Baffin Island Iron Mine: Output, Debt and Steensby Rail

The mine people mean by the Baffin Island iron mine is Mary River, an open-pit operation in Nunavut run by Baffinland Iron Mines. It is approved to move 4.2 million tonnes of ore a year to Milne Inlet, and on 15 May 2026 the company went into court creditor protection while a sale and investment process is argued over (Baffinland, 15 May 2026). The ore itself is not the problem. The company says it holds about one billion tonnes of high-grade direct shipping ore, and a rail and port plan that would lift output to 22 million tonnes a year (Baffinland, 29 January 2026).

This page sets out what is verified about the mine as of 16 October 2026: its legal and operating status, shipments by season, the geology and grade, how ore gets to a ship, the debt that led to the court filing, and the community questions around the rail plan. A short section covers Fording River, a coal mine in British Columbia that is often confused with Mary River. Every figure carries its source and date. A calculator lets you test what tonnes, price and costs mean for one shipping season.

Is the Baffin Island iron mine still operating

Yes. Baffinland filed under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) on 15 May 2026, and said it expected no disruption at the mine or at Milne Port and that the 2026 shipping season would start as planned (Baffinland, 15 May 2026). A CCAA filing is a court-supervised pause on creditor action. It is not a closure order, and the court appointed FTI Consulting as Monitor to oversee the company. The EDC affidavit of 21 September 2026 says the court process was sought so Baffinland could meet its operating needs through the short 2026 shipping season.

The key dated steps so far:

• 15 May 2026: initial order granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The stay was extended to Baffinland Iron Mines LP, the partnership that owns the assets and employs the workforce (Insolvency Insider, 18 May 2026).
• 30 June 2026: debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s export credit agency, confirmed by the company (Baffinland news releases). An EDC director stated in a sworn affidavit of 21 September 2026 that the facility is up to US$400 million, rising to US$475 million in certain cases, with about US$230 million advanced (EDC affidavit, 21 September 2026).
• 27 August 2026: the court extended the stay period to 11 December 2026 (FTI Consulting, Monitor’s site).
• 9 October 2026: hearing scheduled for 9 October 2026 on the motion to approve a sale and investment solicitation process. The Monitor recommended the secured lenders’ version, and EDC and the senior lenders argued that the Chief Restructuring Officer (appointed 29 July 2026) should decide it, while the company proposed that its shareholder-appointed operating committee decide (EDC compendium, 8 October 2026).

The sale process can include a recapitalisation or a sale of the company, according to Baffinland’s own release. No sale of the mine has been announced. The hearing on the sale process was scheduled for 9 October 2026. For national context, see our note on mineral exploration spending in Canada.

Mary River at a glance

How much ore the mine ships each year

Annual shipments have ranged between about 4.0 and 6.1 million tonnes (Mt) since 2017. A company spokesperson said that by the end of 2025 Baffinland had hauled 53.4 Mt of ore and shipped 51.1 Mt since mining began (Yellowknifer, 29 January 2026). The yearly figures below come from the company’s own annual reports to the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB), the regulator that sets the project’s conditions.

Chart

Ore shipped from Milne Port, by season

Million tonnes shipped to international markets; 2024 is approximate

The ceiling is a permit, not geology. The base limit is 4.2 Mt a year. A temporary increase to 6 Mt ran from 2018 to the end of 2024, and the federal minister approved it again in November 2023 (CBC News, 20 November 2023). In October 2024 Baffinland said it would drop back to 4.2 Mt from 2025 and cut about 10% of its workforce, blaming weak iron ore prices and a shift of resources to the Steensby rail plan (CBC News, 19 October 2024). No full-year shipped total for 2025 is in the company documents cited here.

For scale, the USGS estimates Canada mined 69 Mt of usable iron ore in 2025 out of about 2,600 Mt worldwide (USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026). The 4.2 Mt permit equals roughly 6% of Canada’s output, and Canada is about 2.7% of the world total.

