I did preface my post with "getting a long way ahead...."

Cross post noting Hercs
Agree with those here that the current programs can be run with a mix of helicopter, fixed wing aircraft and perhaps mid winter ice roads to haul in long lead items such as fuel.
The main issue that requires some bulk transport is the commodities WCN, and others, are chasing in Rae area - Cu plus some credits.
Find something decent at Great Bear and the challenges will multiply [Road barge(lake), road to Norman Wells, barge (McKenzie River) to Tuk?]

Lupin was set up in the early 1980's using Hercules airlift and then continued without any permanent access. The winter road was used by Echo Bay Mines and then the diamond miners to reduce costs of transport for fuel and heavy items with lots of planning required..

Neither diamonds nor gold production require heavy duty transport to market - except for the security aspect.
For a base metal mine this is probably not the case. IZOK, High Lake, Hackett River and Ferguson Lake (Ni, eastern Nunavut, another 1950s Inco discovery) are some examples. Conveyor or slurry pipe lines may be options but suspect winter conditions are too severe for such lengths.

If the economics work out for a mine then this access will be a significant part of the Capex as you have alluded to plough.
In the meantime operations can continue, expensively, with the same approach as was the case in the 1980s in the Munch Lake area. Fixed Wing supplies and chopper supported field work and drilling.

Found some photos from my 1980s visits to this neck of the woods. These give some idea of what it can be like to do field work in the area. Doubt much has changed in the time since other than GPS, comms, and perhaps better bug protection.

SMALL SELECTION OF IMAGES FROM 1980s.pdf

Great photo of the Danvers (?) RC rig @arctic. Good protection from weather and cold by looks of it. GPS to locate collar site?

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Took a look at Tuk to Inuvik on Google Earth.

You mention 159 Kms of dual lane road vs an approx. straight line of 130 Kms.
IMO the terrain this road had to cross is much tougher than Kugluktuk to Danvers especially the first 40-50 Kms [first 10+ Kms NE of Danvers might be similar].
Road building is never cheap and a $1M per mile or shrink inflated kilometer is a useful starting point for back of envelope calculations. So Kugluktuk to Danvers would not see much, if any, change out of $100M.

In terms of drill rigs most used in the area are probably modular and can be moved into place by less expensive choppers than the the really big guys (Chinook's as you mention but the ferry cost to the area is one downside of such an option. If available locally great.]

Engineer? (Plough) "vs" exploration Geo very different perspectives with mines (sometimes) coming out of the combination along with the beancounters and many others.