Canada's largest Inuit group reverses ban on Nunavut uranium exploration, mining
For the first time since it voted to ban uranium mining and exploration in the Nunavut territory in the 1990s, Canadas largest Inuit organization Tuesday enacted a pro-uranium development policy.
Responding to the boom in Arctic uranium exploration, Canada's largest Inuit organization, the Nunavut Tunngaviik, Tuesday officially reversed its ban on uranium exploration and mining in Nunavut.
In a news release, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. 1st Vice President James Eetoolook said, "After several months of careful consultation with communities and various Inuit organizations and regulatory agencies, the NTI Board of Directors reviewed the policy and concerning uranium mining and made the decision to approve it."
The guiding principle of the policy is that uranium exploration and mining must be accomplished in an environmentally and socially responsible way, "and the uranium that results from the mining shall only be used for peaceful and environmentally friendly purposes."
Eetoolook said, "As owners of the Andrew Lake, End Grid and Lac Cinquante uranium deposits, and lands specifically selected for uranium potential, the challenge for the NTI Board was to develop and approve a policy that would allow Inuit to benefit from this resource and industry while ensuring the protection of our people, the wildlife and the environment." Despite their misgivings about uranium, the Nunavut Tunngaviik has long been supportive of gold and diamond mining and exploration in Nunavut.
In an address to the Second Legislative Assembly of Nunavut earlier this year, Ann Meekitjuk Hanson, Commission of Nunavut, noted that mining exploration in the territory "approached $200 million with spending from 60 ongoing exploration projects. Nunavut today ranks in the top five of Canadian provinces and territories in exploration expenditure, and is the highest North of 60. Diamond, gold, uranium and base metals are the main exploration targets."
Construction of two new gold mines is scheduled to begin this summer while a base metals project and a major iron ore project are in the advanced planning stages. The territory's first diamond mine opened in August 2006. It is estimated that there are currently 125 exploration projects across Nunavut.
French mega-uranium miner Areva has considered developing the Kiggavik project southwest of Baker Lake and is one of 40 companies looking for uranium. Inuit groups had opposed earlier attempts to mine Kiggavik because uranium mining is specifically prohibited in the regional land use plan. Their neighbors, the Dene of the Northwest Territories, are strongly opposed to uranium exploration and mining, and have also put pressure on the Nunavut Tunngavik not to permit the activity on their land claims.
In 1990, the residents of Baker Lake overwhelmingly voted against the development of Kiggavik. Meanwhile, Canadian mega-uranium miner Cameco ended its exploration activity in Nunavut in 1999, citing anti-uranium mining sentiments among the locals.
The two most attractive exploration locales are near Baker Lake and the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located in the midst of caribou calving grounds and migration routes. The caribou are a main food source for the tiny community of Baker Lake, which worries about radioactive contaminants in the caribou and their subsequent impact on humans. Uranium companies Cameco, Western Uranium, Bayswater and Titan Uranium all have permits within an area defined as calving grounds of the Beverly Caribou herd.
While Baker Lake residents are desperately hoping for job opportunities with mining, they often lack the training, education or trade schools to qualify for the positions. Companies, such as Miramar Mining, have established training and education programs to assist local residents to gain the skills to fill mining jobs
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