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QIKIQTAALUK
The long road to the Mary River project so far has come with many ups and downs for the project's ownership, employment, spending, community support and throughout the four-year environmental review process.

2004: Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. resumes exploration of the Mary River iron ore deposit, about 160 km south of Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, many years after the deposit is first discovered in 1962 by prospector Murray Watts and pilot Ron Sheardown.

March 2008: Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. submits the Mary River Project Proposal to the Nunavut Planning Commission, the Nunavut Water Board and the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB).

The project includes the development of an open pit iron ore mine on northern Baffin Island, a tote road between Milne Inlet and Mary River mine site, ports at Milne and Steensby inlets, and a railway transporting iron ore from the mine to the Steensby port for year-round shipping of ore through Foxe Basin and Hudson Strait to markets in Europe.

May 2008: Baffinland signs a three-year memorandum of understanding with Qikiqtani Inuit Association to develop training programs to equip Inuit people for various jobs during construction and mining phases of Mary River.

2009: Baffinland struggles to find a strategic development partner for the $4-billion mine; citing global economic crisis, cuts back on activity at Mary River, reducing local workforce to 60 from 453 previously brought on for the winter 2008 test bulk sample of 250,000-tonnes of iron ore.

November 2010: Multinational steelmaker ArcelorMittal SA Ltd. and Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc., a company incorporated by former Baffinland consultant Jowdat Waheed and partner Bruce Walter, enter a joint bid to acquire control of Baffinland.

Ontario Securities Commission currently is investigating Waheed and Walter over the takeover with allegations of insider tipping and trading.

July 2012: Public hearings for Mary River Project take place in Iglulik, Pond Inlet and Iqaluit.

September 2012: Nunavut Impact Review Board approves Mary River Project with 184 recommendations.

December 2012: Mary River Project completes environmental assessment, with federal government approval signed by Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada John Duncan.

Nature of Nunavut Impact Review Boardrecommendations

The 184 Mary River recommendations made by the Nunavut Impact Review Board centre around:

• Impacts - caused by either mine operations or via shipping through waterways - to both the surrounding ocean areas and freshwater bodies on land, and reducing impacts to the aquatic life within
• Protecting and monitoring wildlife, especially caribou, in the area, and maintaining the integrity of their habitat
• Lessening potential impacts to traditional land uses in the Ikpikituryuaq area
• Socio-economic impacts on communities in the region
• Reducing potential impacts on surface water quality from the use of explosives
• Limiting potential acid rock drainage and metal leaching from waste rock stockpiles
• Construction fills, embankment of roads, and other open quarry sites during both construction and operation of the project
• The effects of construction, closure, and post-closure activities relating to site runoff and road crossings on surface water quality of natural water bodies and adjacent areas
• Anticipated impacts of construction, operation, and closure activities on specific vegetation and landforms
• The potential of cumulative impacts resulting from ongoing and incremental land use activities associated with mining, terrestrial transportation corridor creation, and marine shipping; potential impacts to air quality
• Potential impacts to species at risk; disturbance to waterfowl and seabirds nesting in coastal areas along proposed shipping route
• Shoreline erosion as a result of wake effects along proposed shipping route
• Impacts resulting from accidents or malfunctions which may occur during mining operations, rail transportation, and marine shipping

Source: NIRB Final Hearing Report

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