http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674bathurst_inlet_port-road_scheme_still_remains_the_stuff_of_dreams/

NEWS: Nunavut February 19, 2015 - 2:01 pm

Bathurst Inlet port-road scheme still the stuff of dreams

Western Nunavut transportation project delayed once again

NUNATSIAQ NEWS

A view of Bathurst Inlet in the summer. A longstanding scheme to build a port at Bathurst Inlet connected to mining properties in the interior of the Kitikmeot region by an all-weather road still languishes in limbo. (FILE PHOTO)

The much-ballyhooed Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project still lies in limbo, following a decision by its current proponents to postpone their submission of a draft environmental impact statement.

Glencore Canada Corp. and Sabina Gold and Silver Corp. conveyed this information to the Nunavut Impact Review Board in a letter dated Feb. 16.

The project’s owners told the review board they will not submit a draft EIS for the project this year and that they’ll provide another update by December 2015.

“Developing a project of this nature is complex, especially in light of uncertain economic growth and volatile metal prices,” executives from the two companies said in their letter.

“As the process is expected to continue for some time we are unable to provide you with a firm timeline for submission of a DEIS.”

First touted by Inuit birthright corporations and mining companies near the end of the last century, the Bathurst port-road scheme has never made it past the proposal stage.

The dream began in the late 1990s, when a consortium led by the Kitikmeot Corp., Nuna Logistics Corp. and up to seven different mining companies first floated the idea.

The original project would have seen an all-weather road run from near Contwoyto Lake to a port at Bathurst Inlet, hooking up with various mining projects in the region.

At that time, Nuna Logistics was owned by Nunasi Corp. (25.5 per cent), the Kitikmeot Corp. (25.5 per cent) with the remaining 49 per cent owned by the company’s managers.

They produced a study that claimed the project could be built for about $220 million, although other studies suggested costs of up to $500 million.

They also claimed a tank farm built near a proposed port at Bathurst Inlet could provide the Kitikmeot region with cheaper fuel products.

Kitikmeot politicians lobbied incessantly for government support, including money to build it, but the scheme languished.

Most mining companies withdrew from the plan and in 2011, the remaining proponents turned the project over to companies that now operate as Sabina and Glencore.

The scheme’s proponent’s dropped a letter from its old acronym, “BIPAR,” and now refer to it as “BIPR.”

Glencore’s Hackett River project, about 75 kilometres from Bathurst Inlet, contains the seeds of a big potential zinc-silver mine that the company has estimated as being capable of producing about 250,000 tonnes of zinc over 15 years, creating about 500 jobs during operations.

But Glencore told the NIRB this past December that they will delay submission of a draft EIS for the proposed Hackett River mine.

The permitting process for Sabina’s Back River gold project is still moving through the NIRB approval process.

This past November, the review board held technical hearings on Sabina’s draft EIS, which the company had submitted in January 2014.

And in a letter to NIRB dated Feb. 16, Sabina said they hope to deliver their final EIS for Back River by August 2015.

This map shows the location of Sabina's Back River project and the proposed port at the southern end of Bathurst Inlet. (FILE IMAGE)