Hope Bay Project

Quarry Development (2022-Present)

Commenced: 2022
Completed: In Progress
Client: Agnico Eagle Mines Limited

Nuna West Mining’s current scope at Hope Bay includes drill and blast activities for quarry development to support future crushing and construction needs. 2023 work includes development of an emergency overflow channel, construction of a toe berm along one of the existing tailings dams, crushing, and pad construction within the Madrid development area.

Madrid Infrastructure & Naartok East Crown Pillar Recovery Trench (CPRT) (2019-2020)

Commenced: 2019
Completed: 2020

In April 2019, Nuna West Mining began construction for the first phase of infrastructure development at the Madrid mining area, located approximately 8 km south of Doris North. The scope of work includes development of a new quarry to support construction of all-weather roads and a contact water pond adjacent to the future waste rock stockpile. Work also includes stripping of overburden from the waste rock stockpile area and the surface of the Naartok CPRT in preparation for mining. Additional Nuna fleet including three 60 tonne articulated haul trucks, one D8 dozer, one 385 excavator, and several pieces of support equipment will be mobilized on the 2019 sealift to begin mining approximately 1.1 million tonnes of waste rock and ore from the Naartok CPRT, starting in fall 2019 through summer 2020.

Doris North Crown Pillar Trench (2018-2020)

Commenced: 2018
Completed: 2020

In September 2018, TMAC requested surface mining of a high-grade ore zone identified at Doris North to supplement ore to the mill. Nuna’s scope of work included access construction, overburden removal, and mining of over 240,000 tonnes of waste rock and ore. Surface mining was completed late in 2019 while underground operations broke through from below. Once the ore was removed by Underground Operations Nuna returned to backfill the trench mine to original grade with excavated waste rock from surface and underground sources.

South Dam (2018)

Commenced: 2018
Completed: 2018

Expansion of the tailings management area occurred in 2018 with construction of the South Dam. The frozen foundation of this dam was constructed by Nuna through the winter of 2018. The execution plan required blasting of a key trench into frozen native soils, detailed excavation and cleaning prior to liner placement, and backfill. The above ground structure of the dam was then completed during the summer months. In total, this 530 m long dam required approximately 105,000 m3 of ROQ and manufactured granular materials for completion.

Earthworks & Site Services (2013-2021)

Commenced: 2013
Completed: 2021

In 2012, Newmont Mining placed the Hope Bay Project on care and maintenance while seeking a buyer. In March 2013, TMAC Resources Inc. assumed ownership of Hope Bay. Nuna West Mining Ltd, has remained on site since this transition providing a full range of site services for TMAC’s exploration and environmental programs. Initially, work involved the continued care and maintenance of existing facilities and small infrastructure projects such as jetty repairs and reclamation at Patch Lake. Following the receipt of full project funding in 2015, Nuna was authorized to complete additional major infrastructure work to support TMAC’s Path to Production, including development of the mill pad and foundations, quarry development, airstrip expansion, and extension of the tailings area access road.

Following TMAC’s advancement into gold production in early 2017, Nuna continued to provide year-round support to TMAC’s Site Services, Mill Operations, Underground, Maintenance, and Exploration groups. Work scopes included delivery of minor and major earthworks projects, construction projects including the South Tailing Dam, Doris Crown Pillar Trench, and Ocean Discharge Jetty, and numerous smaller-scale projects.

Early Construction Support (2010-2012)

Commenced: 2010
Completed: 2012

In 2010, Nuna performed as General Contractor as well as part of the EPC design-build team to optimize design and minimize total installed costs. Nuna provided a full complement of services from safety, engineering, quality control, and procurement; and were involved in all planning, scheduling, and execution of work on all site civil infrastructures: roads, airstrip, jetty landings, quarry and aggregate development, culvert and bridge installations, bulk fuel storage and waste containment construction, and site services support. Nuna also provided heavy equipment, crushers, cranes, shops, concrete batch plants, and drill / blast activities necessary to support the work.

In addition to our primary earthwork activities as General Contractor, Nuna provided oversite to several specialty technical subcontractors. Specifically, Nuna was responsible for power station installation and electrical distribution, fuel farm installation and fuel network distribution, HDPE and CSP installation, and fibre optic installation and terminations.

Electrical Activities

• Conducted power, grounding and relay coordination study.
• Maintained generators (4 in Vancouver and 2 on site).
• Installed switchgear and two 1.45 MW generators at power facility.
• Upgraded grounding system.
• Relocated switchgear from Boston site to Doris site.
• Furnished and installed power distribution for the Doris site.
• Construction of permanent power foundations.
• Constructed Substation #12 and relocated existing transformers and electrics.
• Designed and installed heat tracing HDPE piping.
• Installed site communication / radio network.
• Installed temporary and permanent airstrip lighting packages.
• Completed various building installations with electrical and HVAC fit out.
• Investigated wind farm design for the site.

Piping / Mechanical Activities

• Installed water management dewatering and pump systems.
• Installed HDPE pipe.
• Constructed 1 x 5 million and 4 x 1.5 million-liter diesel fuel tanks with associated piping.
• Constructed 1 x 1.5 million-liter Jet B fuel tank.
• Constructed approximate 2 km fuel transfer pipeline to diesel fuel tanks at Roberts Bay.
• Constructed approximate 2.2 km Jet B fuel transfer double-wall pipeline and fuel pump module jetty to 1.5 million-liter tank.

Advanced Exploration Support (2007-2010)

Commenced: 2007
Completed: 2010

In 2007 Nuna mobilized, via barge, equipment, supplies, and a crew into site. Nuna’s scope included: site services; construction of the Windy Lake 2,800’ airstrip, camp pad, and tote road; crushing; and construction and maintenance of seasonal ice access roads from Roberts Bay to the Doris North site.