Agnico-Eagle gets green light for all-weather road to Meliadine: NIRB

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. announced Feb. 21 the Nunavut Impact Review Board has granted the company permission to build an essential element of the Meliadine gold project: a 24-kilometre, $21-million, all-weather road from Rankin Inlet to Meliadine.

“The NIRB decision is a major milestone in the development of the Meliadine project as this will allow us to move to year-round operations. We hope to begin construction later in March,” Sean Boyd, Agnico-Eagle’s president and chief executive officer, said in a Feb. 21 news release.

Work is already underway to obtain the remaining approvals prior to the start of the road’s construction, the company said in the release.

These include a a Type B Water License from the Nunavut Water Board, land use permits from the Kivalliq Inuit Association, Government of Nunavut and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and navigable water crossing approvals from Transport Canada.

Based on discussions with the various regulatory agencies, the mining company said it expects to receive all of the required permits and authorizations for the road’s construction over the next few weeks.

The all-weather access road, permitted as a pre-development activity, will be used to supply material such as fuel, drilling supplies, and food, and transport workers to the Meliadine camp, allowing year-round exploration work at the site.

The road will use three bridges, including one across the Meliadine River.

Bridge installation is expected to be completed by late fall 2012, with road construction to be completed by April 2013.

Cost of the all-weather access road is estimated at $21 million.

The Feb. 21 announcement from NIRB comes as good news to Agnico-Eagle, which also owns of the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake: last week the company reported a loss of $601.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Agnico-Eagle’s resource estimates for Meliadine show the project already contains twice as much gold as Meadowbank.

The company expects production to start there in 2017.