Upwardly Mobile: The New Northern Middle Class
If sleek new Lunds and speedy Arctic Cats are one measure of whether northern families are better off these days, look around places like Baker Lake, Behchoko, and Cambridge Bay, three Northern and mainly indigenous communities that are seeing profound changes in the ways their economies are evolving. It’s due in large part to the […]
In the Shadow of the Head Frame
Kerry Knoll says there are three niches in the mining industry: exploration, construction, and operation. “I never really liked exploration because your business plan depends on luck, and operation of mines isn’t that exciting for me,” says Knoll, who is the executive chairman and director of Pine Point Mining Limited. “So what I go for […]
Faces in Mining: Gabriel Olayok
When Gabriel Olayok signed on at Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank gold mine six years ago, he was a 30-year old father of three, with his late father, Vital Olayok, looking over his shoulder. He wanted “to follow my dad’s footprints” in the same job – heavy equipment operator – his father had in their home community […]
Faces in Mining: Dr. April Hayward
April Hayward thought she was destined for a life in high-level sciences when she decided it was time for a change. It was a good call. She changed jobs and found a new passion to help make mining cleaner. “The reality for me was I was in my mid-30s, on an academic path, and realized […]
Faces in Mining: Cara Benoit
There are lots of moms working at mines around the North, but here’s a claim few can make – Cara Benoit gets to have breakfast once in a while with her sons, Garrett and Damon Benoit, who both work for site contractor Nuna Logistics on Diavik’s A21 kimberlite construction project. Benoit, the Occupational Health and […]
NWT Mining and Mineral Exploration Update 2017
The Northwest Territories (NWT) mineral industry showed signs of an upswing in 2017, based on improved commodity prices and an increase in claim staking. In 2016, 85 claims covering 42,000 ha were staked, in 2017, over 270 claims covering 182,000 ha were staked in the first three quarters of 2017. Diamonds There were major changes […]
Exploration and Production on the Rise Across Nunavut
Worldwide mineral exploration and development activities rebounded moderately in 2017, and Nunavut followed the general trend. The territory covers approximately 20 percent of Canada’s total land mass and hosts mineral deposits of gold, diamonds, iron, uranium and base metals spread through its three regions: Kitikmeot, Kivalliq and Qikiqtani. As of September 2017, over 6.5 million […]
Being Herd
Each summer in the 1980s, almost half a million caribou began their annual migration from calving grounds just west of Bathurst Inlet, in what was then northern NWT, and headed south. The Bathurst herd travelled hundreds of kilometres across the tundra to their winter range, which could, depending on instinctual decisions and dynamics that humans […]
In the Shadow of the Head Frame
In the Shadow of the Head Frame There’s an old adage that says to find a new mine, look in the shadow of the headframe of an old or existing mine. Four exploration projects – Pine Point, Yellowknife City Gold, Colomac and Kennady Diamonds – are proving it to be true Kerry Knoll says there […]
Renewing the Northern Vision
Renewing the Northern Vision It’s time for Canada to – once again – develop the vision for the territories’ future. It can be hard to fathom the immensity of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories — and the challenges that vast size brings — from the comfort of a well-serviced home south of the 60th parallel. […]
