The Canadian federal government said Monday, December 3, that it has approved the Baffinland Mary River iron ore project after a recommendation by the Nunavut Impact Review Board. The Baffinland Mary River project is owned and operated by Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, which is jointly owned by global steel giant ArcelorMittal and Australian miner Iron Ore Holdings LP. The project is situated on north Baffin Island, 160 kilometers south of Pond Inlet, Nunavut.
The project proposal involves conventional open-pit mining of iron ore at a rate of 18 million mt per year over a projected 21-year lifespan, and an initial investment of more than $4 billion for the construction of a road, a railway, a deep-water port and mine site infrastructure.
Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation is owned 70 percent by ArcelorMittal, which is seeking to increase its vertical integration, and 30 percent by Iron Ore Holdings LP. Having achieved iron ore production of 54.1 million mt in 2011, ArcelorMittal is targeting an annual iron ore production capacity of 100 million mt by 2015.