Baffinland requests further production increase at Nunavut iron ore mine
POND INLET, Nunavut –
The proprietor of an iron ore mine on the tip of Baffin Island says it must once more improve manufacturing to stop job losses, and a number of other federal cupboard ministers are calling on a Nunavut environmental evaluation company to prioritize the request.
Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. desires to extend the quantity of ore it is allowed to truck and ship from its Mary River mine to six-million tonnes, from 4.2 million, for each 2023 and 2024. It says the rise is required to make sure a secure provide of iron ore to prospects and that if it isn’t granted, it must cut back operations, together with decreasing employment.
The firm can also be requesting that, past the six-million tonnes, it’s allowed to ship ore that was stranded on the Milne port final 12 months, in addition to any that might be left behind on the finish of this 12 months’s transport season attributable to “unexpected circumstances.” It stated that final 12 months, giant volumes of early sea ice in Milne Inlet resulted in transport operations having to finish a number of weeks early.
Baffinland has requested the Nunavut Impact Review Board to make a advice on the request by August.
In a letter despatched to the assessment board final week, Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, alongside different related federal ministers, stated Baffinland’s timeline was “reasonable” and the request must be made a precedence.
Baffinland was beforehand granted approval to extract, transport and ship as much as six-million tonnes of ore from the mine in 2018, whereas it awaited a call on a separate proposal to extend manufacturing to 12-million tonnes as a part of long-term enlargement plans on the mine. The non permanent manufacturing improve was prolonged till the top of 2021.
When Baffinland requested an extra extension in 2022, it stated it must lay off almost 1,200 workers as soon as the restrict of 4.2 million tonnes was met. When the extension was granted in October, the corporate stated it was rescinding all termination notices.
The following month, federal ministers rejected Baffinland’s request to double manufacturing on the mine to 12-million tonnes, consistent with a advice from the assessment board, citing considerations about potential adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts.
Baffinland’s long-term enlargement proposal included plans to construct a 110-kilometre railway north from the mine to the port at Milne Inlet.
The firm has stated it’s now contemplating developing a railway south from the mine to Steensby Inlet. A proposal for that mission was accepted in 2012, however Baffinland didn’t pursue it attributable to funding considerations.
Several governments and organizations have written to the Nunavut Impact Review Board in response to Baffinland’s current request to extend transport to six-million tonnes till the top of 2024.
The Nunavut hamlets of Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet and Sanirajak, in addition to the International Union of Operating Engineers and the Ikajutit Hunters and Trappers Organization in Arctic Bay, have indicated they help the proposal.
A letter from Arctic Bay states the proposal is “essentially the status quo” and expresses concern that any discount in Baffinland’s potential to lift capital for a southern railway may lead to decreased advantages for the hamlet.
“The Hamlet of Arctic Bay has many residents working at the Mary River Mine. Anything and everything that could result in loss of employment to our residents could cause great economic impact on having local people trained and local people employed,” the letter states.
The Municipality of Igloolik and the Sanirajak Hunters and Trappers Association stated they’d additionally help the proposal if a baseline research is accomplished for marine and terrestrial wildlife round Steensby, communities affected by transport are given further advantages, and communities are consulted.
The Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Organization stated it doesn’t help Baffinland’s request because of the quick discover.
Oceans North, the Municipality of Clyde River and the Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization in Pond Inlet expressed considerations concerning the results transport may have on marine mammals and harvesting, and known as for an evaluation and public listening to on the manufacturing improve.
A report printed by working teams from the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission and Canada/Greenland Joint Commission on Beluga and Narwhal earlier this 12 months states elevated transport visitors from the mine is “by far the most likely cause” of declining numbers of narwhal in Eclipse Sound. It stated this might lead to long-term penalties.
Baffinland, nonetheless, has questioned the findings, saying the report didn’t take into account the consequences of different actions and the corporate was not invited to share its analysis.
The Qikiqtani Inuit Association and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. raised considerations concerning the quite a few short-term regulatory purposes Baffinland has filed concerning the mine over the previous eight years, saying it had resulted in cumulative results not being adequately monitored. The Inuit affiliation stated following the present request, Baffinland ought to submit a longer-term or ongoing utility accompanied by a complete cumulative results evaluation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed April 25, 2023.
