Sabina moves ahead with port and road project

Sabina Gold and Silver says it wants to build the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, with help from a company planning a zinc mine nearby.

The project was set aside three years ago by the proponent. The Nunavut Impact Review Board wrote to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development last October to determine if the project review should be closed.

ButSabina Gold and Silver bought the project late last year, re-examined it, and now says it wants to revive the project.

The port and road project was proposed as a way to improve transportation in the Kitikmeot and open up the region to mineral exploration. It would include a 211-kilometre all-weather road to connect the port at Bathurst Inlet to the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road to Yellowknife.

Sabina's Back River gold project is in the region, as well as a zinc mine planned by Xstrata, which Sabina also has a stake in.

Nicole Hoeller of Sabina says the port and road would benefit both companies and also the entire Kitikmeot region.

"We are looking to potentially engage Inuit organizations, to see if they could be involved as well, so it all comes down to users."

The first step is for Nunavut regulators to determine whether the review that was suspended so many years ago can simply be reopened or whether it needs to back up and start again.

"I think, for my part, its the longest ongoing review that we've had," said Ryan Barry of the Nunavut Impact Review Board.