A Calgary-based junior miner working ground near Sudbury will be allowed to continue exploring for gold and copper in an area designated as old growth forest reserve.
Northern development and mines minister Rick Bartolucci declared May 31 that Flag Resources is entitled to have its lease renewed on its project, 35 km east of Sudbury.
But all the ground surrounding Flag's project in the Wolf Lake Old Growth Forest Reserve will be off-limits to further exploration.
In a May 31 statement, Bartolucci said the old growth red pine forest in the Wolf Lake area must be protected. Although Flag can stay, the rest of the area is being removed from prospecting and mineral claim staking.
Under Ontario's Living Legacy land use strategy from 1999, pre-existing mining claims and leases are allowed to continue. The province said the company has met all the renewal criteria under the Mining Act to have its lease renewed.
“If Flag Resources' claims or leases lapse, the affected area can then be added to the Forest Reserve area,” said Bartolucci.
A group calling itself the Wolf Lake Coalition was calling on Bartolucci not to renew the company's mining lease in an area it considers “the world's largest ancient red pine forest.”
The group feels betrayed that the Ontario government failed to live up to a 1999 promise to protect the forest which they say contains 300-year-old red pines. They worry if Flag's exploration project progresses to a mine, it could damage a sensitive ecosystem in the area.
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