Baffinland asks judge to allow sale of assets to avoid mine closure
As of May, company owed $2.6 billion to 231 creditors
Debt-stricken Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. is asking an Ontario court to allow the sale of its assets to keep the company’s Nunavut mine from “liquidation.”
“A sale is warranted at this time,” the company’s lawyers said in a document submitted last week to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
“The alternative to a transaction would be liquidation, which would result in the closure of the mine and the loss of over 1,200 jobs.”
Baffinland owns the Mary River Mine on northern Baffin Island and is one of the largest private sector employers in Nunavut.
As of May 14, the company owed $2.6 billion to 231 creditors, including about a dozen northern businesses and organizations, according to the company’s filing at the time.
In May, the company was also granted creditor protection and shortly after received a $660-million loan from federal Export Development Canada.
Now the company is looking for court approval to solicit bids for the sale of its shares, assets or the mine itself, Baffinland’s acting chief executive officer Jowdat Waheed said in an affidavit sworn on Sept. 17.
“Our focus remains on safe operations, supporting our employees and working with our Inuit partners and northern communities,” said Baffinland’s spokesperson Peter Akman in a statement.
Baffinland’s financial troubles are partly linked to its failed Phase 2 railway expansion proposal. According to the company’s earlier filings, it spent more than $1.5 billion on a proposed expansion that was ultimately rejected by the federal government after years of hearings and opposition from some north Baffin communities.
Baffinland is now set to appear in front of an Ontario judge on Friday.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: N.W.T., Yukon mining and energy projects get boost at Canada Investment Summit, CBC News
Finland: Lapland among regions not in favour of wind power compensation for eastern Finland, Yle News
Greenland: Greenland rules out winter 2026-27 drilling for Nunap Qeqqa/Jameson Land oil project, Eye on the Arctic
Russia: Europe boosts LNG trade ahead of the ban, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Electricity prices climb in Sweden as Russian gas pipeline goes offline, Radio Sweden
United States: ‘You just move forward’: Greenland Energy oil exploration delayed by a year, The Canadian Press
