Bathurst Inlet is a deep inlet on the Arctic Ocean. The inlet is located on the North coast of North America, the territory of Nunavut, Canada. The region is very sparsely settled.
A consortium of seven mining companies are sponsoring envirnonmental impact studies to construct a deep-water port in Bathurst Inlet.[1][2] Their plans include building a 211 kilometer road connecting the port to their mines. The port would serve vessels of up to 25,000 tonnes.
A plan referred to the Nunavut Impact Review Board in May 2004 projected a capacity to moore vessels of up to 50,000 tonnes.[3] In this earlier plan the Bathurst Inlet Road would be an ice road, like that from Yellowknife, not an all-weather road as in post-2005 proposals, following the failure of the ice road to freeze early enough to allow transport of a whole year's worth of supplies.[1][2][4]
Corporation | mine site | notes |
Sabina Silver Corporation | Hackett River | Silver and Zinc |
Zinifex Limited | Izok Lake | Copper and Zinc |
Rio Tinto Incorporated | Diavik Diamond Mine | Diamonds |
Miramar Mining | ||
Dundee Precious Metals | ||
BHP Billiton | ||
DeBeers |
Environmental groups have raised concerns over the impact the road would have on the annual migration of the Bathurst Caribou herd.[5][6]