By IAN ROSS
Northern Ontario Business
A remote First Nation in Ontario’s far north is calling for a halt to mineral exploration in the vicinity of the community.
Frustrated by what the Webequie First Nation calls “non-co-operation from industry,” the 650-member Ojibway band in northwestern Ontario
contends that exploration activity on its traditional lands is disrupting their way of life.
They are declaring a moratorium on further exploration activities.
The band says the community’s issues and concerns about ongoing drilling and exploration work on the McFaulds VMS deposit are not being acknowledged and addressed by various junior mining companies searching for gold and diamonds in the McFaulds Lake area.The community is located 540 kilometres north of Thunder Bay and is accessible only by air and winter road.
Band Chief Scott Jacob says there are 10 junior exploration companies within a 35-mile radius of the community on their traditional Caribou hunting grounds.
“We didn’t find out until earlier this year that these companies were actually in the area until we heard from sources that there was a lot of activity happening around our area, east of the community.”
Jacob says hunters this spring encountered no caribou near the lake and, after a Mar. 28 community meeting to inform residents, comunity officials began a dialogue with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) to gain a better understanding of the exploration activity in the area.
He says the community will not interfere with prospecting, but it will prohibit any further activity until better lines of communication have been established. It may even consider evicting companies at some point.
“We started training our people in getting their prospecting licences,” Jacob says. “We want to partner with these junior companies to have a share in these benefits. We’re not opposed to any development. We want a part of it in a partnership.”
The band is working with MNDM — having signed a memorandum of co-operation in mid-May — to draw up a protocol and communication policy for prospecting companies, but, as of mid-August, the First Nation had not heard back from the companies.
Andy Fyon, director of the Ontario Geological Survey in Sudbury, says the ministry always advises industry of the value of publicly explaining to
nearby communities what activities they are undertaking and to explore what potential goods and services may be supplied to the project.
They have also encouraged First Nations to explain to businesses their environmental concerns and issues of cultural importance.
It is mandatory under the Ontario Mining Act for exploration companies to consult with the public and First Nations when they move beyond grassroots exploration into more advanced stages. To his knowledge, none of the companies operating in the McFaulds Lake area is nearing an
advanced exploration stage.
