Baffinland Iron Mine

Baffinland Iron Mine
Location
Baffinland Iron Mine
Territory Nunavut
Country Canada
Coordinates 71°19′24″N 079°12′38″W / 71.32333°N 79.21056°W / 71.32333; -79.21056Coordinates: 71°19′24″N 079°12′38″W / 71.32333°N 79.21056°W / 71.32333; -79.21056
History
Opened 2014[1]
Owner
Company Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation
Website www.baffinland.com

The Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation is working to develop a large open pit iron mine in the Mary River area of Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.[2][3][4][5][6][7] It is said to be the world's sixth most northerly mine.[8]

Paul Waldie, a Globe and Mail business reporter, called the project one of the most ambitious in any Arctic region, and said it was expected to "triple the territory's annual gross domestic product growth rate and provide nearly $5-billion in tax revenue and royalties to the territory over the life of the project."[9]

Environmental critics express concern over the impact the railway will have on migrating caribou, and the impact the frequent passages of the big ice-breaking freighters will have on sea mammals.

Archeologist Sylvie LeBlanc has described how the railway line will parallel the longest line of ancient inuksuit yet found -- Inuit navigation sculptures—over inuksuk sculptures in a line 6 kilometers long.[10][11][12][13]

In 2012, in a move that surprised many observers, Baffinland seemed to abandon its original development strategy, where a railway would have transported ore to a new port on the south coast of Baffin Island in favour of having ultra-large dump trucks convey the ore directly from the mine-site via a "tote road" over 100 km (62 mi) to a new port on Baffin Island's north coast.[14]

The move surprised observers because the original plan had spent several years undergoing an environmental assessment, and was abandoned not long after the plan had been approved.

The plan to carry ore via giant trucks has not gone through an environmental assessment. Baffinland has asserted that changes in the market for iron ore required a plan that was less expensive to get underway, even if it would be of limited capacity, and would be more expensive to run.

Timeline

Timeline
date event
1962
  • Prospector Murray Edmund Watts explores the region and finds the ore body.[9] Iron ore prices are considered too low for development of the mine to be economically worthwhile.
1982
  • Murray Watts dies.[9]
1986
  • The claim is acquired by Baffinland.[9]
2004
  • Baffinland goes public, raising enough funds for further testing.[9]
2006
  • Canarail is approached for an estimate of what the railway will cost to build.[2] They predict it will cost $350 million CAD. By 2011 the projected cost to build the railway will have quadrupled.[9]
2007
  • Baffinland has determined development of the mine site will require $4 billion CAD to exploit the site.[9]
2007-09-26
  • The Age reports that fluctuations in the value of its investments required Baffinland to secure an emergency loan, of $43 million CAD, before the end of the 2007 shipping season, to ship supplies to the 200 workers it then had on the Baffin Island—to provide enough food, fuel and other important supplies to last them through the long winter.[15]
2010
  • Baffinland hires experienced mining executive Jowdat Waheed as a consultant to prepare confidential reports.[16]
2010-08
  • After completing his report Waheed assembles investors in the privately held Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Company to lead what is described as a "hostile takeover" of Baffinland.[17][18] A bidding war erupts between Waheed's group and European-based mining giant ArcelorMittal.[19]
2012-12-03
2013
2014
  • Baffinland claims that, due to a drop in ore prices, it can't afford to build a railway to the port it was to build on Steensby Inlet.[22][23] It requests approval to ship a smaller amount of ore overland, over a "tote road", using the mine's massive 200 ton dump trucks, to a replacement port on Milne Inlet.
2015
  • First freighters carrying ore to market leave Baffinland's Milne Inlet port in August 2015.[24][25][26] This ore was carried from the mine, to port, in the mine's huge 200 ton dump trucks, over a "tote road".
2016
  • The Qikiqtani Inuit Association sought arbitration, claiming Baffinland prematurely stopped making interim advance royalty payments.[27]

The ore body

Mary River site

Iron ore was first discovered in the Mary River area by Murray Edmund Watts (founder of Watts, Griffis and McOuat Limited) and Ron Sheardown, in 1962.[5] But exploitation of the ore body waited for an increase in the price of ore. According to the Railway Gazette International the ore in this ore body is sufficiently pure that it will not be necessary to conduct any processing before shipping it to market.

The corporation expects to sell the ore in Europe at no less than $67 per tonne for lump ore and $55 per tonne for fines.[5] The corporation expects to produce 18,000,000 t (18,000,000 long tons; 20,000,000 short tons) per year for 20 years or more, and to pay down the cost of building the mine within the first 3 to 7 years.

In 2008 a 150,000 t (150,000 long tons; 170,000 short tons) sample was shipped to Europe for testing.[28][29] The ore was transported to Milne Inlet, where it was carried by barges to a freighter waiting off-shore.

Finance

Mary River mine site

Australian newspaper The Age reported that due to the financial crisis of 2007 Baffinland needed to secure an emergency loan of C$43.8 million, in order to ship enough supplies for the workers on site—or they would not have been able to survive the winter.[15] According to The Age the emergency line of credit was necessary because the Baffinland management did not have the funds available to ship supplies to the 200 workers on site before shipping closed for the season, "after investing in commercial paper that borrowers couldn't repay." According to The Age 95 percent of Baffinland's funds had been invested in short term debts investment vehicles, of 364 days or less. The iron ore price has gone down from around US$150 in 2010-2013 to around $70 per tonne in early 2015, which should be a concern.

Take-over

In September 2010 a specially formed private equity firm Nunavut Iron Ore tried to buy all of Baffinland for C$274 million.[30] Richard McCloskey, then Baffinland's chairman, told Mining Weekly in August 2010 the firm was seeking partners to provide the financing for the mine's construction.

