Meliadine clears major checkpoint
Northern Development minister accepts NIRB recommendations
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, February 4, 2015
NORTHERN NEWS SERVICES
RANKIN INLET
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.'s Meliadine gold project took a huge step toward becoming a reality this past week.
The Meliadine project was approved by the federal government on the recommendations of the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB).
The review board's recommendation to approve Meliadine included no less than 127 terms and conditions.
Impact review board executive director Ryan Barry said the approval became official on Jan. 27.
He said the key component in Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt's approval of the review board's report on the project is the acceptance of the 127 recommended terms and conditions.
"They range from the need of an updated management plan to restrictions on the use of the public access road and operational things that would have to be done, so it's quite a wide gambit of terms and conditions that led to control of all the potential effects," said Barry.
"When it comes to the necessary resources being in place to monitor the project effectively, which is a NIRB concern, some of these things only prove out once they've been undertaken.
"They (federal government) recognize that, but, at the same time, it's more of a cautioning that with this being another new mining development - and from what we're seeing through our monitoring of existing mining developments and ongoing assessments - everyone across the board is doubting capacity issues.
"We see some areas where there's more importance for environmental safeguards as the issues are that much more alarming."
The board suggested a capacity assessment be prepared within 12 months of the project certificate being issued.
Barry said from the review board's perspective, that time frame began Jan. 27.
He said that was one of three non-binding recommendations related to government capacity.
"We were pointing these out as things that really should be undertaken, but are outside recommendations specific to just this project.
"What it means to us is that we would expect government to look at this, and the responsibilities a particular department like Transport Canada might have, and determine if it's going to be able meet its regular inspection requirements for marine shipping, for example.
"Is there anything Government of Nunavut departments might need to do in expectation of an increase in policing, health services, day-care services and things of that nature?
"It formed a lot of the discussion at the public hearing, where parties talked about their experience with the Meadowbank mine near Baker Lake, and what they're starting to see with increased labour around the Mary River project in the Baffin, and how that can have effects at the community level for services and responsibilities."
If it decides the economic environment and its project design still work for it to proceed with the Meliadine project now, Agnico Eagle will still have to go through various licensing processes and work out an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement (IIBA) with the Kivalliq Inuit Association.
The board's next step is to develop a project certificate to carry the recommendations from the final hearing report into the authorization for the project.
Barry said, in many ways, it's the project's first real authorization.
He said the board will have the recommendations in the project certificate and work with regulatory authorities to carry them forward into the licences they belong in.
"We begin monitoring the project from whenever the proponent makes the decision to effectively go ahead with it.
"If we look at it with respect to how long it takes to get a mine permitted, the environmental assessment process for this type of a mine is certainly the largest chunk.
"So, I would say they're, probably, more than two-thirds of the way towards completing the process.
"The one unknown is the IIBA because they don't have to follow the same established time line, but we would expect everything to be wrapped-up within six months to a year after the environmental assessment approval."
