Back River gold mine could break ground this spring in Kitikmeot – by Sara Frizzell (CBC News North – December 07, 2017)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Minister Carolyn Bennett has given Sabina Gold and Silver the go-ahead for Back River project

Sabina Gold and Silver announced Wednesday it had received approval from Carolyn Bennett, minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, to build a gold mine approximately 400 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

The minister’s decision follows approval of the Back River gold mine project from the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) in July, after previously rejecting the project in 2016.

“The government of Nunavut and the Inuit associations have acknowledged for some time that resource development is an important part of their potential future, so they are always cautious about industrial development, including mining, but at the same time they’re very supportive,” said Matthew Pickard, Sabina’s vice president of environment and sustainability.

“They work through the challenges and they take their time to figure out the best way.” On Dec. 14, the government of Nunavut, the federal government, and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association will discuss the draft project certificate issued last July. The Nunavut Impact Review Board is expected to agree on a final project certificate by early January.

Sabina and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association recently agreed on the terms that will eventually define the project’s Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement.

For the rest of this article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/sabina-gold-mine-cambridge-bay-back-river-1.4438102