ArcelorMittal bid to buy Baffinland; Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Company (NIO) subsequently made a hostile offer and increased it in December 2010.[17][31] The two firms agreed to merge their bids on January 14, 2011.[32] Reuters reports that the share price tripled during the four-month bidding war.

In March 2011, it was announced that ArcelorMittal had taken a 70% share in the additional stake, and Iron Ore Holdings the remaining 30%.[33] "Iron Ore Holdings is a limited partnership formed under the laws of Delaware for the purpose of making the Offer. Iron Ore Holdings is owned by Bruce Walter, the Chairman of Nunavut Iron, Jowdat Waheed, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nunavut Iron, and funds managed by The Energy & Minerals Group (a private Houston-based fund that makes equity investments of $150 to $400 million in entities with talented, experienced management teams[34]) which is providing the majority of the equity financing for the Offer.[35] The Energy & Minerals Group is a private investment firm with a family of funds with over US$2 billion under management that invest in the energy and minerals sectors."[31] Subsequently, Nunavut Iron became WW Mines.[36] ArcelorMittal retain the position of Project Operator in this 50-50 joint venture.[37]

Insider trading reports

Camp site

In January 2012 The Globe and Mail reported that some senior executives were suspected of profiting from "insider trading" of Baffinland stock.[16]

According to the Mining Weekly Jowdat Waheed, an alumnus of Sherritt International and director at Sprint, and Bruce Walter tried to exploit information Waheed learned when he worked for Baffinland in early 2010 to try to mount a hostile takeover later in 2010.[38][39] In February 2012 CBC News reported that a hearing before the Ontario Securities Commission had been scheduled for January 2013. The initial phase of the hearing began Jan. 14, 2013 and is scheduled to run through to Feb. 22, 2013.[40] Both Jowdat Waheed and Bruce Walter were exonerated by the Ontario Securities Commission.[41]

Royalty dispute

In 2016 the Qikiqtani Inuit Association announced it was planning to go to arbitration over a dispute over royalty payments from Baffinland.[42] The dispute centers around Baffinland's obligation to pay advance royalties, until ore production reaches a threshold that marked the beginning of "intended commercial production".[27][43]

The Mary River Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement requires Baffinland to pay advance royalties. Baffinland was to pay a total of $20 million in advance royalty payments as its contract with Nunavut evolved, and then further quarterly advance payments, until the beginning of "intended commercial production".[44] After the beginning of commercial production, Baffinland was to pay royalties of 1.19 of its net sales revenue. During its first three years of commercial production, Baffinland was to claw back the advance royalties.

Baffinland either did not make any of those quarterly advance royalty payments, or stopped making them in 2015.[27] Its position is that "intended commercial production" began in 2015, because it shipped its first ore to market in August 2015. The position of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association is that the threshold for "intended commercial production", which should mark when Baffinland's production reached sixty percent of the production of 18 million tons a year Baffinland agreed to, in its 2012 project certificate agreement with Nunavut. The 2012 project certificate agreement was based on the project design where Baffinland would complete a railroad to carry 18 million tonnes of ore to a port on Baffin Island's southern coast, at Steensby Inlet. But Baffinland subsequently claimed that a drop in the price of ore caused it to require an amended project design. In the amended project design billions of infrastructure expenditures, in Nunavut, would be postponed, because Baffinland would delay building the railway line.

In Baffinland's amended project design, annual production would be only 4 million tonnes of ore, carried to port by truck. Ore is currently shipped over a "tote road"—a dirt road wide enough for Baffinland's massive 200 ton dump trucks.[27] Baffinland claims that, when its amended project design was approved it set a lower threshold to reach, before it could begin clawing back advance royalties.

The three member arbitration board consists of Thomas R. Berger, a retired judge and former Royal Commissioner of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry and highly respected by Aboriginal Canadians, Jim McCartney and Murray Smith.[43]

Design

Initially a 100 km (62 mi) route to Milne Inlet on Baffin Island's north shore was preferred.[4] However the plans Baffinland submitted to regulatory boards revolved around an ambitious plan to build a special cold-weather railway line from the mine-site to a newly built port in Steensby Inlet on the south shore of Baffin Island.[5] This was described as more environmentally sensitive than a road route, cheaper to operate over the decades the mine will be in use, and a port in Steensby Inlet would be ice-free for eleven months—months longer than Milne Inlet. Ore would be warehoused at the port during the month the port was locked in ice.

After this plan had already received environmental approval Baffinland announced that a decline in the price of ore required sidelining the railway plan. Instead the ore would be trucked over 100 km (62 mi) over a "tote road" to Milne Inlet on the north shore of Baffin Island. Under the current plan freighters will continue to use the port even when Milne Inlet is ice-bound.

The Mine itself was always intended to be a huge open pit mine.

Railway route to Steensby Inlet

The railway route had a higher initial capital cost than any plan to ship ore by truck, before it could ship any ore.[5] But it was touted as being able to carry more ore than a roadway, for less per ton. Over the decades its higher initial cost would have been reclaimed several times over.

The 149 km (93 mi) route to Steensby Inlet on the south shore was said to be chosen, in part, because it would have been ice-free for a longer portion of the year.[45]

According to the Financial Post this will be the most northerly operational[46] railroad in the world,[47] the Baffinland mine being about a degree of latitude farther north than the Russian railhead in the Yamal Peninsula. In April 2011 the Nunatsiaq News online edition reported the railway was anticipated to cost $1.9 billion CAD—just under half the entire $4 billion cost of constructing the mine.[48]

CBC News reported that Sylvie LeBlanc an archaeologist from Carleton University described an "uninterrupted alignment of nearly 100 inuksuit" that is parallel to the proposed route for the rail line.[10] Some of the inuksuit date back 4500 years.[11] The chain runs from Steensby Inlet to 10 km Lake, a distance of 6 km (3.7 mi).[12] LeBlanc described the uninterrupted chain of inuksuit as unprecedented in length and historical value.[13]

Railbed

The unique problems of building a rail line over permafrost would have required special rail embankments.

