Queen Maud GulfStoris Passage Committee Cumberland Sound Mel Nettilling Wales I. Lake Bay PENINSULA 206 FOXE ARCTIC CIRCLE DeweyMBS Soper Queen Maud Gulf BASIN CERCLE ARCTIQUE MBS Bowman Chidliak Bowman Bay Bay WS HALL PENINSULA201 nlet Sanikiluaq T Amadjuak Naujaat Lake 10 IQALUIT o ! Belcher River Ukkusiksalik NP Foxe Channel 9 5 IslandsBack Wager Bay Frobisher Bay 4 7 Beverly CPMA META Katannilik TP INCOGNITA M ! PENINSULA Cape Dorset Markham Bay Kimmirut Aberdeen SOUTHAMPTON Coral Harbour Hudson Strait Big Thelon WS Lake Kivalliq ISLAND East Bay MBS Island Resolutionland Baker Lake Is Harry Détroit d' Hudson Baker Lake Roes Welcome Sound River Gibbons Charles MBS Island River L James Bay WP Chesterfield Inlet Dubawnt Coats JamesLake Bay 6River Island Mansel Twin Islands WS Qamanirjuaq Island t Rankin Inlet CPMA Ungava Bay Yathkyed 062.5 125 250 375 500 Baie d'Ungava Akimiski Kazan Lake Q Dubawn Akimiski I. Whale Cove Island MBS Kilometres North Henik Baie James Lake SouthBoatswain Henik Bay MBS Lake N ! Arviat Qikiqtani Region Qikiqtani Region The Qikiqtani region includes Baffin Island and the other islands The Mary River iron mine, owned by Baffinland Iron Mines of the Canadian Arctic archipelago, the northern part of the Melville Corporation and located near the community of Pond Inlet, Peninsula, and the Belcher Islands. Some of the oldest rocks in has been in production since late 2014. In 2017, the company Canada are found in this region. They are part of the Canadian transported an estimated 4.1 million tonnes of iron ore to the Shield and are exposed on Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula. Milne Inlet port by truck, using the Milne Inlet tote road. The ore They also form the bedrock of eastern Devon Island and parts was stockpiled at the port and shipped in the months of August of Ellesmere Island. These granitic, volcanic, sedimentary and through October during the open water season. The company metamorphic rocks formed during the Precambrian period, the is seeking an amendment, termed the Phase 2 Development time from when the Earth was formed (about 4.5 billion years ago) proposal, to its project certificate. If approved, this proposal would until the beginning of the Cambrian period (540 million years ago). allow the construction of additional infrastructure at the Milne The metamorphic rocks in the region are highly folded, faulted, and Inlet port including a larger ore-loading dock that would triple the deeply eroded. Spectacular folds, large enough to be seen from amount of ore that could be shipped at the port during the open space, outline the present-day shape of the Belcher Islands. water season. The company is also seeking to construct a rail line along the tote road to transport an increased volume In the west and the far north, the Qikiqtani region is made up of ore to the port. of thick Paleozoic (540-252 million year old) sedimentary rock, originally deposited on an ancient seabed and continental margin. Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. ran a summer exploration program on The layers of rocks occasionally contain coal seams and preserve the Storm property in 2017, including surface reconnaissance and many types of fossils, from marine shells and fish to terrestrial a property-wide geophysical survey. This work follows on results animals and plants. These gently folded and tilted rocks are generated through the $4 million 2016 drilling and regional soil- exposed on many of the Arctic islands and rise up to form the sampling programs. The results from this work were released in rugged mountains of Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands. The January 2017 and included the discovery of new soil anomalies, widening of the ocean basin between Greenland and Nunavut is, as well as significant findings of copper and silver mineralization in part, responsible for this mountain building and is one of the from drilling. In December, the company announced an initial most recent tectonic events in Nunavut’s geologic history. inferred resource for the Seal property of 1.006 million tonnes (Mt) of zinc ore. Tens of thousands of years ago, thick ice sheets covered the entire territory and created the steep-walled fiords located on eastern Baffin Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. completed a work program in September Island and Ellesmere Island, where glaciers and ice caps remain to 2017 on its 100 per cent owned Chidliak project on southern Baffin this day. Minerals left behind by the glaciers’ erosion of the landscape Island. The program focused on drilling at the CH-6 kimberlite, as well help prospectors and geologists locate possible metal or diamond as geotechnical drilling, environmental baseline studies, and follow-up deposits. The Qikiqtani region hosts many kinds of mineral deposits work to support the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of and occurrences, including iron, gold, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, Chidliak released in 2016. A total of 9.32 carats in 213 diamonds platinum, and diamonds. Clues about the location of these deposits greater than 0.85 mm were recovered from the 1,936 kilograms (kg) can be found using ground or airborne geophysical surveys, by of kimberlite material sampled in the 2017 program. Information prospecting for minerals that are associated with certain types of gathered from this season’s field results will be used to update deposits, or by looking for rusty weathered sulphide-rich rocks. the PEA and further refine the design of the open pit mine plan. Number Project Operator Status Base Metals 101 Storm Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. Active 104 Seal Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. Active Diamonds 201 Chidliak Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. Active 206 Mel North Arrow Minerals Inc. Active Gold 306 Baffin Gold Kivalliq Energy Corporation Active Iron 401 Mary River Mine Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation Active Please refer to the map on the cover for the location of active projects in the Qikiqtani region. Bold text signifies a major project. Qikiqtani Region Prospecting on the Storm Copper property. Courtesy of Aston Bay Holdings Ltd At the Mel project on the Melville Peninsula, North Arrow Minerals Other Geological Programs And Studies Ltd. announced the discovery of diamondiferous kimberlite. The Qirnirktaaluk Project, discovery, named ML-8, was found at the termination of a well- Canada Nunavut Geoscience Office (CNGO) defined train of kimberlite indicator minerals, and consists of This project is taking place on the northwestern portion of Baffin kimberlite material up to 0.5 m in size. A 62.1-kg sample taken Island, with the goal of finishing bedrock and surficial geology map from kimberlite boulders found at the surface produced coverage of the island. The project is expected to be completed by 23 diamonds larger than 0.106 mm in size. 2020, and will cover about 40,000 km2. In 2017, a regional airborne The Baffin Gold property was acquired from Commander geophysical survey was done to provide some basic geological Resources Ltd. by Kivalliq Energy Corporation in May 2017. information before the mapping begins in 2018. The CNGO held Kivalliq Energy’s summer field program included grab and channel meetings in Arctic Bay and Igloolik in early 2017 to introduce the sampling, till geochemistry, and drone-acquired high-resolution project to those communities and to engage with local residents imagery of new and existing targets.