The Northwest Territories' economy continues to lean heavily on diamond production, which is waning overall, and, to a lesser extent, rare earths.
In Nunavut, gold and iron ore are the backbone of GDP.
Here are some noteworthy occurrences from operating mining companies in both territories.
Burgundy Diamond Mines
Burgundy Diamond Mines, owner of Ekati, reported a major jump in carats sold in its first quarter report for 2024.
Its 1.32 million carats sold played a central part in the $117 million (U.S.) in revenues generated for the quarter.
The total yield was 1.15 million carats, down from 1.18 million a year earlier.
The average grade dropped nine per cent to 1.23 carats.
"Despite broad softening in the polished diamond market, Ekati product has continued to generate strong buyer interest and high sell-through rates," Burgundy Diamonds stated.
Ekati, Canada's first diamond mine and in operation since October 1998, could still have another 25 years of production ahead, said Burgundy Diamond Mines CEO Kim Truter in January.
Burgundy, based in Australia, purchased Ekati for $136 million from Arctic Canadian Diamond Company in June 2023.
Truter noted that Ekati, approximately 300 km northeast of Yellowknife near Lac de Gras, still has the third-largest reserve of diamonds of the known mines in the world.
Extending the mine life would include lengthening the work being done at the Misery, Fox and Sable pits as well as expanding Point Lake, the newest open pit. Burgundy is seeking permission to convert Sable to an underground operation.
However, it's critical that no significant delays arise, Truter added.
Ekati employs more than 1,000 people.
Mountain Province Diamonds/De Beers
First quarter results for Mountain Province Diamonds didn't glimmer.
The company recovered 1.26 million carats at the Gahcho Kue mine, 280 km northeast of Yellowknife, during the first three months of 2024. That was a four per cent shortfall compared to 1.32 million carats during the same period in 2023.
Mountain Province sold 938,000 carats to generate $89.4 million, or $95 per carat, on average. A year earlier, 961,024 carats were sold for $128.7 million, and an average of $134 per carat.
CEO Mark Wall noted that the grade from the mine was below expectations in March.
"We are reviewing the mine plan both for grade performance as well as potential opportunities to bring additional production into the life of mine plan. We have engaged an engineering firm to undertake this work and we plan to be able to provide an update to the market towards the end of Q2, 2024 on the results," Wall stated in a May 9 news release. "We are continuing to work on production and cost optimization as well as reviewing opportunities to enhance the value of Canadian provenance in the global diamond market."
Mountain Province is 49 per cent owner of Gahcho Kue. De Beers, with its 51 per cent, is not publicly-traded and does not disclose its operating performance.
Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto reported 740,000 carats of diamond production at Diavik during the first quarter of 2024. That represented a 22 per cent reduction from Q1 2023, but a 12 per cent improvement over the fourth quarter of 2023.
Rio Tinto attributed the decline in first quarter yield to " a production pause to grieve and honour lost colleagues."
The company opened its first quarter production results report with this quote from chief executive Jakob Stausholm: “We have been deeply affected by the loss of four Diavik colleagues and two airline crew members in a plane crash in January. This tragedy has strengthened our resolve to never be complacent about safety."
The deadly incident in question occurred on Jan. 23 when a Northwestern Air Lease aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Fort Smith. It was en route to the Diavik mine, approximately 300 km northeast of Yellowknife.
Full-year diamond production for 2023 was 3.34 million carats, a 28.2 per cent decline from 4.65 million carats in 2022.
Vital Metals
Australian-based Vital Metals is planning a mineral resource estimate for the Tardiff deposit at the Nechalacho rare earths mine later this year. It will include drill results since 2022, the company stated in April.
Its also aiming to undertake a scoping study late in 2024 to get a better understanding of the size and scalability of future production.
Using a lower cutoff value, Vital Metals, the only company producing rare earths in Canada, revised its estimate of the remaining resource at Tardiff in April, coming up with figures of 213 million tonnes of material containing approximately 2.5 million tonnes of rare earths. The previous estimates were 1.67 million tonnes of rare earths in 119 million tonnes of ore.
It was a very challenging 2023 for Vital Metals as the company entered bankruptcy proceedings for its Canadian subsidiary in September after it determined that its $55-million rare earths ore processing facility in Saskatoon, already under construction, was not feasible.
In October, Vital Metals agreed to sell $13 million in shares to the Chinese-backed Shenghe Resource Holdings, which caused a stir because Nechalacho, 110 km southeast of Yellowknife, had long been promoted as a North American alternative source of rare earths, a market that is dominated by China.
