POND INLET - In Gordon McCreary's 1978 MBA thesis he predicted that the Mary River Project, southwest of Pond Inlet, would someday be a world class mine.

Today, McCreary is the president and chief executive officer of Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, and his prediction is coming to fruition.

Baffinland manager of business development, Sean Maloney, holds iron ore from the Mary River exploration site outside of Pond Inlet. Baffinland has just opened its first liaison office in Iqaluit. - Kent Driscoll/NNSL photo

The company is currently working on its Definitive Feasibility Study, which will define costs, a timeline, and permitting schedules for the proposed mine.

"We think the numbers are going to sing for the Feasibility Study," McCreary said.

Baffinland is awaiting a permit to mine 250,000 tonnes of bulk sample through the winter of 2007/2008 and to ship it out in the ice-free period of 2008.

Baffinland submitted an application last October and hope to hear in May if the permit has been approved.

Information pertaining to the screening of the application is going to the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) tomorrow, said executive director Stephanie Briscoe.

"At that time, it's up to them to make a decision on whether or not it proceeds under a normal screening condition or whether it needs additional work under a review," Briscoe said.

Screening usually takes 45 days.

The bulk sample will fill five vessels, four of which will travel to Europe, and the final one to Asia. It is enough iron ore for a half dozen steel mills to run production trials for a month.

Full-scale production will not occur for approximately five years, pending permits and finances, McCreary said.

The iron ore at Mary River has a grade of 66 per cent. The highest possible grade for this type of mineralization is 69.94 per cent.

"I've had people say it's like a freak of nature," McCreary said. "It's extremely high grade."

With grades this high, the iron from Mary River is a direct shipping ore, requiring no processing plant. There are lower capital costs and less permits required for this type of ore.

The disadvantage is that the ore may contain a material steel plants don't want, and without a processing plant, the element can't be removed.

"We have to go to an extreme length... to prove to the steel mills of the world that what we have is what they need and want," McCreary said.

Baffinland has decided to build a port at Steensby Inlet on the south coast of Baffin Island.

"The potential for 12-month a year shipping becomes real," McCreary said, if the port is built at Steensby, rather than on the north end of the island, as originally planned. There is no multi-year ice on the south end.

Also included in the project is a rail line, running between the port and mine site.

The entire project is estimated to cost $1.48 billion. The port would consume $272 million of that budget.

Baffinland has just opened a liaison office in Iqaluit and plans to open others in Arctic Bay, Iglulik, and Pond Inlet.

The offices are "to give people a focal point where they can get information about Baffinland and about the project and potential job opportunities," said McCreary.

Sean Maloney, Baffinland's manager of business development, could not be reached at press time.