(The Canadian Press) CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut - A northern regulator says it will reconsider environmental permits granted to a massive iron mine proposal for Baffin Island after the project's plans were changed.
The Nunavut Impact Review Board says it will take a second look at the Mary River mine after falling iron prices caused owner Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. to scale back its plans. The project is held 70% by steel-making giant ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT, Stock Forum) and 30% by Iron Ore Holdings LP, an entity backed by Energy & MineralsGroup, a $2 billion private equity firm, based in Houston.
ArcelorMittal shares rose 1.3% to $16.54 on Tuesday, leaving the company with a market cap of $25.6 billion, based on 1.54 billion shares outstanding. The 52-week range is $22.72 and $13.28.
The company says it now wants to ship iron ore through a port and road on the east coast of Baffin Island.
Those facilities were only to be used during construction and ore was to have been sent by rail to a port on the West Coast.
The board decided the changes are significant enough to require a second look at the permit, which received cabinet approval in late December.