Why expansion stalled and what the Steensby plan is

Baffinland wanted to raise capacity to 12 Mt a year with a 110 km railway to Milne Inlet. The Nunavut Impact Review Board recommended refusal in May 2022 and the federal Minister of Northern Affairs rejected the proposal on 16 November 2022, after the company had spent more than US$1.06 billion between 2017 and 2022 in anticipation (Insolvency Insider, 18 May 2026). The company then returned to Steensby, a southern route first approved in 2012.

Chart

Annual ore capacity: approved, rejected and planned

Million tonnes a year

The Steensby plan is a 149 km railway from the mine south to a new deepwater port at Steensby Inlet (CBC News, 29 January 2026). On 29 January 2026 Baffinland said all key authorisations were in hand and that production could rise from about 4.2 Mt to 22 Mt a year in roughly four years, with substantial completion about three years after construction starts. Construction depended on debt and equity financing. The company expects 800 to 1,200 additional operating jobs at 22 Mt, and a spokesperson put peak construction employment at about 2,250.

The cost is not settled. CBC reported a US$5.7 billion figure in October 2024, and the 2026 court record, as reported by Insolvency Insider, puts it at no less than US$4 billion, with no committed capital. Because the Steensby project needs money the company did not have when it filed, its timeline now depends on the outcome of the sale process.

How ore gets from the pit to a ship

Mary River is a short-process mine. Ore is mined from Deposit No. 1, crushed and screened on site, then trucked about 100 km north along the Tote Road to Milne Port, where it is stockpiled all year until ships can enter (Baffinland, 2024 NIRB summary). There is no concentration plant, which is why the company reports no tailings. Drilling and blasting still use a large fleet, and drill automation is a general trend we cover in automated drilling systems.

Infographic

From pit to ship in 5 steps

1. 1Mine and crushOre is mined from Deposit No. 1, then crushed and screened on site; there is no concentration plant.
2. 2Truck to the coastHaul trucks carry ore about 100 km north along the Tote Road to Milne Port.
3. 3Stockpile all yearOre is stored at Milne Port because ships can only enter in the open-water season.
4. 4Ship in the ice-free windowCarriers load from about mid-July to mid-October once ice falls to 3/10ths.
5. 5Deliver to steelmakersLump and fines go directly to markets in Europe and Asia.

Shipping is limited by sea ice. In 2024 the season began on 27 July, once ice concentration fell to 3/10ths, and lasted 92 days, with about 6 Mt moved on 70 ore carriers. Baffinland also used a dedicated shipping lane, no-go zones and speed limits under its narwhal management plan (same source). The court filing sets the usual window at mid-July to mid-October, although some seasons ran later (the 2023 season ended on 31 October), and fuel and supplies arrive by sea in the same window; the company put its near-term fuel and supply bill at about US$100 million in May 2026. Our guide to Arctic mining consultants covers the logistics side of northern projects.

Geology and grade of the Mary River deposits

The deposits sit in the Neoarchean Mary River Group, in banded iron formation of the Algoma type (a volcanic-linked iron formation), folded into several fold belts in the northwestern Rae Domain of the Churchill Province. High-grade ore concentrates where the iron formation was thickened at fold closures (Yellowknife Geoscience Forum abstract). Hematite and magnetite are the main iron oxides, and the ore is hard, which gives a high share of lump product.

Chart

Reported iron resources by deposit and class

Million tonnes; grades 66.3% Fe (Deposit 1 measured and indicated), 66.9% (Deposit 1 inferred), 65% and 65.9% (Deposits 2 and 3)

The same abstract, written in 2019, reports Deposit 1 at 418 Mt grading 66.3% Fe measured and indicated, plus 213 Mt at 66.9% Fe inferred, and Deposits 2 and 3 at 23 Mt and 336 Mt. Added together these come to about 990 Mt, which fits Baffinland’s 2026 statement of about one billion tonnes identified. Grade here means the iron content of the ore (Fe). Measured, indicated and inferred are confidence classes, with inferred the least certain.

