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Port and road project delay Port relocation puts the breaks on proposed Baffin Inlet Port and Road
Lyndsay Herman
Northern News Services
Published Saturday, July 13, 2013
KINNGUAK/BATHURST INLET
The Baffin Inlet Port and Road Project has hit another delay now that a new dock location needs to be found, according to a July 8 letter from the project operators.
Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.'s Goose Lake Camp serves the Back River gold project, located 375 kilometres southeast of Cambridge Bay. - photo courtesy of Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.
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Glencore Xstrata and Sabina Gold and Silver Corp., joint venture partners in the Baffin Inlet Port and Road Company, had expected to submit an updated draft environmental impact statement for the project this summer, according to a community presentation given in Yellowknife in May. Geotechinical work done in April indicated the foundation wasn't adequate for the proposed infrastructure and would require expensive dredging. Additionally, the laydown space was not adequate for anticipated needs of the project's clients.
"To reduce the significant costs related to dredging, the geotechnical drilling program will continue to help us identify a more suitable site for the dock in the immediate vicinity," states the letter.
"As the design of the port infrastructure needs to be revisited and will likely be changed, it will have a direct impact of the environmental effects assessment of the project."
The Bathurst Inlet Port and Road project was first proposed in 2003, but only got as far as the start of a technical review through the Nunavut Impact Review Board in 2008.
Xstrata and Sabina revived the project in 2012 after it had been put on regulatory pause by Nuna Logsitics once a major financial backer, Zinifex Canada, withdrew its support.
Zinifex Canada was working on the Izok Lake zinc and copper mine, now being developed by MMG Ltd. who is still pursuing construction of an all-weather road and port closer to its property.
An updated project description was submitted by Xstrata and Sabina to the review board in March.
It states the proposed project would be comprised of a 217 kilometre all-weather road, a small camp and mainenance depot at Contwoyto Lake, and a deep water port which would consist of a wharf, camp, airstrip, and fuel storage facility. The all-weather road would connect to the Tibbitt-to-Contwoyto winter road. The port would be located near the south end of Bathurst Inlet.
The infrastructure would serve Xstrata's Hackett River project, which it bought from Sabina in 2011, and Sabina's flagship Back River Gold project, southwest of Bathurst inlet.
Both companies expect to have draft environmental impact statements filed for their respective projects near the end of this year.
In Sabina's description of the Back River project, the company has proposed constructing a winter or all-weather road connecting the mine site with a port on Bathurst Inlet should the delayed project not be an option.
"Back River is being pushed ahead on a standalone basis with BIPR as an opportunity for our use if it goes ahead," states Nicole Hoeller, vice president investor relations and corporate secretary for Sabina. "The delay on the BIPR Draft EIS does not have an impact on our project schedule as it is right now. All our work sees Back River as it's own operation with it's own infrastructure that consists mainly of ice roads and a modest dock laydown area. Although we would use BIPR if it goes ahead."
No expected date has been set for the draft environmental impact statement, but the joint venture partners committed to an update on the project by Nov. 29.
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