In 2008 the Railway Gazette reported construction of the rail line was planned to begin in 2012.[5][49] Because Baffin Island's soil is permafrost, the route was chosen so it lies on rock, gravel, or large-grained sand as much as possible. Fine-grained sand and clay soils pose more of a heaving problem when the surface layer annually thaws and freezes. The route will include five multi-span bridges totalling 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in length. Two tunnels 800 m (2,600 ft) and 250 m (820 ft) will be required. The tunnels will have to be lined and insulated to make sure waste heat from the trains and summer air doesn't melt the permafrost surrounding the tunnel. The route detours around large areas of poorly drained glacial deposits and areas likely to contain deposits of fossil ice.

The rail line will require 24 bridges in total and 300 culvert crossings.[48] Seven of the bridges will be longer than 100 m (330 ft) Much of the line will run on top of a 4 m (13 ft) embankment, which needs to be pierced by culverts so wild-life can cross under it.

It is planned to use older carbon steel alloys for the rails, instead of more modern, higher performance alloys, because these can become brittle at very low temperatures.[5] The rails and bridges are designed for fifty years of active service.

Construction of the rail line will require the opening of four quarries.[50]

Parallel roadway

Road to Mary River

Parallel to the rail line there will be a roadway, 8 to 12 m (26 to 39 ft) wide, capable of carrying trucks weighing up to 100 t (98 long tons; 110 short tons).[48]

During 2010 and 2011, when two separate firms were bidding to buy out the original Baffinland management team, an alternate shipping proposal was under consideration.[32][51]

In this alternate proposal ore would be shipped, by truck. The advantage to this approach would smaller start-up costs, and a shorter period before ore was shipped to market. Disadvantages were higher operating costs, making the price of a ton of ore approximately double that under the rail proposal, and a smaller capacity of ore, 3,000,000 t (3,000,000 long tons; 3,300,000 short tons) per year, as opposed to the 20,000,000 t (20,000,000 long tons; 22,000,000 short tons) per year under the rail proposal.

Rolling stock

Baffinland has considered using diesel electric locomotives like this EMD SD70.

The Railway Gazette reported in July 2008 that Baffinland planned to purchase three train sets, each containing 64 hopper cars, which will each make two round trips per day.[5] Nunatsiaq News online edition reported in April 2011 that the two diesel locomotives per train-set would be called upon to lead trains containing 100 to 130 hopper cars.[48] The Railway Gazette reported that EMD SD70 and GE Dash-9 were candidates for the lines' locomotives. Initial plans included running a personnel train several times per week. Later plans included building a permanent airstrip at the mine site.

Nine icebreaking freighters

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Baffinland plans to employ nine icebreaking freighters, each displacing 190,000 tonnes.[52] Baffinland plans to contract the Fednav Group to manage its shipping. When in full operation Baffinland plans to fill one freighter every two days. The plan to have freighters operating year-round has stirred controversy, because of its potential impact on sea mammals living on the winter ice-pack.

According to Splash247 Nordic Bulk Carriers acquired a five-year contract, worth $135 million, to carry 30 loads of ore a year from Baffinland.[53] Nordic Bulk Carriers will allocate four panamax and two handysize vessels to this contract.

Tote road route to Milne Inlet

This unfinished tote road is expected to carry hundreds of 200 tonne dump trucks per day, every day, for several decades.
Baffinland plans to feed large Capesize freighters, moored offshore, from freighters small enough to ferry ore from Milne Inlet.

Jowdat Waheed's group suggested using a cheaper tote road route during its 2011 attempt at a hostile takeover of Baffinland.

The tote road approach seemed to have been abandoned when the two groups of investors fighting to assume control of Baffinland agreed to a partnership. However, in late 2014, after the Railway plan had spent several years undergoing it environmental impact assessment, that plan was shelved.[22][23]

Baffinland claimed a drop in ore prices required a return to the tote road plan.[54] Between January 2013 and August 2015, the price of ore, per dry metric tonne, dropped from $152 to just over $50 USD.

Milne Inlet is not as open to large, deep draft cargo vessels as Steensby Inlet. Therefore, Baffinland wanted to increase the number of departures to 150 per year.[22]

The new plan would require the mine operating 75 ultra large dump trucks, instead of the 22 required by Mine proposal. The increased number of trucks would require widening the road, "twinning" portions of it, from one lane to two, and twinning some bridges.[54] The port facilities would need to be enlarged, to house more staff, and to store more ore.

Baffinland had requested that the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Bernard Valcourt grant the company an exemption from the land use plan.[55]

When the Nunavut Planning Commission turned down Baffinland's revised proposal, one of the options the Commission offered to Baffinland was to seek an exemption from the North Baffin Regional Land Use Plan from an "appropriate federal minister"—like Valcourt.[56] Valcourt's exemption allows Baffinland to bring its amended Phase 2 proposal directly to the Nunavut Impact Review Board.[57][58]

Baffinland's request stirred fear and distrust from residents of nearby communities, who appealed to Valcourt to turn down the request.[59]

Nevertheless, Valcourt authorized Baffinland to by pass the Nunavut Planning Commission’s decision and allowed it to proceed to present its proposal to the Nunavut Impact and Review Board for getting a new environmental assessment, on July 13, 2015.[60] The ten month shipping proposal has not yet been approved. The first ship full of ore from Baffinland Early Revenue Phase, which ships only 90 days a year, left Milne Inlet less than a month later.