In 2018 the shipped lump product (DSP) graded 67.7% Fe and the fines (SSF) graded 66.8% Fe (same abstract). The court filing says the average iron content mined historically exceeded 67%. Baffinland describes its ore as the highest-grade direct shipping iron ore in the world; treat that as a company claim.

Iron ore price and what the cap means for money

Iron ore traded at 90.57 US dollars per tonne on 15 October 2026, down 14.2% from a year earlier, according to a Trading Economics contract-for-difference series that tracks the benchmark market (Trading Economics, 15 October 2026). For context on the slide in prices, US mines reported an average of US$156.42 per tonne in 2022 and an estimated US$89 in 2025, though that is US pellet and concentrate pricing, a different product from Mary River’s direct shipping ore (USGS, 2026).

The cap on volume matters because the mine has large fixed costs. Baffinland’s court filing says it pays about US$2.5 million a month in interest on its bank and EDC facilities and US$25 million twice a year to holders of its 2026 notes, and that revenue at the 4.2 Mt limit did not cover operating costs and debt service. The calculator below uses your own numbers to show how tonnes, price, premium and fixed bills interact.

Why debt, not ore, drove the court filing

For the year ended 31 December 2025 Baffinland reported a consolidated net loss of US$102.4 million, with current liabilities exceeding current assets by US$761 million (Insolvency Insider, 18 May 2026). The court factum lists four converging causes: capital spent on the rejected Milne railway, high interest costs, high operating costs and the 4.2 Mt transport limit (Initial Factum of the Applicants).

Chart

Main debt instruments at the May 2026 filing

Principal in millions of US dollars as stated in the court record at 15 May 2026; excludes the later DIP loan

The secured debt was about US$777 million at filing (all dollar figures in the court record are US dollars). Since then the EDC debtor-in-possession facility has added about US$230 million of new borrowing, as of 21 September 2026. The largest piece was US$575 million of 8.75% senior secured notes that fell due on 15 July 2026 and were in default at filing, followed by a US$126.5 million facility held by entities linked to Oaktree and Hartree and a US$75 million EDC term loan. The companies were in default under the Oaktree and Hartree facility, which triggered cross-defaults on the EDC loan and the 2026 notes. Separately, about US$87 million of trade payables were past due, including roughly US$30 million for fuel supplied in the 2025 season.

Jobs, Inuit agreements and community concerns

Baffinland is Nunavut’s largest private employer, with about 1,200 staff, 1,088 of them based at the mine (about 830 hourly union members, with the rest flown in and out on a 21-day-on, 21-day-off rotation) and 112 at the Oakville head office (court factum, May 2026). It operates under an Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA), and said it will keep honouring that agreement during the court process. The federal and Nunavut governments and the QIA backed the Steensby component in January 2026.

Not everyone agrees. In 2021 hunters blockaded the mine to protest the earlier expansion plan. A University of Manitoba professor advising hunters’ organisations told CBC that caribou numbers on Baffin Island have grown and that train crossings could raise conflicts with wildlife (CBC News, 29 January 2026). On 6 February 2026 the Arviq hunters and trappers organization in Naujaat asked federal and territorial bodies to reconsider the project, saying it was never consulted and fearing effects on caribou migration and narwhals; Baffinland replied that the organization did not take part in the NIRB review and that its concerns are being addressed (CBC News, 28 April 2026). Other northern projects face the same permitting questions, as in our overview of the gold mines of Nunavut.

▶ A plain-language claymation on the seven environmental impacts of mining. · 2:31

Fording River in British Columbia: a coal mine, not an iron mine

Searches for Mary River often bring up Fording River, so the difference is worth stating. Fording River Operations is a steelmaking (metallurgical) coal mine in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, one of the four steelmaking coal mines run by Elk Valley Resources (EVR) in the Elk Valley, which Glencore reports produced 25.2 million tonnes of steelmaking coal in 2025 (Glencore, EVR). Both mines feed the steel supply chain, but coal is the reducing fuel for the blast furnace while iron ore is the metal source.

