Nanisivik

[Music] All living things ocean most of their environment. Here, 700 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, there are countless examples of how living things have adapted to thrive in their surroundings. There's the polar bear's white coat of camouflage. The tarmaggan's heavily feathered feet, which keep it from sinking into soft ground or snow. as to the large lateral hooves of the caribou. The muskox with his dense protective covering has also adapted to his environment. 325 species of flowering plants adapt as well. Their simple physical structure helped them draw every possible advantage from the short months of sunshine in the north. [Music] Now, for the first time, there is a story to be told of life adapting beneath the Arctic [Music] tundra. This is Nana, a word that means a place where people find things. Here in one of the last frontier regions of the world, there is 7 million tons of lead and zinc [Music] ore. But there is also perafrost 600 m deep, possibly the deepest in the world. That means that many conventional methods of mining won't work here. The dust created by drilling, for example, can't be controlled, as in every other mine, by water. Water would freeze. A new mechanical dust collector had to be created, making this the world's first underground metal mine to successfully work with dry drilling. It may also be the most efficient of all underground mines. It takes just 30 men to mine, crush, and move 2,000 tons of ore to the mill each day. The room and pillar system of excavation means 90% of the ore body can be extracted. [Music] After it's mined, the ore is broken up into chunks the size of large apples by this jaw crusher. It can handle 300 tons of ore an hour. There's a further crushing stage and then a journey on a conveyor system. It's more than a kilometer in length. Destination, the grinding mills, which grind the ore into particles the size of sand from a beach. In the flotation process which follows, the fine ore is bathed in chemicals which draw the lead and zinc to the surface, separating it from the waste. 90% of the lead and 95% of the zinc is recovered. The operation is monitored by laboratory analysis of samples taken every 2 hours to determine how much lead and zinc as well as silver, cadmium, and iron the ore contains. The laboratory must meet rigid levels of precision. It has all the equipment it needs to achieve these levels. When the mineral concentrates have been separated from the waste rock, water must be removed from the mix. It's thickened, vacuum filtered, then dried to a final concentrate that's 4 to 5% moisture. That's a critical range. Any drier and some of the minerals will be lost as dust. With any more moisture, they'd freeze. Nana Civic is at Strathcona Sound on Baan Island, a sleeping arctic mass 3,200 km due north from Montreal or Toronto. When you compare it in size to West Germany and the Netherlands, the final destination of the concentrates, Baffan is more than twice as large as both of these countries combined. Our story begins 30 kilometers from Lennivic at Arctic Bay, named after the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Arctic, which arrived here in 1910. On this voyage, the Arctic's captain, Jenet, claimed Canadian sovereignty over the entire northern archipelago. I took possession of Baffan Island for Canada and the presence of several Eskimos. And after firing 19 shots, I instructed an Eskimo to fire the 20th, telling him that he was now a Canadian. Today, a different attitude prevails in relationship with the Eskimo, or Inuit as they're called in their own language. In the mid 1950s, the Canadian government invited the inhabitants of several hunting villages to take advantage of the school and medical services in the new community of Arctic Bay. [Music] The Inuit, who once had to barter with their cousins south of the treeine for wood for their paddles and masts, who once used their distinctive red streak soap stone for sculpting blubber lamps, now market their crafts throughout North America and parts of Europe. But in recent years, some have chosen more modern forms of employment. Employment which allows them to make use of the education and trade skills that all young Inuit are now receiving. [Music] [Music] This is the neighboring community of Nano Civic as it looked under construction in 1975. In addition to the technical problems that had to be resolved at Nanocitic, there were social concerns to consider. What impact would this project have on native peoples? To find out, discussions and meetings were held with residents of Arctic Bay and other communities of Northern Baan Island to the mutual benefit of both Inuit and Cabuna as the white man is called in this region. The brightly painted houses, which might seem gay on the suburban avenues of the south, are a calculated attempt to add contrast to the long and essentially colorless winter. Some cabuna visiting Nanocitic for the first time are surprised to learn how readily the Inuit can adapt his skills to the white men's crafts. In a very short time, many have become competent mechanics, carpenters, welders, plumbers, and electricians. And since construction work proceeded through the bone chilling