{"id":442364,"date":"2026-01-30T05:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T05:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/442364\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T05:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T05:42:11","slug":"baffinland-gives-green-light-to-rail-line-to-boost-mines-output-lifespan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/442364\/","title":{"rendered":"Baffinland gives green light to rail line to boost mine\u2019s output, lifespan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acting CEO calls decision \u2018defining moment\u2019 for Mary River Project; railway would run 149 kilometres<\/p>\n

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. says it is moving forward to construct a railroad that will help increase the Mary River Mine\u2019s production and potential lifespan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Steensby rail line extending 149 kilometres south from Mary River to Steensby Port would allow the Mary River Mine to increase its iron ore production and estimated lifespan. (Screenshot courtesy of Google Maps)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a defining moment for the Mary River Project,\u201d said Jowdat Waheed, acting chief executive officer for Baffinland, in a news release Thursday announcing the railway plan received all key regulatory authorizations and can proceed.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s Steensby Inlet component \u2014 an all-year rail line that would run 149 kilometres south from Mary River to the proposed Steensby Port \u2014 would allow Baffinland to increase iron ore production to 22 million tonnes per year from the current 4.2 million tonnes.<\/p>\n

It would also help extend the mine\u2019s life until 2050 \u201cand beyond,\u201d said Peter Akman, head of communications for Baffinland, in an email.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis reflects access to significantly larger proven and probable reserves that cannot be efficiently developed without rail access,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Baffinland currently employs 1,200 workers across Nunavut including mine site, port operations, marine, logistics and support staff, Akman said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Until Thursday\u2019s Steensby announcement, the Mary River Mine on northern Baffin Island was set to cease operations by 2035.<\/p>\n

Akman didn\u2019t specify the estimated price tag to build the railroad, saying it will be released in the \u201cnear future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project moving forward allows a multi-generational mine to flourish and continue in Nunavut,\u201d said Hudson Lester, the Nunavut general manager for N.W.T. & Nunavut Chamber of Mines, in a phone interview Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we could say this is a milestone that reflects all the years of collaborative efforts within Inuit organizations, Government of Nunavut, government of Canada and all the regulatory bodies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Steensby rail line was part of Baffinland\u2019s original proposal for Mary River and was approved by the federal government in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much has changed since then,\u201d Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said in phone interview Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

She said she believes the project should go through another environmental assessment so that approval of the railroad can be an \u201cinformed decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

That assessment is not required by federal regulators, however.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the initial approval, Baffinland\u00a0turned away<\/a>\u00a0from its plans for the Arctic railway which at the time was estimated to cost $5.7-billion.<\/p>\n

Instead, the company applied to increase its shipments to 12 million tonnes of iron ore annually through Milne Inlet and Eclipse Sound. The federal government\u00a0rejected<\/a>\u00a0that proposal in 2022 after a\u00a0heated<\/a>,\u00a0years-long<\/a>\u00a0public hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Baffinland returned to its original plan of building a railway, which was deemed instrumental to the mine\u2019s survival, according to a 2021 report<\/a>\u00a0commissioned by the mine titled\u00a0Mary River Project Economics Explained.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Construction of the railway is expected to begin later this year with substantial completion in approximately three years, the company\u2019s news release said.<\/p>\n

It said major construction contracts are expected to be awarded primarily to Canadian companies, \u201cincluding many Inuit-owned companies,\u201d and create employment and procurement opportunities across Nunavut and the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

Idlout said she believes the mine should further address existing environmental concerns such as iron ore dust and the mine\u2019s impact on caribou migration routes before expanding further.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still hear from Nunavummiut about their concerns regarding their current operations and how the current operations are having an impact, both to the marine environment and to the surrounding area of Mary River,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Acting CEO calls decision \u2018defining moment\u2019 for Mary River Project; railway would run 149 kilometres Baffinland Iron Mines…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-442364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}