Baffinland Iron Mines lays off staff at Ontario headquarters

Tom Paddonis nolonger president and CEO ofBaffinlandIron Mines, CBC has confirmed.

PaddonjoinedBaffinland in May 2011 and is now the company's non-executive chairman,Baffinland said in a statement.

BrettMcLeodwas appointed acting CEO as of Nov. 25. Hecame over as the vice-president and the headof mining projects with ArcelorMittalthe parent companywhich owns 47 per centof Baffinland as part of a joint-venture with Nunavut Iron Ore.

Baffinland is lookingfor a permanent CEO.

Baffinlandimplemented layoffs at its headquarters inOakville, Ont.,last month.

Vice-president of corporate affairs Greg Missal was laid off as ofNov.6, and a receptionist was also let go. It's unclear how many others were laid off, or if layoffs have occurredat other sites.

When contacted by CBC, Missal said he signed a confidentiality clause and would not discuss his departure.

The company's Mary River iron mining operation is located about 160 kilometres southwest of Pond Inlet, Nunavut. It shipped its first load of iron ore in August.

CBC first inquired about staffing cuts in Octoberat which time Missal, while still in office, replied saying contractor employees had left Mary River as a result of work being completed.

Baffinlandpreviously implemented a 10 per cent wage cut at the Mary River site in Septemberamid a global drop in the price of iron.

The company has been asking Nunavut regulators to allow it to ship ore10 months of the year through Baffin Bay, instead of just during the summer, in order totriple the amount of ore shipped to 12 million tonnes per year.

In April, the Nunavut Planning Commission determined that Baffinland's proposalwas too disruptive for wildlife and did not conform to the North Baffin Land Use Plan currently in place.

In July, the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development grantedBaffinlandan exemption from the land use plan, allowing itto take its shipping proposaldirectly to the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna and the mayor and council of Pond Inlet had backed the company's request for a land use plan exemption, saying that regulatory delay by NPC couldendangerthe jobsand benefits theproject wouldbring to the territory.