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NEWS
JAN 9, 2024 – 8:30 AM EST
Agnico Eagle won’t rule out new proposal to extend gold mine
Company withdrew its proposal to extend Meliadine mine last month; federal minister still working on response
After the Nunavut Impact Review Board released a report last November recommending against Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.’s Meliadine Gold Mine extension, the company issued a 50-page letter Dec. 19 to Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal. (File photo)
By David Lochead
After withdrawing its proposal to extend the Meliadine Gold Mine last month, Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. says it hasn’t ruled out possibly submitting a new, different proposal in the future.
On Dec. 19, the company informed federal Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal and the Nunavut Impact Review Board it was withdrawing its proposal, effective immediately.
Kyle Allen, a spokesperson for Vandal’s office, told Nunatsiaq News in an email Monday his office is still preparing a response to the review board concerning Agnico Eagle’s letter of withdrawal.
In 2022, Agnico Eagle submitted a proposal to the review board seeking to add underground mining in two open pits at the Meliadine mine, approximately 25 kilometres northwest of Rankin Inlet.
The company estimated that could extend the operations phase of the mine by 11 years, to 2043 from 2032.
In November, the review board recommended against the proposed mine extension, citing among its concerns the project’s environmental impact, specifically on the Qamanirjuaq caribou herd.
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In its letter last month, Agnico Eagle contested that point, stating current monitoring shows the mine is not causing adverse effects on caribou.
In its 50-page letter, Agnico Eagle also disputed other findings in the report that led the board to recommend against the proposal, including topics such as water management, air quality and procedural concerns.
However, Agnico Eagle also stated in the letter that it’s not ruling out possibly submitting a different proposal to extend the Meliadine mine in the future.
On Monday, review board executive director Ryan Barry told Nunatsiaq News that since his organization has completed its decision-making responsibilities, it will not respond to Agnico Eagle’s letter unless asked to by Vandal.
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(21) Comments:
Posted by John Ell on Jan 9, 2024
Yep. From IQ perspective, I said it before in early Sept 2023, I will say it repeatedly again,smaller windturbines have potential at Meliadine site.
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Posted by How it works… on Jan 9, 2024
Whatever I don’t like is the “IQ perspective”
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Posted by Inuk on Jan 10, 2024
If you don’t like our IQ. AEM and social workers will get karma for what they did. Since i stop working there has been meetings to employees to make it looks like they are doing there work. So when the time comes i will try to look for seach warrent and review what they been doing.
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Posted by Hikumiut on Jan 10, 2024
We should all look at the agreement before the mine starts that will solve your guys problem.
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Posted by Qavvigarjuk on Jan 9, 2024
The mine has already impacted caribou negatively and adding more roads to access more pits will be detrimental to the caribou. That is the plain truth however you look at it. Caribou use to hang around the mine area year round ( before the mine), we no ,longer see that. This winter there is no caribou in sight anywhere and hardly any at all after the migration left the area in July.
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Posted by Mit on Jan 9, 2024
Let’s continue acting like the annual kivalliq caribou slaughter to ship to baffin Island has nothing to do with this
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Posted by Qavvigarjuk on Jan 9, 2024
There are no caribou around to slaughter as you say; that is my point
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Posted by Shooting spree on Jan 9, 2024
Hunting kills more caribou that roads do
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Posted by Reasons on Jan 9, 2024
Maybe thats because the people in the are are hunting them for profit and not for traditional reasons anymore?
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Posted by how? on Jan 9, 2024
Its says that the open pits would turn into under ground pits, the only roads they would be adding are underground, last time i checked caribou dont burrow hundreds of feet down in the ground, so maybe read the article fully and understand it before making comments
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Posted by Qavvigarjuk on Jan 9, 2024
Mine roads give easier access to hunt the caribou. Most importantly it is the disturbance on the mine roads by vehicles ( including ATVs driving too fast) that disturb the female caribou who just gave birth and need to rest and replenish; also that creates stanpedes where calves and mothers get separated among the thousands of female caribou during post calving. The mine roads and traffic turn caribou around where they need to go to get away from bugs and eat sea weeds, salt licks by the sea to get their essential minerals.
