Former lead-zinc mine gets new owner

The Pine Point lead-zinc mine in the Northwest Territories has a new owner, Tamerlane Ventures.

Tamerlane Ventures is chaired by Margaret Kent, formerly known as Peggy Witte. She led the now-defunct Royal Oak Mines through the strike at the Giant gold mine in the early 1990s where nine men died.

• FROM DEC, 3, 2001: Former Giant Mine prez back in north

In a news release, the Washington-based company says it has acquired the property and plans to put the mine back in production.

The mine was shut down in 1988 by then-owner Cominco. The town was later dismantled. Most modern-day mines in the north no longer build towns but house their workers in camps.

The Pine Point mine, located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake between Hay River and Fort Resolution, was once one of the richest lead-zinc mines in the country.

The company says a feasibility study is underway and it hopes to start bulk sampling late next year.