Officials with Kaminak Gold Corp. say they hope Nunavummiut will be open to the idea of uranium mining in the territory after the company signed a deal with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. for the rights to a uranium deposit.

The Vancouver-based company's memorandum of understanding with Nunavut's Inuit land-claims organization, announced last week, will give Kaminak rights to a uranium deposit in Nunavut's Kivalliq region.

Kaminak claims that the deposit, located on 18,000 acres of privately held Inuit land, is believed to contain around 11.6 million pounds of uranium.

Several other companies have uranium prospects in the territory, but Kaminak officials say they're the first to be awarded the right to explore for uranium on the Inuit-owned land.

The company's property will be called the Angilak Project (the Inuktitut word Angilak translates as "the biggest").

Kaminak president Rob Carpenter said he realizes that not everyone in Nunavut is comfortable with the prospect of radioactive material being mined from the territory. He said as the company is in the early stages of its exploration effort, and it will communicate with Inuit every step of the way.

"I'm expecting our new partnership with NTI, since they're part of our team now … will help … in guiding us a little bit on what Inuit people would like to see developed for their land," Carpenter told CBC News.

Kaminak already controls federally issued claims and prospecting permits on more than 250,000 acres of land southwest of Baker Lake.

The prospect of uranium mining in Nunavut has long been a sensitive issue among Inuit, many of whom fear environmental damage and health hazards will arise from such development.

In 1989, residents in Baker Lake rejected a company's plan to mine uranium near the community.

But Nunavut Liberal MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell said times are changing, and effective regulatory systems are now in place.

"I'm assured that we have enough [safe] guards to ensure that these will be safe, these operations, and I think it would create economic opportunities for areas of Nunavut that really need jobs," she said.

Officials with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. were travelling on Friday and were not available for comment.

No dollar amount was mentioned in Kaminak's announcement. Under the agreement, the company will issue NTI one million shares over three years. NTI can acquire a 25 per cent interest or 7.5 per cent royalty on net profits once the company completes a feasibility study.