The Phase 2 Hope Bay Project was assessed by the NIRB from 2012 – 2018. It was approved to proceed on November 9, 2018, subject to the terms and conditions of Project Certificate No. 009. This project dashboard contains the original assessment information as well as monitoring information from 2018 onward.



Modified from the 2016 Project Description: The Phase 2 Hope Bay Project involves the underground and above ground mining of three gold deposits (Madrid North, Madrid South, and Boston) located at the Hope Bay property, approximately 150 kilometres (km) southwest of Cambridge Bay in the Western Kitikmeot, Nunavut, and approximately 700 km northeast of Yellowknife.



The total mineral reserves at the Madrid North, Madrid South, and Boston sites, based on a cut-off grade of 4.5 grams per tonne, is estimated to be approximately 4.8 million ounces of gold. The project is associated with the Doris North Gold Mine Project (05MN047) and uses some of the existing infrastructure at the Doris North Gold Mine site to support development of the three additional deposits. Ore from the North and South Madrid sites and ore concentrate from the Boston site is trucked to the mill at the Doris North site via improvements to the existing all-weather road (already constructed to support advanced exploration) between the Madrid sites and Doris North site, and the construction of a 55 km extension of the existing Doris North-Madrid all weather haul road linking the Boston site to the Doris North-Madrid haul road.



The ore is mined by underground mining methods with portions of the ore near the surface recovered by surface mining methods. As part of the mining activities for the Project, infrastructure at the Doris North and the Roberts Bay sites is expanded in addition to the construction and operation of new infrastructure at the Madrid and Boston sites, including a camp/accommodation facility, airstrip, ore processing and tailings facilities at the Boston site. Fuel tank farms, waste rock storage facilities, ore stockpiling facilities, water management infrastructures, and water treatment facilities are located at both Madrid and Boston sites.



The project workforce is 870, with 400 personnel housed at an expanded camp at the existing Doris North site and 300 personnel housed at the camp at the Boston site. The proposed life of the Project, from mobilization and construction to operation, closure and post-closure, is 19 years. Construction begins in 2019, with a five-year construction phase (Year 1 to Year 5), a 14-year operations phase (Year 1 to Year 14), a six-year closure phase (Year 12 to Year 17), and a six-year post-closure phase (Year 14 to Year 19).



The existing marine infrastructure in Roberts Bay is used to support shipment of materials required for construction of the Project as well as annual resupply of fuel, with all shipping taking place during the open water season. The Project also includes the addition of up to six (6) wind turbines, generators and associated power transmission lines to power the Project, as well as additional fuel storage infrastructure at the mine sites.