Calinda Football holding an artifact at Hardy Lake.

The Hardy Lake survey, undertaken by Callum Thomson with the assistance of Calinda Football from Wekweti, was the first such work conducted on the DBCE claim block around Hardy Lake, northeast of Lac de Gras.   As only three days were available for this initial survey, the team focused on areas of intensive exploration activity and eskers, of which there are many in the area.   Forty precontact sites were found, all containing stone tools and fragments of material such as quartz, quartz crystal, shale and chert.   Six of the sites date to the Palaeo-Eskimo period, which in this area, dates back to about 3500-2500 years ago.   Two quartz quarries, three workshops and six sites containing habitation features such as tent rings and hearths were found, and most of the rest contained scatters or concentrations of stone artifacts ranging from less than 10 to over 200 in number. Among the Palaeo-Eskimo sites on Hardy Lake was one located in the middle of a large camp used by construction and maintenance crews on the Lupin Ice Road.   All site locations are now known to the exploration crews and will be avoided, and mitigation has been proposed for the construction campsite.