Steensby Port’s our only choice, Baffinland says

Baffinland Iron Mines says it’s scrapping a plan to haul iron ore from its proposed Mary River mine by truck to Milne Inlet.

The company had planned to haul iron ore via a 100-kilometre tote road from Mary River to a port at Milne Inlet and ship the ore to European markets during the open water season.

But Greg Missal, Baffinland’s vice president of corporate affairs, said the company now plans to ship exclusively via a railway connecting the mine with a port at Steensby Inlet.

Missal said results from an internal feasibility study on the road option weren’t promising, and the project would have required changes to Baffinland’s application to the Nunavut Impact Review Board, a process that’s now half done.

“We would have been required to scope in details to the NIRB process in a fairly timely manner and we felt that that might jeopardize our schedule getting the project through the process as efficiently as possible,” he told reporters April 19.

Missal said rail is the most efficient way to move the 21 million tones of iron ore Baffinland expects to ship out of Mary River every year.

At Steensby Port, the ore would be loaded onto giant ice-strengthened container ships, which would ship the cargo to Europe via Foxe Basin and the Hudson Strait.

“Transportation of iron ore comes down to movement of volume, which is why the rail is there,” Missal said.

“In order for Mary River to operate efficiently we need to move a high volume of material efficiently and that’s how we’re going to do it.”

Missal spoke to reporters following an information session organized by the Nunavut Impact Review Board at Iqaluit’s Parish Hall, which drew nobody from the general public.

Next week, NIRB begins a tour of North Baffin and High Arctic communities, which will be more likely to feel the impact of the proposed mine.

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., which was taken over by the steel-making giant ArcelorMittal earlier this year, now exists as a a privately-held entity owned by Arcelor and Nunavut Iron Ore.