Polaris mine

Polaris zinc mine was an underground zinc mine on Little Cornwallis Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut (Northwest Territories prior to Nunavut's official separation). The Polaris mine was located 1,120 kilometres (700 mi) north of the Arctic Circle, and 96 kilometres (60 mi) north of the community of Resolute. The Polaris mine closed in July 2002 following more than twenty years of zinc production.

History

In 1964 Vancouver-based Cominco optioned all the mineral claims in Canada's Arctic that were controlled by Bankaro Mines. Mineral and economic assessments resulted in a 23 million ton reserve at a zinc grade of 14.1%. Approval of the project was obtained in 1979, then Prime Minister Joe Clark waived environmental assessment hearings and pledged to ship half of the concentrate from the mine in the federally owned icebreaker MV Arctic. The entire mineral processing plant, power plant and workshop were built upon a barge and traveled 5,600 kilometres (3,500 mi) from Quebec to the mine site. In 1981 the mine commenced production. The Polaris mine employed over 250 people. Although only 20 mine employees were from northern Canada, thirty percent of employment in Resolute was directly related to the mine.