Noront Resources

You would think the gov't would have figured all this out before Mines and Money comes to Toronto. Who will invest here when there is no certainty anything will ever get done?

http://www.timminspress.com/2016/09/20/opinion-priorities-misplaced-if-overlooking-benefits-of-new-mine

OPINION: Priorities misplaced if overlooking benefits of new mine

By Ron Grech, The Daily Press (Timmins)

Tuesday, September 20, 2016 11:09:16 EDT PM

Point of View

TIMMINS - You can’t blame De Beers Canada for hinging the future of its proposed Tango mining project on support from the community of Attawapiskat.

After all, when you are operating a mine on the James Bay Coast, discontent among residents can fuel ice-road blockades and costly delays in operation.

De Beers knows first-hand about the cost of such delays, having endured blockades on the ice road in the past, often at the hands of disgruntled former employees who were demonstrating over a personal demand.

With the Victor Mine winding down operations, it makes sense for De Beers to be working towards a smooth transition from anticipated closure of the mine in 2018 to the opening of its new Tango Extension.

De Beers, which has been working on the Tango Extension for the past five years, is keen on meeting its timelines.

However, last week the company let it be known that it would not consider going forward with the Tango Extension without the community’s consent, which newly-elected chief, Ignace Gull, interpreted as a threat and an ultimatum.

Let’s be clear about this: De Beers is not legally obliged to get Attawapiskat’s consent to proceed with the Tango Extension project. The company’s legal obligation is to consult with the community.

However, many First Nations are becoming increasingly adamant that companies and governments get their prior consent before any resource project can go ahead inside their territory, even though legally all that is required is to consult them.

Getting that prior consent seems to be what De Beers was trying to do in this case.

Yet, the company is still facing resistance, which is puzzling when you consider how many First Nations would kill to have an industry next door that creates jobs, guarantees work for host residents and injects nearly $3 million a year into a community with — in this case — an on-reserve population of less than 2,000 people.

The problem is while Canadian courts have established a responsibility for mining firms to consult with First Nations on projects within their claimed territories, there is a lack of clarity of how much consultation is required to satisfy that obligation.

In this case, De Beers is dealing primarily with one First Nation.

Without government or courts addressing this lack of clarity, we can only imagine the challenge in store for developers within the Ring of Fire where numerous groups have laid claims.

— Ron Grech

RGrech@postmedia.com