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Posted by Mit on Jan 10, 2024
There’s no doubt the mine road plays a role in this, especially for greedy sport hunters shoot at passing herds from the front seats of their trucks. Next thing you know $500 meat bins being dropped off at cargo for free shipping to baffin. That is not sustainable or traditional. That is greed plain and simple.
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Posted by Qavvigarjuk on Jan 9, 2024
The mine wants to build more roads to get to the new areas where they want to do open pits and underground mining . The area where they want to do this are also important caribou crossings during migration ( between big lakes) and where caribou go by the sea to get away from bugs.
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Posted by Truestory on Jan 9, 2024
Them caribou hunters also feed families, home and outside communities. We’re glad we support the hunters. They give us a feast, we provide funding for gas and bullets. A win win situation.
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Posted by Lala land. on Jan 9, 2024
They also slaughter populations. Why do you think Cambridge Bay has no muskox anymore. There’s no mines or big economic development.
I wonder if the massive drop off In population had anything to do with the massive commercial harvest that was taking place suddenly and thousands were suddenly being harvested. It’s almost like right after that there was none left.
I wonder if all the commercial shipping of caribou out of Rankin has anything to do with population decline.
Maybe the fact we can mass harvest via skidoo and atv and send meat via airplane everywhere.
Traditional harvesting is dead. The dollar talks now, selling harvests is everywhere. Let’s not turn a blind eye and pretend its not.
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Posted by Observer on Jan 10, 2024
It’s not just commercial harvesting. It’s population.
A hundred years ago the total population in what’s now Nunavut and the Northwest Territories combined was about 8,000 people, with most of them living in the NWT. There were maybe 2500-3000 people at most living in Nunavut. All of Nunavut. Just counting Inuit, the population today is at least 10 times larger. At least 10 times as many mouths to feed.
The people who go on about country food being the solution to food security, or who have held up hunting as being a solution to everything tend to forget those numbers.
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Posted by Really? on Jan 10, 2024
So they can hunt as much as they want to provide country food? no repercussions to sending thousands of caribou each year to the baffin? and then what? have a Total Allowable Harvest put on them because the population is going to drop significantly in the next decade if IQ principles aren’t followed? so you tell mines they need to follow these principles but inuit dont have too?
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Posted by Sam on Jan 9, 2024
people harvest caribou, not mining company’s this storey is getting old, all these wise people, can someone say how many caribou are harvested each year in the kivalliq, no but it’s fun to blame the mines the mines .
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Posted by Lifelong Nunavut Resident on Jan 10, 2024
This is the real problem that no one wants to talk about. Our hunters are slaughtering caribou for profit. They have no limit, no quota. I heard that one guy from Arviat shipped over 100,000 lbs of meat to the Baffin in 2023. Another guy, over 50,000lbs. This is what is destroying our once great herd. When the caribou population crashes (and it will) as the slaughter is not sustainable, we will blame the mines and the big bad white man.
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Posted by Same here in the West on Jan 10, 2024
We don’t even have an active mine around any of our towns here in the West with Hope Bay and B2gold being much further away from the Kitikmeot Communities and we’re seeing a nose dive in populations.
You look at Taloyoak and hunters are coming back with 10+ at a time each. Corpses all over their yard and they’re selling it on Facebook.
It’s terrible at this point. HTO land guardians do nothing at all. They aren’t going to enforce sustainable practices on their own. It’s done at this point.
And as another person mention population continues to rise and as that happens you need to turn to more sustainable practices just like the rest of the world has with domestic livestock. That was done because of an increasing population.
But its Nunavut and it’s easier to find other excuses.
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Posted by Chico on Jan 9, 2024
What price is Baffin (since they killed all their own) is Kivalliq caribou now?
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