Nanisivik ( iu, ᓇᓂᓯᕕᒃ, lit=the place where people find things; ) is a now-abandoned

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

which was built in 1975 to support the

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

and

mineral processing In the field of extractive metallurgy, mineral processing, also known as ore dressing, is the process of separating commercially valuable minerals from their ores. History Before the advent of heavy machinery the raw ore was broken up using ...

operations for the

Nanisivik Mine Nanisivik Mine was a zinc-lead mine in the company town of Nanisivik, Nunavut, north of the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island. It was Canada's first mine in the Arctic. The mine first opened on 15 October 1976 and permanently closed in September ...

, in production between 1976 and 2002. The townsite is located just inland from

Strathcona Sound Strathcona is a 19th-century variation of "Glen Coe", a river valley in Scotland. The word was invented for use in the title Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, first used for Donald Smith, a Canadian railway financier, in order to avoid association ...

, about east of the community of

Arctic Bay Arctic Bay ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᒃᐱᐊᕐᔪᒃ, ''Ikpiarjuk'' "the pocket") is an Inuit hamlet located in the northern part of the Borden Peninsula on Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Arctic Bay is located ...

in the Canadian territory of

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

. There is a port and dock about north of the abandoned mine site, which was used for shipping concentrate from the site, and receiving supplies (). It is used by the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in ...

for training.

Nanisivik Airport Nanisivik Airport, formerly , was located south of Nanisivik, Nunavut, Canada, and was operated by the Government of Nunavut. Although Nanisivik Mine closed in September 2002, the airport was in operation until 2011 and served the community of A ...

, located south, was used as the main airport for Arctic Bay until 2010, when the lengthened

Arctic Bay Airport Arctic Bay Airport is an airport located southeast of Arctic Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Until January 12, 2010 Nanisivik Airport, about from Arctic Bay, was used for scheduled flights. On January 13, 2010, First Air transferred all air services to ...

took over. The airport is about directly southeast of Arctic Bay but the road between them is .

Demographics

In the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Nanisivik had a population of 0, no change from its 2016 population of 0. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Geology

The ore deposit resides within

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

from the Society Cliffs Formation covered with

dolomitic Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...

shale from the Victor Bay Formation, which together form the Uluksan Group and reside on top of silty shale. The ore is believed to have formed when hot saline water bearing the metal ions of sodium, calcium, chlorine, and sulfate mixed with cooler carbonate-rich brine in the presence of natural gas or methane, which produced hydrogen sulfide through reducing the sulfate. The hydrogen sulfide then reacted with the metals to form the sulfides of

marcasite The mineral marcasite, sometimes called “white iron pyrite”, is iron sulfide (FeS2) with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both ...

(FeS2),

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

(),

sphalerite Sphalerite (sometimes spelled sphaelerite) is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula . It is the most important ore of zinc. Sphalerite is found in a variety of deposit types, but it is primarily in Sedimentary exhalative deposits, sedimen ...

(), and

galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

(PbS). The Nanisivik deposit once contained 60 million metric tons of pyrite and 12 million tons of lead-zinc ore.Gait, Robert I., George W. Robinson, Karen Bailey, and Doug Dumka
Minerals of The Nanisivik Mine
Nov-Dec 1990 (Volume 21, Number 6) The Mineralogical Record. N.p., 05 Oct. 2011. Web. 03 Sept. 2013.

Mineralogy

The Nanisivik mine is known for its diversity of unusual pyrite

pseudomorphs In mineralogy, a pseudomorph is a mineral or mineral compound that appears in an atypical form (crystal system), resulting from a substitution process in which the appearance and dimensions remain constant, but the original mineral is replaced by ...

after

and

pyrrhotite Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula Fe(1-x)S (x = 0 to 0.2). It is a nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, the mineral known as troilite. Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite, because the color is similar to pyrite and it is ...

History

Ore discovery

Arthur English was a prospector on CGS ''Arctic'', the steamship of Captain

Joseph-Elzéar Bernier Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (January 1, 1852 – December 26, 1934) was a Canadian mariner from Quebec who led expeditions into the Canadian Arctic in the early 20th century. He was born in L'Islet, Quebec, the son of Captain Thomas Bernier and C ...

, as part of the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...

in 1910. They wintered the 1910-11 winter in Arctic Bay ( south-east of Nanisivik). In 1911 Arthur English published his discovery of a "very large body of ore" at Nanisivik.

Development

J.F. Tibbitt and F. McInnes travelled from

Churchill, Manitoba Churchill is a town in northern Manitoba, Canada, on the west shore of Hudson Bay, roughly from the Manitoba–Nunavut border. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname ...

to Nanisivik by

dog sled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Traditionally in Greenland and the e ...

