Resource sector calls for help
Chamber of Mines and engineers' association
wants Ottawa to address North's infrastructure deficit
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 28, 2013
NUNAVUT
The federal government is poised to invest $70 billion in infrastructure across Canada over 10 years, and the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines believes a portion should be used to assist the North's resource sector.
Establishing an operation such as the ramp portal to Meliadine's Tiriganiaq deposit requires significant private investment, something that not all mine companies can afford. - photo courtesy of Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. |
The territories' severe infrastructure deficit was and is a hurdle for companies interested in mining in the area, said Elizabeth Kingston, the chamber's general manager.
For instance, the iron ore deposit on North Baffin Island that's set to be mined by Baffinland was discovered in 1962.
If it had been located in a place with low infrastructure costs, it would have been mined already, said Kingston.
With need for investment in roads, ports, railways, communications and power generation and transmission it's hard to know where to start tackling the problem.
However, Kingston said she would place power at the top of the priority list.
"If you think about the Diavik site, for example, it has a 40-megawatt capacity power generation. That's what's required to run that site," she said.
"But if you compare that to the city of Iqaluit, the city at peak runs on about 10 megawatts of power. So that kind of puts it into perspective on just how much power would be required."
Meanwhile, John Gamble, president of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies (ACEC), suggested focusing on site access first.
It's incredibly costly for companies to get workers in and out of sites and also deliver the resource to market.
Baffinland, for example, had plans to run its own fleet of ships for this purpose while Agnico-Eagle built a 110-km all-season road to get freight and fuel from Baker Lake to its site.
It's important to note, Kingston said, that an investment in the resource sector will assist communities too.
Nunavummiut could make use of the roads, airport or enhanced power infrastructure put in place for the mine.
Gamble echoed Kingston's statements.
"It's our hope that by creating a business climate that would encourage private investment and economic activity, we're also hopeful it would create a critical mass that would make community infrastructure in the North, another significant challenge, more viable financially and logistically," he said.
The chamber of mines and ACEC are both optimistic the Building Canada Plan, which is where the $70 billion is coming from, will be of some help. But they aren't relying on Ottawa alone.
The two organizations, along with the Mining Association of Canada and Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, are studying the challenges of doing business in the North and working to identify strategies to encourage more private investment.
"Once we have a very clear picture, we can quantify what the challenges are and we can start looking at various public policies," said Gamble.
The plan, added Kingston, is to come up with some creative solutions to the infrastructure deficit, which can be put forward to government.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be about cutting cheques. It can be about other public policy instruments," said Gamble.
"By supporting our partners, we're hoping we can help contribute to some good information which will form the basis of informed discussion."