On August 31, 2015, the Nunavut Impact and Review Board informed Minister Valcourt, and a Baffinland Vice President, Erik Madsen, that they were recommending to Ottawa that the changes to their plans that Baffinland had made were significant enough that a full review, and public consultation were necessary.[54]

Railway route to Milne Inlet

In February 2016 Baffinland requested permission for yet another large change in their plans as to how to get ore onboard their freighters.[61][62] When permission was given for Baffinland's original plan to build a railway from the mine site to a new port in Steensby Inlet they were given permission to ship 18 million tons of ore, per year. In their second plan, where ore was to be trucked, via a tote road, to Milne Inlet, they had initially only requested permission to ship 4.2 million tons per year. When they requested permission, in 2015, to truck 12 million tons to Milne Inlet Nunavut authorities informed Baffinland that a change of that scale would require an additional extensive environmental review. Six months later Baffinland announced that, while they wanted to increase the amount of ore shipped through Milne Inlet, they would transport that ore there by rail—not by truck.

Elyse Skura, of CBC North, pointed out that Baffinland still had permission to ship 18 million tons of ore to Steensby Inlet, if they built that southern rail route.[61]

Thomas Rohmer of Nunatsiaq Online noted that Baffinland's enrolment of Inuit workers had been disappointing, and fell short of the stated agreements.[62]

Operation

The mine was planned to commence operations in 2014, staffed by a crew of 500.[5] In fact operations began in September 2014.[1] The sun sets on November 18 and does not rise again until January 23.[63]

On February 29, 2012, the Nunavut Impact Review Board announced final environmental hearings would be held in Iqaluit, Igloolik and Pond Inlet, in July 2012.[64][65]

The bulk carrier Federal Tiber departed from Milne Inlet on August 8, 2015, with the first shipment of ore from the mine.[24][25] She was bound for Nordenham, Germany, at the mouth of the Weser River, with 53,624 tonnes of ore.[26]

Nordic Bulk Carrier's first vessel, the panamax Nordic Odin, travelled from Baffinland's Milne Port, to Gijon, Spain, four days later, from August 12 to August 23, 2015.[53] She encountered sea ice. Her ice class is a relatively light 1A.

In March 2017 Baffinland chartered an Ilyushin IL-76 for twenty flight, between Jack Garland Airport, in North Bay, Ontario, and the mine-site.[66][67] The mining vehicles were too large to be driven onto the plane, and had to be disassembled before shipment.

Environmental concerns

The CBC interviewed Inuit from the region in April 2008, about their concerns with the plans.[68] Jaypetee Palluq, an Igloolik resident who had been asked to serve on a Baffinland advisory committee, was concerned that the mine's operation would interfere with the traditional hunts for sea mammals, like walrus. He called on Baffinland to "find an alternate shipping route to the mine, regardless of the cost." Paul Quassa, Mayor of Igloolik, also expressed concern, over the effect of freighters on the ice used by the Walrus. He said the region was known for its highly prized aged, fermented walrus meat, a valuable export from the region.

Mary River camp

In August 2008 the CBC reported that Baffinland acknowledged three fuel spills.[69] Baffinland's vice-president of sustainable development, Derek Chubb, asserted that the three spills were contained within "secondary engineered containment facilities", and that there was no environmental damage. 5,000 l (1,100 imp gal; 1,300 US gal) of aviation fuel leaked from a fuel bladder at the mine's port facilities on Milne Inlet. The other two leaks of 200 l (44 imp gal; 53 US gal), occurred near the mine site. Baffinland acknowledged that the leaks had been found months earlier, but had not been made public. Michael Nadler, the regional director general of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs speculated that mine officials may not have felt an obligation to publicly report the leaks because they believed there had been no damage.

On September 22, 2008, 100,000 l (22,000 imp gal; 26,000 US gal) of contaminated water was released in what officials described as "human error".[70][71]

In January 2012 Baffinland submitted a draft environmental plan to the Nunavut Impact Review Board.[72] On February 29, 2012, the Nunavut Impact Review Board announced that Baffinland's 10 volume environmental plan broadly met its requirements for the points this kind of plan should address.[73] The Board then begins its technical review of the plan. When the Board's technical review is complete it will hold public hearings in Iqaluit, Igloolik and Pond Inlet

In May, 2012, archeologist Sylvie LeBlanc described a chain of inuksuit that is parallel to the proposed route of the rail line as of unprecedented length and historical value.[10] LeBlanc registered her concern with the Nunavut Impact Review Board that explosions necessary to build the rail line will trigger vibrations which will damage the inuksuit. An internal Baffinland environmental impact study had said that there should be a "buffer distance" between the site of any blasting and sites of archeologically significant structures—but the study didn't specify what the distance was.

On July 6, 2016, the World Wildlife Foundation, one of the organizations that sits on an oversight board, the mine's Marine Environment Working Group, criticized Baffinland for a lack of transparency.[74]

On November 2, 2016, CBC News reported that residents of Igloolik were describing a hum or buzz, coming from deep within the Fury Strait and Hecla Strait—near Steensby Inlet where Baffinland has one of its ports.[75] Paul Quassa, Igloolik's representative to the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, said the hum had been disturbing the sea mammals community members rely on for food. The hum is very loud, so loud the complement of vessels transitting the straits can hear it transmitted through the hulls, without any electronic aids.

