The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Atco said Monday it plans to acquire a significant minority interest in an Inuit-owned mineral exploration company planning to build a port along the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. The Globe's Matthew McLearn writes that Atco will pay $10-million for a 40-per-cent ownership stake in West Kitikmeot Resources Corp., the developer of the Grays Bay road and port project. The project envisions the construction of the first deepwater port in the western Arctic, along with an airstrip and a 230-kilometre all-season gravel road through some of Nunavut's most isolated areas. The road would connect Grays Bay on the Arctic coast to an existing winter road that reaches Yellowknife. The port would have three wharves capable of accommodating bulk carriers, Coast Guard ships, tugs, patrol submarines and offshore patrol ships. Grays Bay was one of four Northern infrastructure projects referred earlier this month to the Major Projects Office, a federal body established last year to expedite regulatory approvals and financing for projects deemed to be of national importance. Atco's funds will be disbursed over time to pay for feasibility studies, licensing costs and other expenses.