Gold miner TMAC Resources has been ordered to pay a $50,000 fine as a result of violating the Fisheries Act.
The case, resolved in the Nunavut Court of Justice on Wednesday, dates back to December 2015. Federal enforcement officers launched an investigation and found that the mining company had released liquid waste containing a harmful substance into Doris Creek, near the Hope Bay mine property, which is approximately 150 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay. The Government of Canada didn't identify the substance in question nor the quantity of it in its news release.
TMAC Resources pleaded guilty to the offence.
The fine will go into the federal government's Environmental Damages Fund.
As well, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.
"The Government of Canada enforces the laws that protect Canada’s air, water, and natural environment, and we take pollution incidents and threats to the environment very seriously," the government's news release states.