Future expansion

The corporation has signed a joint venture agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.[76][77] Nunavut Tunngavik controls the resource exploitation of Inuit owned lands. The agreement allows Baffinland exploration and resource development rights to 170 km2 (66 sq mi) of Inuit-owned land adjacent to the mine-site.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Baffinland Begins Mining Iron Ore". Oakville, Ontario: Baffinland. 2014-10-09. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2015-08-21. On September 8, 2014, Baffinland began mining and transporting ore to the port site where construction of its Milne Port continues, on schedule, with the intent of shipping first product during the open water season of 2015
  2. 1 2 "Arctic iron ore line proposed". Railway Gazette. 2006-07-01. Archived from the original on 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  3. ↑ "Baffinland Announces New Members of the Baffinland Team to Advance its World Class Iron Ore Project". Mining Top News. 2007-04-10. Archived from the original on 2009-05-01.
  4. 1 2 "Baffin Island arctic ore line advances". Railway Gazette. 2008-04-25. Archived from the original on 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Carolyn Fitzpatrick (2008-07-24). "Heavy haul in the high north". Railway Gazette. Archived from the original on 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2008-08-10. Premium steel rails will not be used, because the material has an increased potential to fracture at very low temperatures. Regular carbon steel is preferred, with a very high premium on the cleanliness of the steel. For this project, a low-alloy rail with standard strength and a Brinell hardness in the range of 300 would be most appropriate.
  6. ↑ "Baffin Island Iron". Arctic Economics. 2008-07-28. Archived from the original on 2009-05-01.
  7. ↑ David K. Joyce. "Mary River Iron Project". David K Joyce Minerals. Archived from the original on 2009-05-03. During August of 2007, I was privileged to visit the Mary River Project of Baffinland Iron Mines Ltd.
  8. ↑ "The world's northernmost mines". Mining.com. 2016-01-16. Archived from the original on 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2016-02-23. The world's northernmost mines are all located in just three countries
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Paul Waldie (2011-05-14). "A railway to Arctic riches: economic boom, environmental threat?". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2017-01-05. The impact on Nunavut will be profound. The mine is expected to triple the territory's annual gross domestic product growth rate and provide nearly $5-billion in tax revenue and royalties to the territory over the life of the project. It will create more than 5,000 direct jobs, many more indirect positions and offer training opportunities in an area of the country where four out of every six people live in social housing and life expectancy is 10 years lower than the rest of Canada.
  10. 1 2 3 "Baffinland's proposed railway near inuksuk chain: Archaeologist says it's the longest intact navigational system of its kind ever documented". CBC News. 2012-05-04. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04. One of the outstanding questions about the impacts of the proposed Mary River Iron Mine near Pond Inlet is what will happen to a chain of ancient inuksuit.
  11. 1 2 Jane George (2011-10-07). "Draft EIS for Nunavut’s Mary River mine sparks stinging technical review". Cambridge Bay: Nunatsiaq News. Archived from the original on 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2012-11-21. The antiquity of some archeological remains along this navigational system, which goes back more than 4,500 years, indicates that “it has been used by people representing every Arctic culture for millennia.”
  12. 1 2 "Inuksuit on the railroad". Isuma TV. 2012-05-10. Archived from the original on 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2012-11-21. The railway will run along a chain of roughly 100 inuksuit that extends for over six kilometres near the mouth of Steensby Inlet.
  13. 1 2 "Baffinland's proposed railway near inukshuk chain". Yahoo News. 2012-05-05. Archived from the original on 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2012-11-21. LeBlanc said it is the longest intact navigational system of its kind ever documented... LeBlanc registered her concerns with the Nunavut Impact Review Board that rock eruptions and vibrations from blasting activities during railway construction could affect the structures.
  14. ↑ "One year later, more public hearings for Baffinland". CBC North. 2014-01-03. Archived from the original on 2014-01-04. It’s been a year since Baffinland Iron Mines announced changes to its Mary River project. Now a regulatory hurdle that the company had hoped to pass six months ago has evolved into another set of public hearings.
  15. 1 2 Rob Delaney (2007-09-26). "Credit freeze takes its toll in Canada". The Age. Archived from the original on 2009-12-13. Baffinland ran short of money to pay for food, fuel and drilling equipment after investing in commercial paper that borrowers couldn't repay. Without the money, the company had to arrange an emergency line of credit before shipping lanes froze over. "We have 200 people to keep alive," chief executive Gordon McCreary said in Toronto. The $C43.8 million ($A50.5 million) invested in commercial paper was the company's lifeline to getting critical materials to the north, he said.
  16. 1 2 Paul Waldie, Tim Kiladze (2012-01-09). "Baffinland consultant accused of insider trading". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-04. In documents released Monday, the Ontario Securities Commission accused Mr. Waheed and Mr. Walter of illegal insider trading, alleging they profited from inside information through the prolonged takeover battle which ended in them acquiring a 30-per-cent interest in Baffinland. Mr. Waheed also faces allegations of insider tipping – sharing corporate information that had not been publicly disclosed.
  17. 1 2 "Mining Journal - ArcelorMittal ups Baffinland price". Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
  18. ↑ Sunny Freeman (2010-09-22). "Baffinland Iron shares surge 68 per cent after hostile bid". Toronto: Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2012-12-04. Nunavut Iron Ore is offering 80 cents cash a share, a 100 per cent premium to Baffinland's share price at the end of August, when the bidder started buying up shares in the company at around 40 cents apiece. But Baffinland's shares have been rising steadily since then and spiked 38 cents Wednesday to close at 94 cents each in heavy trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
  19. ↑ Peter Koven (2010-12-29). "Battle for Baffinland continues". National Post. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04. Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc., the private company led by former Baffinland consultant Jowdat Waheed, raised its partial bid to $1.40 a share in cash, up from the previous level of $1.35. The company also said it would take up a maximum of 60% of Baffinland shares, more than its prior offer of 50.1%, and added a new proposal to potentially issue warrants to Baffinland shareholders.
