Scratching the surface

KIRSTEN MURPHY

Turning rocks into tiles, tabletops and headstones for premium prices is an old idea attracting new interest in Nunavut.

To determine whether it is feasible to build a small-scale commercial quarry in the south Baffin region, the Government of Nunavut’s department of sustainable development sent delegates to meet with members of the Labrador Inuit Development Corporation (LIDC) in Nain, Labrador, from July 15 to 18.

LIDC and its Inuit-owned subsidiary, Torngait Ujaganniavingit Corp. (TUC), operate two rock quarries in Labrador: one at Ten Mile Bay, the other at Igiak Bay. About 2,000 cubic metres of the extracted laborite, known as “Blue Eyes” and “Arctic Rainbow,” is processed and sent to a tile-making plant in Italy each year.

The multi-million-dollar business has been a 12-year work in progress, said Fred Hall, managing director of LIDC. Hall welcomes the idea of partnering with Inuit from other regions.

“We have 12 years of experience in marketing and training. It would be a good fit to have the two Inuit regions working together,” he said.

More than 80 per cent of TUC’s 94 employees are Labrador Inuit.

If Nunavut is to create a similar venture, using the abundance of marble hidden in the south-Baffin tundra, it must first clear three main hurdles.

First, must further studies to see if a sustainable supply of the rock exists must be done. Second, buyers, most likely European businesses, must be willing to purchase marble in large quantities. Third, Inuit need to receive technical, mechanical and managerial training, which is where LIDC comes in.

Government surveys and private prospectors have identified deep veins of white and pink marble between Cape Dorset and Kimmirut, said Sandy Kelly, an independent prospector in Cape Dorset. Indeed, the Hudson Strait shoreline between the two communities is known as the Highway of Marble.

“It’s a potential gold mine,” Kelly said.

Kelly has conducted his own surveys, at least one for Qikiqtaaluk Corp., the business development arm of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. His dream is to start with a test pit. From there, if the economic indicators are positive, Kelly envisions a full-fledged quarry employing up to 100 people on a seasonal basis, possibly in the next two to five years.

The problem is securing the funding.

“I’m still working on it. I have to do some stake claiming and I’m on the verge of asking for a loan,” Kelly said.

The idea of developing a small-scale commercial quarry in Nunavut isn’t new. In 1992, the Government of the Northwest Territories released a report identifying the presence of marble in Andrew Gordon Bay near Cape Dorset. Several years later, the largest marble carving created by Nunavut Inuit was made from a 2,300-kilogram block of pink marble from the area, known in Inuktitut as Itiliardjuak. The two-metre-tall marble drum dancer is displayed at the Unikkaarvik visitor’s centre in Iqaluit.

For years, small pieces of soapstone and marble have been hacked from the highway for use in carvings. In Cape Dorset, the sale of carvings generates an estimated $4 million each year. Mayor Mathew Jaw says those numbers will grow with a small-scale quarry.

“It won’t start tomorrow but I’d like to see someone starting to do something soon. It’s beautiful stone,” said Jaw, one of six Nunavut delegates who visited Nain.

QC has had a long-standing interest in supporting but not funding economic development projects.

“There’s very little we can do for them financially,” said Adla Itorcheak, manager of venture development for QC. “We’d rather see the communities take the initiative and we’d help with coordinating [resources].”

Instead, funding will have to come from groups like Kakivak Association, the community development arm of QIA, or private investors.

The Nunavut delegation included Olayuk Akesuk the minister of sustainable development, deputy minister Simon Awa, as well as Kimmirut Mayor Joseph Arlooktoo. The group toured LIDC’s stone processing plant at Ten Mile Bay and a future quarry site at Voisey’s Bay.

LIAD representatives are expected to visit Nunavut in the next two months.