winter of 1974 and75, there were times when the Inuit found that his birthplace gave him a distinct advantage over the new arrivals. But working at Nana Civic isn't all work. In 1974, the Canadian government report on criteria for northern living stressed that man's need for common meeting places are uncommonly important in the north. The dome is appropriately designed like a giant igloo. It's now used for movies and dances which bring the residents of both communities together. But while Manaciv was under construction, it served as a convenient cafeteria accommodating up to 350 hungry workers. As this film was being made, a gymnasium and swimming pool are being built. Ample recreational facilities are important in the north to alleviate boredom, disorientation, and aggression that sometimes create problems in isolated communities, especially in isolated communities where one winter night can be 4 months long. Roger John, requesting Resolute Bay weather, please. Resolute Bay actual weather, 1500 scattered, 12,000 scattered. The introduction of satellite telephone service created a more reliable and psychologically important bridge to the outside world. A world which at one time could be reached only via radio or a long and tiring ride in small aircraft. Are you going to help me clean up this mess or you just going to sit there? Okay. Okay. I'll have you. But even in its early days when television fair was limited to weeks old videotapes flown in from Edmonton, Inuit and Kabuna worked and relaxed together in a spirit of friendship and respect. Papa Leon after alone. It would be a pleasure. Goodwill is essential in a land that is virtually a desert. Not as much snow as many expect, but when it does fall, working or even walking becomes a difficult chore. You're getting there, right? Take it in. [Music] It's getting so hard to remember what you meant when you said love is our creating both a mind and a community requires an enormous degree of coordination. But when the local is a 5,000 kilometer sea voyage from the source of supplies, good planning is often all that stands between failure and success. A good deal would depend on the annual sea lift, which must be completed between early August and the end of September before the winter ice sets in. Anything of substance bound for Nana Civic must be on the Montreal docks by mid July. [Music] And for some voyages, even a September arrival in Nanoc may require an icebreaker [Music] escort. Heat [Music] up here. Planning for the seal lift begins in January. It was part of the job for the project's two construction managers. This is Jim Marshall. He and Roy James alternated between a month on the site and a month with the other planners in Toronto. Since completion of the project, Jim has moved to the site as the mine manager and has brought his family with [Music] him. Construction of the concentrated plant began in the summer of 75 following the arrival of a shipload of cement from the south mixed with local stone crushed at the site. [Music] [Music] As you might expect when you're working this far, far from the nearest yellow pages. You need as many skills as possible close at hand. Self-sufficiency in electrical power is also critical. This plant with its capacity of 6,000 kW is the largest producer of electricity in the high Arctic. In yet another nanoc first, waste heat from the power plant is used to dry the mineral concentrate and to help warm the interior of the coldest mine on Earth, thus getting the maximum possible benefit from the special Arctic diesel fuel that has cost so much to bring so far. The climate was one reason it made sense to house the concentrator, power plant, warehouse, offices, and maintenance facilities under one roof. One of the more remarkable feats of engineering in the north is the NAIC dock. The construction techniques developed here have since been studied by engineers from Japan and the Soviet Union. Nature helped by providing a winter working platform of ice 2 m thick. Without the ice, work barges and platforms would have been needed from the south, a long, expensive trip. As it worked out, construction of the dock cost a million dollars less than expected. It can accommodate oceangoing vessels of up to 50,000 tons. But for all its innovative construction, Manacitic Harbor is still closed by ice for almost 10 months each year. So this is no place to run out of supplies. That's why the oil storage tanks hold 12,000 tons or 3 million gallons of fuel. [Music] Two lakes about 5 kilometers from the town site keep nanocytic supplied with fresh water for 12 months a year. The water is pumped through pipelines that are heavily insulated and kept warm by electrical tracers. The tailings from the mill, since they're environmentally clean, are pumped through a third pipeline for disposal in another nearby lake. [Music] But even after Nana became a fully operational community, the planning continued, particularly as the underground opening spread further into the frozen rock of northern Baffan Island. To accommodate the increasing air traffic, a new air strip was needed. It was decided to position it between Nana and Arctic Bay. Thus, Arctic Bay gleaned one more benefit from its proximity to