Mining in the Arctic - History, page-3

Great post@Met2020 - very interesting read. I chatted to Dave a while back on the subject of mining in the artic and he pointed me to Mary River Mine on Baffin Island that has a similar operation to that intended here, ie DSO and bulk ship. So here's some background on Mary River for those interested.

Mary River Mine– Baffin Island

Baffinland’s Mary River Mine site onBaffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, is one of the most northern mines in the world.It has among the richest iron ore deposits ever discovered, consisting ofnine-plus high-grade iron ore deposits that can be mined, crushed, and screenedinto marketable products.

What makes Baffinland's operations differentthan many other mines is that we crush and screen the ore onsite, and then ship it directly to markets – no concentrating orprocessing is needed, and therefore no tailings are produced.

History

In July 1962, Mary River’s high-grade iron ore– now known as Deposit No. 1 – was first noted by Murray Watts and RonSheardown. The two pilots were conducting an airborne exploration projectprospecting across central and northern Baffin Island. In 1986, Baffinlandstarted exploration and development on the property.

On April 29, 2014, the Federal Minister ofAboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada approved the positiverecommendation by the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB).

The original plans outlined the development ofan 18-million-tonnes-per-year (MTPY) operation, focused on mining Deposit No.1.

This gave Baffinland the go-ahead for theEarly Revenue Phase (ERP) amendment to the Mary River Project involving theseasonal shipping of 3.5 million tons of iron ore from Milne Inlet on the northcoast of Baffin Island.

In 2015, Baffinland began operations. With thedevelopment of the ERP, the Mary River Operation now consists of mining ironore from the reserve at Deposit No. 1. Baffinland then transports ore from themine by trucks to Milne Port and ships it to markets from the Milne Port duringthe open water season.

In 2018, Baffinland received approval to go tosix MTPY.

There are two main operating locations – themine site at Mary River and Milne Port north of the mine. The two sites areconnected via a tote road. The tote road has been upgraded to enable safe andefficient transportation of ore by truck from the Mine site to Milne Port.Milne Port has been fully developed to accommodate a 3.5 million-tonne orestockpile, an ore dock, maintenance facility, and associated infrastructure forthe operation of the port facilities.

The mine was developed by Baffinland using aphased approach and in accordance with agreements made with Inuit birthrightcorporations: Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) and the QikiqtaniInuit Association (QIA), as well as the Governmentof Nunavut.

Geology and Exploration

While the Mary River property consists of fivehigh-grade iron ore deposits, and numerous drill-ready prospects, we’ve beenfocusing on Deposit No. 1. Over 48,000 metres of drilling, in more than 260drill holes, have been completed across the five deposits to date. Sampleprograms have been undertaken to test the high-grade iron ore. Baffinland hasalso been focused on collecting and analyzing important geophysical data tolearn more about what’s buried under the surface, which is an important step indiscovering additional high-grade iron ore deposits.

Mining and Crushing

Once blasted, Baffinland mines out thematerials using hydraulic excavators and large front-end loaders to load our90-tonne and 212 tonne haul trucks. Ore is delivered to our nearby portablecrushers, while waste material is transported to a dump location on site.

Ore Hauling

Baffinland’s ore handling team transports thecrushed materials by truck from our crushing area to our port site along a100km tote road. The road requires regular maintenance, and is monitored at alltimes for safety and potential environmental impacts.

Once at the port, we dump and stack thematerial into a stockpile. We load it onto bulk carrier ships during theice-free summer season, typically around July-October. Most of our ships travelacross the Atlantic Ocean and travel through European ports to be used by steelmakers in continental Europe.