Nunavut gold mine on verge of production

Nunavut could soon have an operating mine again, as Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. plans to start initial production at its Meadowbank gold property in the coming weeks.

Construction is complete atthe Toronto-basedcompany's Meadowbank site, located about 110 kilometres by road north of Baker Lake in Nunavut's Kivalliq region.

"The power plant, which is Nunavut's largest power plant, has been commissioned, it's up and running. And we're hopeful that within this next window of a week to 10 days that the first ore will go into the plant," Larry Connell, the company's director of sustainable development, told CBC News in Iqaluit on Thursday.

"That will lead to the first gold bar coming out of our gravity circuit, probably sometime towards the end of this month."

The Meadowbank mine is expected to produce about 450,000 ounces of gold per year, over a 10-year life span.

Currently there is a large stockpile of ore from the nearby mine pit ready for processing.

When it begins production, Meadowbank will be the only operating mine in Nunavut.

The territory's last mine, Tahera Diamond Corp.'s Jericho mine, suspended operations in 2008 due to financial constraints. Tahera has since put the now-defunct mine up for sale.