EVR says the Fording River Extension would add about 35 years of life and sustain roughly 1,500 current employees at the site (Glencore, Fording River Extension). The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada posted its notice of commencement of an impact assessment on 9 March 2026 (IAAC, project 80702). The two mines have different owners, products and regulators.

How satellites help on Arctic iron projects

Satellites do two jobs at sites like this. One is operational: ice concentration decides when ore carriers can enter, since Baffinland’s season start is tied to ice falling to 3/10ths, and satellite imagery is the usual way to watch ice over large sea areas. The other is exploration: iron oxides such as hematite and goethite have distinct reflectance in the visible and near-infrared range, and Sentinel-2 measures 13 spectral bands at 10 to 60 m resolution (Copernicus SentiWiki, Sentinel-2 mission). Snow and ice cover limit usable optical scenes to the Arctic summer, which is why the hero image on this page is a summer composite.

Farmonaut screens a customer’s own licence polygon with multispectral and hyperspectral satellite data and returns a mineral report in 5 to 20 business days; iron is among the minerals it covers. These are exploration targets that sit ahead of any resource estimate, and nothing on this page describes a Farmonaut project at Mary River. You can read about the method on our satellite-based mineral detection page, request a quote, or contact the team.

▶ Remote sensing for mining in three minutes: what the instruments measure and why agreement between them matters. · 2:01

We cover a connected topic in Bunker Hill Mining Stock: Ticker, Debt and Restart.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Baffin Island iron mine?

Mary River is in the Qikiqtani Region of northern Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. Ore leaves from Milne Port on Milne Inlet, about 100 km north of the mine by the Tote Road (Baffinland, 2024 NIRB summary). The nearest community is Pond Inlet.

Who owns the Mary River iron mine?

Baffinland is owned by funds managed by The Energy & Minerals Group and by a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal (Baffinland, 15 May 2026). It operates under creditor protection since that date.

How much iron ore does Mary River produce a year?

The permitted limit is 4.2 million tonnes a year. Shipments were 6.1 Mt in 2023 and about 6 Mt in 2024 under a temporary 6 Mt permit (Baffinland NIRB reports). The company’s target after the Steensby rail and port is 22 Mt a year.

Is the Mary River mine closed or still open?

It is open. Baffinland said in May 2026 that it expected no disruption, and the court-supervised process continues with a stay running to 11 December 2026. Creditor protection pauses debt claims; it does not close a mine.

What grade is the ore at Mary River?

Deposit 1 was reported at 66.3% Fe measured and indicated, and shipped lump and fines graded 67.7% and 66.8% Fe in 2018 (Yellowknife Geoscience Forum abstract). A court filing says the historic mined average exceeded 67%.

What is the Steensby railway?

It is a planned 149 km railway from the mine south to a deepwater port at Steensby Inlet. Baffinland says it would lift output to 22 Mt a year and lengthen the shipping season, but it needs financing and has drawn objections from some hunters’ organizations.

How many people work at Mary River?

About 1,200 people, including about 1,088 at the mine and about 300 Inuit employees, according to the May 2026 court filing. The company estimates 800 to 1,200 more jobs at full Steensby capacity.

Why can the mine only ship ore in summer?

Sea ice blocks Milne Inlet for most of the year. Shipping runs from about mid-July to mid-October, and the 2024 season began on 27 July once ice dropped to 3/10ths. Ore is mined and stockpiled all year to be shipped in that window.

Is Mary River related to Fording River, Island Copper or Island Gold?

No. Fording River is a coal mine in British Columbia, and Island Copper and Island Gold are unrelated mines in other provinces. We compare names that get mixed up in our post on island copper and island gold mines.

Can satellite data find iron ore deposits?

Satellite data can flag iron-oxide staining and alteration that guide field work, but it cannot measure grade at depth. A drill programme is still needed before any resource estimate.