Areva opens winter road to Kiggavik site

Areva Resources is moving materials to its site near Baker Lake to continue test drilling for uranium this summer.

The Kiggavik project site is about 80 kilometres from Baker Lake, and the supplies are being moved to the site by winter road.

"The idea is to start a little later than the coldest time of year because the extreme cold is hard on the engines, and then finish before things start to warm up so that the snow road remains good and solid," said Barry McCallum, Areva's manager of Nunavut Affairs.

Supplies this year include 200,000 litres of fuel and drilling equipment.

McCallum estimates it will take four to six weeks to move everything to the site.

About 35 people are expected to work at the site this summer starting around June 10.

Areva Resources is now going through the regulatory process to get permission to open Nunavut's first uranium mine.