The townsite is located just inland from Strathcona Sound, about 20 km (12 mi) east of the community of Arctic Bay in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

Arthur English was a prospector on CGS Arctic, the steamship of Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier, as part of the Geological Survey of Canada in 1910.

Tibbitt and F. McInnes travelled from Churchill, Manitoba to Nanisivik by dog sled (3,000 km [1,900 mi]) and staked their claims in 1937, but were unable to develop them.

Soon thereafter Texas Gulf Sulfur Company (later Texasgulf Inc., now broken up into bits such as Intrepid Potash) evaluated the region and staked 15 claims.

Mineral Resources International of Calgary, Alberta, traded the rights to a sulphur deposit in Mexico for a long term option on the Strathcona Sound property, which eventually translated into 54% ownership of Nanisivik Mines Limited.

Strathcona Mineral Services Limited was hired to run the mine as an independent manager and successfully initiated production.

It is in 500 m-thick (1,600 ft) permafrost, 700 km (430 mi) north of the Arctic Circle and operated year-round through accumulating ore during the winter and shipping in the summer (July–November).

Residents of Arctic Bay had hoped that the Government of Nunavut would be able to find a new use for the former town site, potentially a trades training centre.

[17][18] On August 8, 2007, CBC News reported that Canadian Forces documents showed plans to convert the site into a naval station.

The plan, which would turn the former mine's existing port into a deepwater facility, would cost $60 million and it was expected that Prime Minister Stephen Harper would make an announcement during his stop in Resolute.