Agnico Eagle partners with hydro-fibre link proponent on power plan
Mining company to provide collaborate on project to connect Kivalliq to southern energy grid
Rankin Inlet, shown in this file photo, as well as Arviat, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet and Whale Cove would get a power and broadband connection to the south if the Kivalliq hydro-fibre link project were to be built. (File photo by David Venn)
Updated on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 at 6 p.m. ET
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Inuit-owned Nukik Corp. have agreed to work together on purchase agreements for electricity to power the proposed Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link once the project is complete.
The Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre link, shown in this map, would connect northern Manitoba to the Kivalliq region of Nunavut providing clean hydro-electricity and broadband internet to the region. (Screen cap courtesy of Nukik Corp.)
The memorandum of understanding they signed Dec. 8 “marks a major commercial milestone” for the project, said Raphaëlle Audouin, CEO of Nukik Corp., the project’s proponent, in an email Tuesday.
Agnico Eagle will not be a proponent or directly fund the project but will continue to work with Nukik Corp., said Gabriel-Antoine Côté, the company’s manager of Nunavut public affairs, in an interview Dec. 10.
The hydro-fibre line is a proposed 1,200-kilometre link that would connect Gillam, Man., to Arviat, Whale Cove, Rankin Inlet, Chesterfield Inlet Baker Lake and Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine to provide hydroelectric power and broadband internet.
“The project is at new stage of maturity,” Côté said, adding the signing of the memorandum of understanding formalizes a collaboration between the two firms.
The majority of the project’s funding — which Audouin said would come from private investment and federal government money — remains uncertain. It has received just under $15 million from the federal government since 2018.
The project is estimated to cost about $3.39 billion and Nukik estimates it would generate $8 billion in revenue over 50 years.
Thus far, it has not been named by the federal government as a project of national interest or been referred to its major projects office for fast-track approval.
Agnico Eagle’s mine and the neighbouring communities rely on diesel to generate electricity. A connection to the North American power grid is expected to reduce costs for the company.
“The project’s path forward remains firmly rooted in a vision for long-term economic development, respect for Indigenous rights, environmental stewardship, and adherence to existing regulatory frameworks in Nunavut and Manitoba,” said Audouin.
Correction: This story has been updated from its originally published version to better reflect the working relationship between Agnico Eagle and Nukik Corp.
The dollar cost and the physical vulnerabilities of stringing power lines across a thousand miles of increasingly swampy muskeg and tundra just seems nuts to me.
How many SMRs can you get for three and a half billion dollars?
Is this part of a real plan or is this corporate welfare for KIA and a bunch of southern renewables consultants?
are you a science type land guy?
This has been in the works for more than ten years now. Before Prime Minister Carney came on it was planned and studies have been ongoing since before the current KIA president. At a time when everything is becoming more and more expensive this is becoming more of a feasible idea.
QEC board has indicated it to be a positive step in which they would be willing to invest time and effort. The addition of another major company in the region makes it a real possibility.
The pioneers of southern Canada went through some rough edges when creating cross country interstate highways. This is the beginning of another direction in connecting the north to the south.
Actually SMRs are not proven commercial technology for electrical generation, so the answer is zero.
Also the size for these communities require Micro Modular Reactors (MMR). Again still unproven in a commercial setting so the answer is zero.
Number of communities willing to have anything to do with nuclear generation or have it located anywhere near them, likely zero. Fear of the unknown will rule until the technology has a track record.
MMRs are likely still a decade away from commercial reality as the focus now is on SMRs due to size and economies of scale. Once MMRs are proven they will become an option .
You must not be from Nunavut because any hydro link is a decade away as well if we’re being honest. Look at the Iqaluit dam that’s come up again. We should look at when that was first being taken seriously, Nunavut serious that is, late 90s and that’s just I my time here. Wouldn’t shock me if there’s paper NIRB files going back earlier than that.
Realistically we probably should be panning on what’s available a decade from now because that’s how long it takes for any infrastructure here to even get off the ground.
Gbrp, how many decades has that been tossed around. Just another example.
With Nunavut being so spread over 26 non connected communities across nearly 25 % of Canada’s land mass we probably should be investing in silo options that can be replicated in each individual community since there’s zero likleyhood of ever connecting Nunavut in any way.
But naturally the mine would be happy to feast off cheap energy paid for by the Canadian tax payer.
Sure, let’s keep discussing this project that will likely never see the light of day. Currently estimated to cost $3.39B which is NOT what it will end up costing if they ever manage to start building it in 5 to 10 years from now. They claim it would generate $8 Billion in revenue over 50 years. The cost to finance and pay the interest on that money would negate any of that supposed $8 billion in revenue. Unless of course they expect it to be funded 100% with Taxpayer dollars.
The article says quote, “Agnico Eagle will not be a proponent or directly fund the project but will provide consultation services, said Gabriel-Antoine Côté, the company’s manager of Nunavut public affairs, in an interview Dec. 10”. Of course they won’t invest in it. They understand a money losing proposition when they see it. But optics, politics, media coverage and pretend good “Corporate Citizenry” has value up here.
Let’s face it. There are better ways to power those Communities in the Kivalliq region. One commentator already mentioned SMRs who’s technology is evolving rapidly and will become a strong option to power remote regions in an economically feasible way. Other renewable technology is also rapidly evolving and yes, could even work in the Arctic. The idea of a road connecting South-North-South certainly has merits but would be a colossal undertaking that would service a population of approximately 9,000 people. The math on the cost of it just does not work.
The focus should be on energy independence and improving existing and potentially other logistics and supply chain opportunities. Not trying to sell a pipe dream.
Between Kivalluq hydro fiber project and Iqaluit h6dro project, that maybe enough Monet to provide all communities with micro / smr’s. not new technology and has become much safer.