Constance Lake First Nation is seeking an injunction in the Ontario Superior Court to stop a Thunder Bay junior mining company from drilling on its traditional territory, north of Highway 11.
The band claims Zenyatta Ventures has gone onto the First Nation's traditional land before negotiations with the company and the Ontario government were concluded.
In an April 28 statement, Chief Arthur Moore said the company's claims overlap an area of significant historic and current value to the First Nation.
“This land is at the core of our cultural and spiritual being as a people,” said Moore. “We are deeply concerned that drilling and other exploration activity will cause irreparable harm to our cultural sites, our rights, and our relationship to the land.”
Moore said the First Nation was trying to negotiate an agreement, which would have included measures to identify and protect the sites, when it found out Zenyatta had gone onto the land to begin its exploration program.
The band's motion will be heard in court, April 29 in Toronto.
Zenyatta announced in late February it was embarking on its first phase of drilling at its Albany project, a prospective copper, nickel and PGM play. The company holds 300,000 acres of ground north of Calstock and the Constance Lake First Nation.
Moore said they cannot allow their rights “to be unilaterally steamrolled” and plans to stage a demonstration on Highway 11 at the Pagwachuan River, 80 kilometres west of Calstock near the site of Zenyatta's exploration base camp.
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