Mining for Power: Uranium Mining in Baker Lake Nunavut
Mining for Power: Uranium and the Community of Baker Lake, Nunavut Elaine Wang, University of Vermont (prepared for ENVS 295, Dr. Saleem H. Ali) December 2006 Three representations of the Kivalliq District, Nunavut Clockwise from upper left: project map released to the media by Titan Uranium; satellite image from Google Maps; caribou ranges mapped by Beverly-Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board “The Kiggavik Project near Baker Lake never went ahead. It is possible that, because of changing market conditions and the superior ore grades in neighboring Saskatchewan, 1989-90 had provided a window of opportunity for its development that was never to be repeated.” -Robert McPherson 2003, New Owners in the Own Land adapted from Cameco Corporation, 2006; not constant dollars Introduction In a plebiscite held on March 26, 1990, residents of the hamlet of Baker Lake (in what was then the District of Keewatin, Northwest Territories, now the District of Kivalliq, Nunavut, Canada), voted overwhelmingly against the development of a uranium mine by Urangesellschaft Canada Ltd. (UG) at a nearby site called Kiggavik, part of what prospectors know as the Thelon Basin. As a result, UG never explored its claims. In August of the same year, Bob Leonard, the president of the Keewatin Chamber of Commerce stated, “We are in an economic crisis. The economy in the Keewatin is in a mess. We are totally dependent on government spending and there’s no way that can continue.”1 The opening quote by Robert McPherson, a mining consultant in the Nunavut land claims negotiations, suggests that as recently as 2003, uranium mining near Baker Lake was, for many reasons, considered a non-option.
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