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Baffinland calls rejection of expansion plan ‘surprising and disappointing’ – Nunatsiaq News

Nov 17, 2022

CEO predicts ‘immediate and significant implications’ for Mary River mine that employs 2,500 people and accounts for 23 per cent of Nunavut’s economy

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. calls it “surprising and disappointing” that federal Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal turned down the company’s proposal to expand its Mary River mine on Wednesday.

In a statement issued late Thursday, the company’s CEO Brian Penney hinted at an uncertain future for the mine, which employs about 2,500 people and represents nearly one-quarter of Nunavut’s economic activity. Baffinland is the largest private-sector employer in the territory.

The expansion would have generated about $4.7 billion in tax revenue for Nunavut, royalty and tax revenue for the federal government and royalties to Inuit associations, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association over the lifetime of the mine’s expansion.

“The minister’s decision has immediate and significant implications for the current Mary River operations and our workforce of 2,500 people,” Penney said in the release.

Read More: https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/baffinland-calls-rejection-of-expansion-plan-surprising-and-disappointing/

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