Bennett Field Airport

Economic reasons. Bennett Field was a private airstrip whose existence was solely for the support of the nearby Contact Lake Mine, a silver and uranium operation run by Echo Bay Mines. When the mine permanently ceased operations around 1999 due to a combination of low commodity prices and exhausted ore reserves, the airport no longer had a purpose and was subsequently abandoned.

The airport is closed and abandoned. The physical location consists of a single gravel runway that is visible in satellite imagery but is unmaintained, overgrown, and unusable for aviation. Any support buildings or infrastructure associated with the airstrip are likely derelict or have been removed during the remediation of the adjacent mine site. The area is remote and inaccessible by road.

Bennett Field was a private, remote aerodrome that served as a critical logistical hub for the Contact Lake Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Its primary function was to facilitate the transport of personnel (miners, geologists, staff), essential supplies, equipment, and high-value cargo to and from the isolated mine site. Operations would have heavily relied on rugged, STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) capable aircraft common in the Canadian North, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, DHC-2 Beaver, and possibly larger aircraft like the Douglas DC-3. The airport's significance is not in public transport but as a vital lifeline that made modern resource extraction possible in one of Canada's most remote regions.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Bennett Field. A reopening would be entirely contingent on significant new economic activity, most likely a major new mining or exploration project, in the immediate vicinity. Given the cost of restoring the abandoned runway and facilities to modern safety standards, it is more probable that any new venture would construct a new airstrip. Therefore, the prospect of reopening is considered extremely low to non-existent.