Developing Arctic iron ore mine is no easy task

Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:06pm GMT By Julie Gordon
TORONTO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Developing Canada's Mary River iron ore deposit, a rich reserve that could supply Europe for years, will test the boundaries of working in the Arctic and could herald the future of global mining.
It has taken 47 years, near-record iron ore prices and a bidding war to get the project to a point where developing a working mine seems like a legitimate possibility.
A takeover battle between ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS: Quote) and Nunavut Iron Ore ended last week with a combined bid to take joint control of Baffinland Iron Mines (BIM.TO: Quote), whose board has endorsed the offer. That means Baffinland's Mary River project could finally start production as early as 2013.
Even so, getting the ore out of the ground in a polar desert - considered Canada's harshest environment -- and loaded on to Europe-bound ships is a daunting task.
"You've got problems of remoteness, of weather, and of darkness," said Victor Pakalnis of the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. "It's a different environment than most of us are used to."
The project is located about 3,000 km (1,864 miles) due north of Toronto within the Arctic Circle, where in winter the average temperature dips below minus 28 degrees Celsius and near 24-hour darkness is the norm.
"There's also the challenge of working with permafrost - permanently frozen ground," Pakalnis said.
As permafrost melts over the summer months, the soil becomes weak causing buildings and roads and other infrastructure to shift.
"You've got to have some insulating capacity," Pakalnis said. "The shifting can destroy roads and railway lines."
sourced by reuters