  20. ↑ "Duncan says yes to Nunavut’s Mary River iron mine: Next step is NIRB project certificate workshop". Nunavut: Nunatsiaq News. 2012-12-03. Archived from the original on 2012-12-04. John Duncan, the northern development minister, said yes to the Mary River iron mine project Dec. 3, closing a four-year-long chapter in the project’s regulatory journey that opens up a new phase leading to the issuing of licences and permits.
  21. ↑ "Feds give Mary River project green light: Aboriginal Affairs approves massive open-pit mine". CBC North. 2012-12-03. Archived from the original on 2012-12-04. A press release from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada says the approval is based on the recommendation of the Nunavut Impact Review Board. The board’s executive director, Ryan Barry, says it’s a big day for the territory. "We do feel it's certainly a milestone for our organization, as this is a very big and important file for Nunavut," he said.
  22. 1 2 3 "Nunavut iron producer proposes big changes for Mary River: Baffinland seeks expansion of Milne Inlet, winter shipping, ramped up iron ore volumes". Nunatsiaq Online. 2014-11-05. Archived from the original on 2015-01-16. Retrieved 2015-08-19. Hammered by tumbling iron ore prices, Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. wants regulators to re-write the rules for its Mary River iron mine to allow the shipment of up to 12 million metric tonnes of ore from Milne Inlet for up to 10 months each year.
  23. 1 2 "Baffinland pitches year-round shipping from Milne Inlet: 'People are shocked,' Pond Inlet hunter Caleb Sanguya told the CBC in Inuktitut". CBC North. 2014-11-04. Archived from the original on 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2015-08-19. A proposal by Baffinland Iron Mines to ship iron ore through Milne Inlet 10 months of the year is drawing surprise and anger in Nunavut.
  24. 1 2 "The week that was in the North: 5 stories not to miss". CBC North. 2015-08-16. Archived from the original on 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2015-08-16. The Federal Tiber bulk carrier leaves from the Milne port, carrying iron ore from Baffinland's Mary River project. The ore is the first shipment produced by the site, which has been the subject of controversy due to a request from Baffinland for year-round shipping.
  25. 1 2 "Baffinland's Mary River mine ships first load of iron ore: Site has been subject of controversy due to request for year-round shipping". CBC North. 2015-08-11. Archived from the original on 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2015-08-17. The Federal Tiber bulk carrier leaves from the Milne port, carrying iron ore from Baffinland's Mary River project. The ore is the first shipment produced by the site, which has been the subject of controversy due to a request from Baffinland to ship ore through Baffin Bay 10 months of the year.
  26. 1 2 "Baffinland ships first load of iron ore to Germany from Nunavut mine". Nunavut: Nunatsiaq Online. 2015-08-10. Archived from the original on 2015-08-12. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  27. 1 2 3 4 "Arbitration hearing on QIA-Baffinland royalties dispute starts April 18". Nunatsiaq Online. 2017-04-18. Archived from the original on 2017-04-19. After that, Baffinland was to have paid QIA advance payments of $1.25 million each quarter-year until the start of “commercial production.”
  28. ↑ Julie Gedeon (2009-03-02). "ARCTIC SHIPPING SPECIAL REPORT: Floating wharf gets around lack of Arctic infrastructure". Canadian Sailings. Archived from the original on 2009-12-12.
  29. ↑ "Sample ore from Nunavut iron project en route to Netherlands". CBC News. 2008-09-08. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
  30. ↑ Matthew Hill (2010-09-22). "Private equity firm offers to buy Baffinland Iron". Mining Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-04. Private equity vehicle Nunavut Iron Ore on Wednesday announced an offer to buy Canadian junior Baffinland Iron Mines for C$0,80 a share in cash, valuing the company at C$274-million.
  31. 1 2 "Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc. Extends Offer for Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation Pending Removal of Poison Pill". Newswire. 2010-10-28. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2015-08-21. Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc. ("Nunavut Iron") announced today that it has extended its Offer to purchase all of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation ("Baffinland") at a price of $0.80 in cash per Common Share because Baffinland's Shareholder Rights Plan remains in place preventing Nunavut Iron from bringing any offer to the shareholders.
  32. 1 2 Julie Gordon (2011-01-14). "Baffinland conundrum: moving ore by road or rail". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04. Trucking iron ore from Baffinland's Arctic mine instead of moving it by rail would cost much less at first, but the over-the-road option would slash output and cause operating costs to balloon.
  33. ↑ "ArcelorMittal, Nunavut and Baffinland Complete Plan of Arrangement - Mining Top News". Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  34. ↑ "EMG: about us". The Energy & Minerals Group. 2015-08-03. Archived from the original on 2015-08-13. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  35. ↑ "Texas-backed two-step: Bruce Walter looked outgunned in the bidding for Baffinland Iron Mines. But then he brought up partnership". Listed magazine. March 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  36. ↑ "OSC targets duo behind bid for Baffinland". Financial Post. 2012-01-09. Archived from the original on 2014-10-08. Retrieved 2015-08-21. The OSC claims Jowdat Waheed and Bruce Walter acted contrary to the public interest by using confidential information in their efforts to acquire Baffinland, a junior mining company that is developing the massive Mary River iron ore deposit on Baffin Island in Nunavut Territory.
  37. ↑ "Baffinland: who we are". Baffinland. Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  38. ↑ "Executive Profile: Jowdat Waheed". Bloomberg Business. 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-08-21.
  39. ↑ Matthew Hill (2012-01-10). "OSC alleges two Baffinland buyers flaunted securities laws". Mining Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2012-03-04. The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has accused former Baffinland Iron Mines consultant Jowdat Waheed and business partner Bruce Walter of using insider information to mount a hostile bid for the company in 2010.
  40. ↑ "Baffinland insider trading hearing set for 2013: Jowdat Waheed and Bruce Walter are directors at mine company". CBC News. 2012-02-16. Archived from the original on 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2012-06-04. Representatives for the two men appeared before the an OSC panel in Toronto Wednesday morning. The panel scheduled a full hearing for January 2013.
