The Meliadine Extension proposes to mine more ore (the rock that contains gold) than the original project by developing a new deposit – Tiriganiaq-Wolf underground – and adding underground mining activities at Pump, Fzone, and Discovery. Open pit activities are already approved for those deposits. These additions will extend the life of Mine by 11 years and postpone mine closure to 2043 instead of 2032. The Project will require more employees and the camp capacity will be increased to 905 employees (addition of 225 rooms).

 The Project will stay within a similar area as previously assessed but will generate approximately two times less waste rock than in the original application (FEIS 2014). As a result, Waste Rock Storage Facilities and Tailings Storage Facilities will be smaller. Additional water management infrastructure will be required to manage saline water coming from new underground mines, but the approach will be similar to currently approved practices. Saline water coming from underground, or water that has been in contact with underground waste rock, will be separated from water that comes into contact with surface mining activities. In general, water will be collected in ponds strategically placed around mining infrastructures, transferred to a dedicated collection pond, treated if necessary and will then be discharged into the receiving environment (Melvin Bay for saline water and Meliadine Lake for contact water).

A windfarm consisting of 11 turbines is proposed as an addition to the list of on-site infrastructures for the Meliadine Extension. The use of wind energy will reduce our reliance on diesel fuel for power generation, contribute to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions for the site, and minimize shipping and trucking traffic. This will provide a sustainable, long-term, renewable energy supply to the Life of Mine during operations and closure. Additionally, based on our experience of operating the Meliadine Project since 2019, an airstrip is proposed to be added to the Meliadine Extension.  The addition of an airstrip would also contribute to reducing dust on the All-weather access road (AWAR) as well as greenhouse gas emissions.