Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Alliance nabs coastal Nunavut gold project

Transition Metals Corp. and Nunavut Resources Corp. Nov. 30 announced the signing of an agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. for exploration of the Arcadia Bay property, an Inuit-owned parcel on the Coronation Gulf coast in Nunavut. The property hosts Archean lode-gold style mineralization with a historical resource of 572,067 metric tons grading 9.6 grams per metric ton gold. While this resource, calculated in 1983, does not meet NI 43-101 standards, Transition considers this historical estimate as an indication of the presence of mineralization. This resource is based on a near surface 680-meter-long section of the 4,200-meter North Vein, one of a series of north-trending gold-bearing vein systems identified on the property. Many of the vein systems have been traced for great distance at surface with good apparent continuity including the more than 1,200-meter Sidewalk Vein, which has returned up to 9.4 g/t gold over 12.5 meters in historical drilling. Transition Metals and Nunavut Resources, a subsidiary of Kitikmeot Inuit Association, are working under an alliance to identify exploration properties that will attract investment and lead to the discovery of economic ore deposits, and the development of new mines and infrastructure in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, Canada. The mineral exploration agreement grants the Alliance exclusive rights to explore for minerals within CO-31 and sets out terms to acquire a mineral production lease. Nunavut Resources President Scott Northey said, “We are pleased to consolidate our ownership interest on the Arcadia Bay project to include the portions of the property with established historical resources. The alliance will be actively seeking partnership funding or investment to help us initiate programs of work on the property in 2017.” The Arcadia Bay property is located along the coast of the Arctic Ocean, roughly 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) west of the proposed port facility at the terminus of the planned Izok Road Corridor. The Nunavut government and Nunavut Resources recently signed a memorandum of understanding to build the port and a 350-kilometer (220 miles) road that links the deep-water arctic seaport to Contwoyto Lake, near the area of the Izok Lake zinc-copper mine project being advanced by MMG Ltd.

-Shane Lasley