  41. ↑ Drew Hasselback (2014-08-14). "Baffinland case shows why fishy doesn’t cut it in insider trading allegations". National Post. Archived from the original on 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2014-08-14. Representatives for the two men appeared before the an OSC panel in Toronto Wednesday morning. The panel scheduled a full hearing for January 2013.
  42. ↑ Nick Murray (2017-04-18). "QIA says Baffinland Iron Mines owes it millions in advance royalty payments". CBC North. Archived from the original on 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2017-04-19. In a statement of claim filed Aug. 26, QIA says Baffinland hasn't paid its $1.25 million quarterly advance royalty payments since the first quarter of 2015, as per the Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement — the document which outlines benefits Inuit are to receive for Baffinland using Inuit-owned land.
  43. 1 2 Jim Bell (2017-04-24). "Panel to rule on QIA-Baffinland advance payments dispute by June 20". Nunatsiaq News. Retrieved 2017-04-22. The QIA insists that “commercial production” was intended to mean 60 per cent of 18 million tonnes per year, the figure given in Baffinland’s original project description and in the project certificate they received from the Nunavut Impact Review Board.
  44. ↑ Jim Bell (2016-05-20). "Qikiqtani Inuit org reveals Baffinland IIBA financial info". Nunatsiaq Online. Retrieved 2017-04-19. Baffinland was to have made advance payments to the QIA prior to the start of commercial production equal to the following: $5 million on the date of signing of the IIBA, $5 million within five days of receiving a water licence, $10 million within five days of the date of its construction decision, and $1.25 million for each calendar quarter between the construction decision and the start of commercial production;
  45. ↑ Paul Waldie (2011-05-11). "A railway to Arctic riches: economic boom, environmental threat?". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2012-01-17. No one has built one this far north, anywhere. But now – thanks to an insatiable global demand for minerals, and climate change that has opened up northern shipping routes – a rail line across part of Baffin Island is about to become a reality.
  46. ↑ Mining railways used to operate in the much more northerly Svalbard, but they appear to have been abandoned. See The Railways of Spitsbergen
  47. ↑ Julie Gordon (2011-01-18). "Baffinland: Developing Arctic iron ore mine is no easy task". Financial Post. Archived from the original on 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  48. 1 2 3 4 Jane George (2011-04-08). "Huge iron road to turn Baffin into Nunavut’s industrial hub:". Nunatsiaq News online edition. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  49. ↑ Jane George (2012-04-19). "Baffinland’s huge iron road faces climate, landscape challenges: Railway would include 13 locomotives, 480 ore carriers". Nunatsiaq News online edition. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04. The railway will include 13 locomotives with 480 ore carriers, divided into four trains of 110 to 130 cars each. Each will make at least two round trips per day between Mary River and Steensby Inlet 300 days a year, according to information from the project’s environmental impact statement.
  50. ↑ Jane George (2012-02-20). "Baffinland gives NIRB final EIS for Mary River: Nunavut Impact Review Board now reviewing huge environmental document". Nunatsiaq News online edition. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  51. ↑ Scott Haggett (2011-01-13). "Baffinland sees mine cost at C$740 mln with trucks". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04. Using trucks, the mine could begin producing 1 million tonnes of lump and fine iron ore by 2013, with output rising to 3 million tonnes a year later - a level the site can sustain for 20 years, Baffinland said in a release.
  52. ↑ "Marine shipping route tops Igloolik concerns about mine proposal: mayor". CBC News. 2009-04-19. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2009-12-12. The Nunavut Impact Review Board is heading to Igloolik this week for a second round of public meetings as part of its environmental assessment of Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.'s Mary River iron mine proposal.
  53. 1 2 Holly Birkett (2015-08-31). "First panamax carries iron ore from Canada’s Arctic to Europe". Splash247. Archived from the original on 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2015-12-10. Nordic Bulk Carriers’ vessel Nordic Odin (77,000 dwt, built 2015) has become the first panamax bulker to carry iron ore from Baffin Island, Canada to Europe through Arctic sea ice.
  54. 1 2 3 "Review board says Mary River changes need public review: Baffinland must now submit addition to current environmental impact statement". Nunavut: Nunatsiaq Online. 2015-08-31. Archived from the original on 2015-09-01. The Nunavut Impact Review Board is now requesting that Baffinland Iron Mines submit an addendum to its current final environmental impact statement detailing proposed changes, impacts and mitigation efforts of its Phase 2 Development which will include new and upgraded infrastructure at its Milne Inlet port.
  55. ↑ Marc Montgomery (2015-05-25). "Arctic mine’s contentious request". Radio Canada International. Archived from the original on 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2015-08-20. Building of the railway over permafrost requires special contstruction. due to low prices for ore, the company says it can’t raise the billions necessary for construction of the 150km line to Steensby Inlet and has asked for an amendment to ship from Milne Inlet already connected by a tote road
  56. ↑ Lisa Gregoire (2015-04-09). "Nunavut regulatory org says no to Baffinland". Nunatsiaq Online. Archived from the original on 2015-07-02. In a bold move announced April 8 that will impact how Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. operates its Mary River iron mine in north Baffin, NPC directors have decided unanimously that the mining company’s amended project proposal does not conform to the North Baffin Regional Land Use Plan (NBRLUP).
  57. ↑ "Baffinland’s Phase 2 Proposal to Proceed to Review with Nunavut Impact Review Board". Baffinland. 2015-07-17. Archived from the original on 2015-08-21. Baffinland Iron Mines notes that on July 14, 2015, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada granted an exemption to enable Baffinland’s Phase 2 proposal to proceed to the environmental assessment stage with the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB).
  58. ↑ "Baffinland Iron Mines granted land use plan exemption by federal minister". CBC North. 2015-07-14. Archived from the original on 2015-08-21. The minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development has given Baffinland Iron Mines the green light to take its latest plans — which include almost year-round shipping of iron ore — directly to the Nunavut Impact Review Board.
