Discovery Airport

Economic. The airport was closed following the permanent closure of the Discovery Gold Mine, which it was built to serve. The mine ceased operations due to the depletion of economically viable gold ore reserves, making the supporting townsite and airport obsolete.

The site is abandoned. The gravel runway remains clearly visible on satellite imagery but is unmaintained, overgrown, and unusable for regular aviation. The airport is part of the larger abandoned Discovery Mine site, which is a designated contaminated site. The area is currently undergoing a long-term environmental assessment and remediation project managed by the Canadian government's Northern Abandoned Mines Reclamation Program (NAMRIP) to address arsenic and other contaminants left from the mining operations.

The Discovery Airport (also known as Discovery Mine Aerodrome) was a vital transportation link for the remote Discovery Mine and its associated townsite in the Northwest Territories from the 1950s until 1969. As a typical northern gravel airstrip, it was a lifeline connecting the isolated community to Yellowknife, the regional hub. Operations included flying in personnel, mail, fresh food, and critical mining equipment, and flying out the processed gold doré bars. The airport would have been serviced by iconic Canadian bush planes of the era, such as the Douglas DC-3, de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, and Noorduyn Norseman.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airport. Its original purpose is gone, and the focus on the site is purely for environmental cleanup, not redevelopment. Any future mineral exploration or development in the region would likely utilize modern logistics, such as helicopters or the construction of a new, temporary airstrip if economically justified, rather than rehabilitating this historic and abandoned site.