Dundas Island is a member of the Queen Elizabeth Islands

Queen Elizabeth Islands

The Queen Elizabeth Islands are the northernmost cluster of islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, split between Nunavut and Northwest Territories in Northern Canada.-Geography:...

 and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Canadian Arctic Archipelago

The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Arctic Archipelago, is a Canadian archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic...

 in the territory of Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

. It is an irregularly shaped island located between Devon Island

Devon Island

Devon Island , claimed to be the largest uninhabited island on Earth, is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the second-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada's sixth largest island, and the 27th...

 and Baillie-Hamilton Island

Baillie-Hamilton Island

Baillie-Hamilton Island is one of the Canadian arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada. The island is rectangular in shape, , and has an area of .Baillie-Hamilton Island is surrounded by larger islands. Devon Island is to the north and the east, across Wellington Channel. Cornwallis Island is to the...

. The smaller Margaret Island

Margaret Island (Nunavut)

Margaret Island is a member of the Queen Elizabeth Islands and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It is an irregularly shaped island located south of Stewart Point, Devon Island. Baillie-Hamilton Island is to the south, and Dundas Island is one km to the west.-References:...

 is 1 km (0.621372736649807 mi) to the east of Dundas.

Dundas Island is named in honor of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville PC and Baron Dunira was a Scottish lawyer and politician. He was the first Secretary of State for War and the last person to be impeached in the United Kingdom....

, Viscount Melville and British Secretary of State for the Home Department.

After showings were discovered on Dundas Island in 1972, geochemical sampling, mapping, and surveying began the following year. Canadian mining company Cominco (now part of Teck Resources) staked claims in 1974 and drilling occurred at high grade lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

-zinc

Zinc

Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

 showings at the Thumb Mountain Formation and Disappointment Bay Formation in 1975. Cominco began IP surveys in 1981.

Robert John McGhee

Robert John McGhee

Robert John McGhee is a Canadian archaeologist and author specializing in the archaeology of the Arctic. He is currently Curator of Western Arctic Archaeology at the Canadian Museum of Civilization....

's 1981 research found evidence of Late Dorset

Dorset culture

The Dorset culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. It has been defined as having four phases, with distinct technology related to the people's hunting and tool making...

warm-season dwellings on Dundas Island.