  59. ↑ Jim Bell (2015-05-22). "Inuit org wants Valcourt to reject Baffinland request for land use exemption". Nunavut: Nunatsiaq Online. Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2015-08-20. Bernard Valcourt, the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development minister, now finds himself at the centre of a big regulatory fight over an ambitious and controversial expansion plan that Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. proposes for its Mary River iron mine.
  60. ↑ "Valcourt exempts Nunavut iron mine expansion from land use plan". Nunavut: Nunatsiaq Online. 2015-07-14. Archived from the original on 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2015-08-20. In a letter dated July 13, Valcourt exempted Baffinland’s ambitious “Phase 2” proposal for the expansion of iron ore production and shipping at the Mary River mine from the North Baffin Regional Land Use Plan.
  61. 1 2 Elyse Skura (2016-02-18). "Baffinland proposes changing Mary River project's shipping road to a railway: Phase 2 environment impact statement postponed to September". CBC North. Archived from the original on 2016-02-22. Retrieved 2016-02-23. Baffinland Iron Mines is proposing another change to its Mary River project on north Baffin Island — this time a decision to build a railway — which will delay the submission of its phase 2 environmental impact statement by several months.
  62. 1 2 Thomas Rohner (2016-02-19). "Baffinland pitches Mary River-Milne Inlet railway for Nunavut iron mine: Change of plan catches Qikiqtani Inuit Association by surprise". Nunavut: Nunatsiaq Online. Archived from the original on 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2016-02-23. The proportion of Inuit within the Mary River workforce has actually decreased since the IIBA was signed, Williamson-Bathory told board members. Beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement work only 17 or 18 per cent of the person-hours worked at the mine, he said.
  63. ↑ "Sunrise/Sunset/Sun Angle Calculator". National Research Council of Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  64. ↑ "Nunavut’s Baffinland iron mine project moves into final hearings (March 1, 2012):". Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. 2012-03-01. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-04. Baffinland Iron Mine Corp.‘s huge iron mine project on Nunavut’s northern Baffin Island took an important step forward Feb. 29, when the Nunavut Impact Review Board ruled the company’s final Environmental Impact Statement “positively complies” with guidelines and the preliminary hearings’ decisions issued for the project. Final hearings on Mary River will take place this July in Iqaluit, Igloolik and Pond Inlet, the NIRB and the Nunavut Water Board said Feb. 29.
  65. ↑ Jane George (2012-03-01). "Nunavut’s Baffinland iron mine project moves into final hearings". Nunatsiaq News online edition. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  66. ↑ P.J. Wilson (2017-04-13). "Massive Soviet-built IL-76 transport using North Bay’s long runway to fly mining equipment to Baffin Island". North Bay Nugget. Retrieved 2017-04-21. North Bay, he said, was chosen because of the 10,000-foot runway and the lack of a flight curfew in the area.
  67. ↑ Andy Cline (2017-04-20). "Russian Ilyushin IL-76 carries out Canadian mining equipment contract". Skies magazine. Retrieved 2017-04-21. North Bay’s 10,000-foot main runway allows a heavy-laden Ilyushin to take off with a large payload of cargo and fuel, and lack of flight curfews allows maximum operational flexibility.
  68. ↑ "Baffin Island residents resist proposed iron mine plans". CBC News. 2008-04-08. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2009-12-12. Residents in Igloolik, Nunavut, and some Baffin Island communities oppose plans for an iron mine in the area because its proposed marine shipping route cuts through Foxe Basin, where generations of Inuit have hunted for walrus.
  69. ↑ "Baffinland reports 3 fuel spills at Nunavut site". CBC News. 2008-08-18. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2009-12-12. In June, about 5,000 litres of jet fuel leaked out of a containment bladder in the mine site's tank farm at Milne Inlet. The fuel collected in sand sitting in an impermeable liner designed to keep spills from being released into the environment.
  70. ↑ "Human error led to spill at Mary River mining site: Baffinland". CBC News. 2008-10-03. Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2009-12-12. The oily water was taken from the company's fuel depot, which is lined to prevent seepage, and was released onto the ground a few hundred metres away. It's the fourth spill that Baffinland has reported since June, but the first spill to escape a lined area. The Mary River project is about 160 kilometres south of Pond Inlet on Baffin Island.
  71. ↑ "Federal investigators to look into Baffinland oil, grease spill". CBC News. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2009-12-12. On Sept. 22, more than 100,000 litres of water that had not been completely treated spilled out of a water tank and into a ditch near the Milne Inlet fuel storage tank. mirror
  72. ↑ Jane George. "Nunavut’s Baffinland iron mine project moves into final hearings: Hearings to take place in July in Iqaluit, Igloolik and Pond Inlet". Nunatsiaq News online edition. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  73. ↑ Jane George (2012-03-01). "Nunavut’s Baffinland iron mine project moves into final hearings: Hearings to take place in July in Iqaluit, Igloolik and Pond Inlet". Nunatsiaq News online edition. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04. Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.‘s huge iron mine project on Nunavut’s northern Baffin Island took an important step forward Feb. 29, when the Nunavut Impact Review Board ruled the company’s final Environmental Impact Statement “positively complies” with guidelines and the preliminary hearings’ decisions issued for the project.
  74. ↑ Sarah Rogers (2016-07-06). "Nunavut mine needs improved monitoring, public oversight: WWF". Nunatsiaq Online. Archived from the original on 2016-07-06. Retrieved 2016-07-08. But years after the project’s approval, Baffinland has no formal guidelines to inform the level of data the company collects on its project, and how its analyses are reported, said WWF-Canada, which sits as an observing member on the mine’s Marine Environment Working Group.
  75. ↑ Jimmy Thomson (2016-11-02). "Mysterious 'ping' sound from sea floor baffles Igloolik". CBC News. Retrieved 2016-11-03. Sometimes called a beep, a ping, or a hum, the sound is blamed for scaring away animals.
  76. ↑ "Baffinland Forms Exploration Joint Venture With Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.". Mining Top News. 2008-09-10. Archived from the original on 2009-05-01.
  77. ↑ "Iron mine- Inuit strike an MOU". Siku News. 2009-04-01. Archived from the original on 2009-05-03.
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