Agnico Eagle Mines
In its first quarter 2024 report, Agnico Eagle touted record monthly throughput and ore hauled at its Meliadine gold mine, 25 km north of Rankin Inlet, in January.
The company milled 496,000 tonnes of ore at Meliadine during the first three months of 2024, up from 476,000 tonnes during the same period in 2023. Gold production jumped to 95,725 ounces from 90,467 ounces during the first quarter of 2023. The total cash cost per ounce also rose, but by a very small margin to $942 per ounce from $937 per ounce a year earlier.
The opposite was true at the Meadowbank complex, 110 km north of Baker Lake, where gold from the Amaruq project is processed. Total cash costs there dropped to $937 in Q1 2024, down from $1,134 per ounce of gold during Q1 2023. Meadowbank produced 127,774 ounces of gold during the first quarter of 2024, up from 111,110 ounces during the equivalent period in 2023. There was also record quarterly mill throughput at Meadowbank, ramped up to almost 1.07 million tonnes compared to 983,000 tonnes in Q1 2023.
First quarter exploration drilling at Meliadine totalled 24,500 metres with some "significant high-grade intersections" in the Wesmeg and Wesmeg North deep extension to the east, including 10.2 grams of gold per tonne over 5.8 metres and 11.1 grams of gold per tonne over 3.6 metres.
Agnico Eagle has extended the mine life at Amaruq to 2028, tacking on two years from 2026, when the mine was previously expected to shut down. This extension is expected to result in an additional 500,000 ounces of gold.
The company hoped to add 11 more years to Meliadine’s production as well, but it hit a roadblock there. The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) recommended against the proposal in November, citing “considerable uncertainty of the potential for the proposal to have negative, lasting effects on caribou, and the uncertainty of cumulative effects.”
Agnico Eagle stated that it was “disappointed by the NIRB’s recommendation and has withdrawn the amendment to the Meliadine mine’s permit for the extension project. The company has engaged in positive dialogue with the NIRB since the recommendation against the extension project. The company will consider resubmitting a new proposal for the extension of the mine life at Meliadine in the future.”
Without an extension, Meliadine is expected to close around 2032.
As for Agnico Eagle’s Doris North mine on the Hope Bay property in the Kitikmeot, the company continues to drill for additional sources of gold at nearby deposits.
“Based on recent exploration success, the company is evaluating a larger potential production scenario for Hope Bay,” Agnico Eagle stated in February. “The company expects to report results from this internal technical evaluation in 2025.”
Doris North has been on care and maintenance status for the past few years.
Baffinland Iron Mines
Baffinland Iron Mines continues to ship up to six million tonnes of iron ore from its Mary River mine, 160 km south of Pond Inlet. The company is seeking permission to maintain that limit until 2030, or whenever its Steensby Inlet railway becomes operational.
The latest extension to its shipping limit was granted in November, with approval coming from Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal.
That’s an improvement over 4.2 million tonnes, the company’s previous limit from several years ago. However, it’s half of what Baffinland sought through its rejected phase two proposal in 2022. Vandal decided that environmental and wildlife concerns were too great for the proposed 12 million tonnes of iron ore to proceed. It’s expected that Baffinland will submit an amended application in the near future, according to the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB).
Baffinland was the subject of a cumulative effects workshop held in Iqaluit in February, which NIRB oversaw. The review board is recommending improvements to the monitoring of cumulative effects from mine operations, and also wants a new cumulative effects assessment framework put in place for future assessments.
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated is supportive of an updated cumulative effects assessment of the Mary River mine, which has been producing high-grade iron ore since 2015.
“In conclusion, long-standing Inuit concerns regarding existing impacts of the Mary River project and cumulative effects must be resolved,” NTI stated in February.
In its response to NIRB’s 2023 annual monitoring report, Baffinland outlined some of its efforts to address various concerns, such as trials of a dust suppression product at the crusher site and on along the tote road.
Caribou monitoring, an issue that arises regularly, was addressed through ongoing consultation with the Government of Nunavut (GN), according to Baffinland.
“Baffinland highlights the considerable efforts made to expand caribou monitoring in 2023, including completion of a caribou aerial survey (not conducted at the project since 2012). Based on outcomes of this survey, Baffinland has engaged with the GN for potential development of a caribou collaring and caribou tissue sampling program on northern Baffin Island,” the company stated, adding that the Qikiqtani Inuit Association will make recommendations on how to conduct a collaring program.