() and staked their claims in 1937, but were unable to develop them. In 1956 R. G. Blackadar and R. R. H. Lemon published maps of the region for another Geological Survey of Canada. Soon thereafter Texas Gulf Sulfur Company (later Texasgulf Inc., now broken up into bits such as

Intrepid Potash Intrepid Potash, Inc. (), based in Denver, Colorado, is a fertilizer manufacturer. The company is the largest producer of potassium chloride, also known as muriate of potash, in the United States. It owns three mines, all in the Western U.S., ne ...

) evaluated the region and staked 15 claims. Extensive drilling and exploration over the next decade led to the procurement of heavy equipment in 1970 and bulk metallurgical testing. Mineral Resources International of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

traded the rights to a sulfur deposit in Mexico for a long term option on the Strathcona Sound property, which eventually translated into 54% ownership of Nanisivik Mines Limited. Strathcona Mineral Services Limited was hired to run the mine as an independent manager and successfully initiated production.

Operation

The mine opened in 1976 and yielded primarily zinc, however silver and lead were collected as by-products. It is located in thick

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

, north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

and operated year-round through accumulating ore during the winter and shipping in the summer (July–November). Annual production totalled 125,000 tons of ore, which was sold to European smelters via Belgium. Conwest Exploration Company Ltd. eventually acquired the mine.

Mine closure

Since the closure of the mine in 2002,

reclamation Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back". It may refer to: * Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds * Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...

has been ongoing and the town is abandoned. Residents of Arctic Bay had hoped that the Government of Nunavut would be able to find a new use for the former town site, potentially a trades training centre. They had also hoped to be able to move some of the buildings and equipment to their community. Due to heavy lead-zinc contamination, this was not possible and the homes have been demolished. Local telephone service was discontinued on February 19, 2007, on approval from

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

. As of the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

the population was 0, a drop from the 2001 census with a population of 77.

Conversion to naval station

On August 8, 2007,

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

reported that

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

documents showed plans to convert the site into a naval station. The plan, which would turn the former mine's existing port into a deepwater facility, would cost $60 million and it was expected that

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

would make an announcement during his stop in Resolute.> On August 10, 2007, Harper announced construction of a new docking and refuelling facility in Nanisivik for the

, in an effort to maintain a Canadian presence in Arctic waters during the navigable season (June–October). The choice for Nanisivik as a site was partially based on its location within the eastern entrance to the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

, and the existence of a deep-water berthing facility at the site, as well as a "jet-capable" airstrip nearby. Detailed planning for the project began in August 2007, with environmental studies and assessments being carried out in the summer of 2008. Construction at the site was originally expected to begin in the summer of 2010, with early operating capability available in 2012. The facility was planned to be fully operational by 2015. Once completed, the naval station will likely be home to the proposed Arctic Off-Shore Patrol Ships under the Harper government plan. These ships will have ice-breaking capability and help the current government's goal to enforce Canada's sovereignty over the region. These ships will likely allow the ''Victoria''-class submarines to travel in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

regions. The facility was to have an initial operational capability in 2012, and be fully complete in 2015 but is behind schedule. Development is being delayed because environmental cleanup has been delayed as much as possible by Breakwater Resources Ltd., owned by Nyrstar N.V. In 2011 and 2012, the government started backing down on the Nanisivik conversion plans, explaining that construction in the far north is too expensive. The station will be primarily used for refuelling Arctic patrol and other government vessels, and construction was expected to begin in 2013, with the station operational by 2016. After repeated delays, construction on the site finally commenced in 2015. The station had been expected to be operational in summer 2019. However, in July 2020 it was confirmed that the station would not now be fully operational until 2022.

Geography

Climate

Nanisivik has a

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

( ET) with long, cold winters and very short, chilly summers that are rarely mild. Early winter tends to be snowiest period of the year, with around 40% of all yearly snowfall falling during this short period.

References

External links

Government will continue seeking positive legacy from Nanisivik mine closure, minister says
''Government of Nunavut. October 1, 2002. Last accessed September 12, 2006.''
Welcome to the Arctic Bay & Nanisivik, Nunavut Photo Album!
''Photographs by Vincent K. Chan. Last accessed September 12, 2006.'' * {{Subdivisions of Nunavut Baffin Island Company towns in Canada Mining communities in Nunavut Ports and harbours of Nunavut Ghost towns in Nunavut Former populated places in the Qikiqtaaluk Region Road-inaccessible communities of Nunavut