The mining industry in Canada north of the 55th parallel: a maritime traffic generator?

Abstract

This paper reviews and assesses the state of the mining industry in Canada north of the 55th parallel. It aims to describe and monitor to what extent the development of mining projects in the Canadian Arctic are likely to trigger and expand commercial shipping in Canadian Arctic waters. Based on a literature and statistical review of publicly available information, the results show that only 3 actives mines out of 10 rely on a shipping logistics through Canadian Arctic waters to export raw materials. Once active and in operation, seven other mining projects will likely increase commercial shipping activities through Canadian Arctic waters, while it remains difficult to quantify precisely. However, this paper argues that the viability of northern mineral development is related to a wide variety of conditions including access to capital and foreign direct investment for the development and construction of infrastructure, international market conditions, and shifting demand which largely determines commodity prices and the profitability of a project, harsh environmental conditions, and high operating costs in northern latitudes. In this context, there is no Arctic mining rush and all these factors contribute to increasing the cost of doing business in the north.

Acknowledgments

We would especially thank CPCS for coordination and sharing of their data. We also wish to thank Transport Canada for accepting to provide information which was used to prepare this paper. Opinions expressed in this paper are the ones of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Transport Canada.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.