its bustling new neighbor. Because of Nana Civic, Arctic Bay is also serviced by satellite telephone. At first, most of the aircraft here were DC3s or twin otterters. Over 3,000 Twin Otter flights were made safely into Nano Civic during construction. Each could bring 15 passengers or,200 kg of cargo. [Applause] But better facilities were needed to handle the larger and faster jet aircraft from the south. Ladies and gentlemen, we're now our final approach for landing in Striks regular jet service from Montreal. It's a 6-hour flight, about as long as it takes to get from Montreal to London, England. [Music] There's also a jet age approach to business in the offices of Nanocitic Minds. This interior could easily be part of a business in London, New York, or Montreal. Its services include a directline data transmission link with Toronto. This is the Nanoic Town Center, one of the most modern buildings in the Northwest Territories. Right, Mr. B, please take this medicine three times a day after food. Come back and see me in Monday about 9:30. By that time, I guess you'll be feeling a lot better. Okay. Thank you very much. The hospital is here to look after the NAVIC employees and any other resident of the region who might need treatment. The town center also houses Canadian government offices, a Royal Canadianmounted police station, and a fire hall fully equipped with regular jet flights into the area. There's fresh produce available here in the Nana Civic Town Center General Store and in Arctic Bay something. What's that? The total workforce at Menace Civic is 180. That includes 50 Inuit and 130 Kabuna from the south. Of the 130 whites, 40 are women, almost all wives of the men who work here. For working couples, the company provides a daycare center. Okay, sit here. Oh, boy. You're tired. [Music] More pl [Music] [Music] two. There's also a school with classes up to grade 8. In this one classroom, it's not uncommon to hear children speaking in three languages, English, French, and enough to talk, the tongue of the native people. Quickly, one of them returned to the chip. The school is equipped with the most up-to-date learning aids available. With community needs taken care of, there remained one more detail in Nanoc, a rather large detail, perhaps the biggest building in the Arctic. Since nanoc mineral concentrates can be shipped out only during one short period each year, this storage shed has been built to handle a full year's production, 120,000 tons of concentrate. The building is 250 m long and covers as much ground as two regulations football fields. And now the moment community has been waiting for. It's 5:00 a.m. and drizzling rain. But today, time and weather don't matter. For this is the arrival of the Swedish ship Gothic Wasa in August 1977 to take away Nana Civic's first shipment of concentrates. 20 years have passed since Texas Gulf of Canada began to explore the area. And five years and $60 million have gone since Mineral Resources International of Calgary signed a development agreement with Texas Gulf and launched the studies and search for investors. Financial backing came from Nano Civic's customers shaft of West Germany, Giliton International Metals of the Netherlands and Texas Gulf of Canada who had the courage to invest in this pioneering venture. They were supported by the banks, the Toronto Dominion Bank of Toronto, City Bank of New York, and KFW Bank of West Germany. The Canadian government saw the benefits of the project, the first permanent source of employment in the high Arctic with current salaries to native people of a million dollars a year. The government took a financial position and built the airirstrip, dock, and roads. A Toronto company, Strathona Mineral Services, was retained to manage the project and bring the mine into [Music] production. Tonight there is a celebration and the international flavor is appropriate as Strathona's president Graeme Ferguson presents to Captainas of the Gothic Wasa an honorary plaque marking the first shipment of mineral concentrates from the high Arctic. [Music] Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for the world so sweet. Thank you for the bread. Thank you God for everything. Amen. Amen. So out there with that now. Yeah. Well, I don't know whether all go this. Nana Civic, a place where people find things. Some have found an enjoyable new environment in company supplied houses that offer all the comforts of home. for every member of the family. This is CBC. Monday afternoons, be sure to watch Platform, a unique forum for groups of people who wish to present their views on a particular subject and all before a sometimes vocal audience. See Platform. This is CDC North. Nana Civic is now a place where you can get live programs on TV and live neighbors on the phone. Hi, Glenn. Um, I'll be over in about 5 minutes. Okay, bye. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Within 40 hours of its arrival, the Gothic Wasa is ready to depart for Antworp. Its cargo is zinc and lead. But for many who sought the challenge of a life on the last frontier, Nana Civic, the place where people find things, will be remembered as a place where man found more than minerals. [Music] Heat up here. [Music]