Interesting read

[iceman]

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1956884/exploration-haute-mauricie-parent-foret-atikamekw

A copper mine project in the heart of the forest

A company is exploring the idea of setting up the first copper mine to operate in Quebec in years in the heart of the Haute-Mauricie forest. On this vast territory, forestry companies, Atikamekw communities, outfitters and residents are already working together. What do they think of the potential arrival of a new neighbor?

 

The Horseshoe Outfitter is not very busy at the beginning of December. Despite the first deep snow, it will be a while before the snowmobile trails bring the first guests of the winter season.

 

The only visitors are a small team from Kintavar Exploration, who are finishing drilling operations in the area and beginning core sampling.

 

Le Fer à Cheval outfitter welcomes hunters, fishermen and snowmobilers among others.

Here, at the outfitter, there are many tourists. There are tourists who come from a little further away and there are also tourists from the regions who come, and they always ask the same question: "When will the outfitter close? When is the mine going to open?", says Kiril Mugerman, President and CEO of Kintavar Exploration.

The company has been exploring the area since 2017 and purchased the outfitter three years ago. His team has set up its sampling operations in the back of the building, in heated containers.

People are afraid, they think that the mine is the same thing that was done fifty years ago. Everyone has the idea of Val-d'Or in the 1960s, it was not too clean regions... Nobody liked the mining development in the northern regions of Quebec [of] fifty years ago, but today, it is not the same.

 

Not all exploration leads to the opening of a mine, but the results to date are very promising, according to Kiril Mugerman, who plans to move into the development phase soon to define exactly what a mining project in the area would look like.

 

For critical and strategic metals, there is a lot of interest. Here in Quebec, for example, there are no copper mines. Since the 1980s and 1990s, they have all been exhausted. So we are the next wave of copper deposits, of critical metal deposits," explains the company's president and CEO.

 

will post the rest tonight

[snowmaster2112]

When in Murdochville 10 days ago mon ami Andre and I ate breakfast at a little cafe on one of the side streets. It was basically just one guy and a small residential looking house.

he was telling us the same thing in Murdockville. They have been looking at opening another mine there and have good core samples. Said something about price having to be over 4 dollars a pound for it to make economic sense

[Snobeeler]

When we were in Chapais few weeks back same thing. Met a couple guys that were supervising drilling sample cores looking for precious metals.

[snowmaster2112]

There going to have to get all those metals out of the ground so they can build all those electric snowmobiles we will all be REQUIRED to ride

[Signfan]

Interesting that they bought Fer a Cheval.  Guess it makes sense.  There is your complete work camp all put together and ready to go.

[iceman]

 Continued….

 

Copper is used in all the electrical wiring in vehicles, to connect all the charging stations, the wind stations to make electricity [...], to create electric motors...

 

Both the Canadian and Quebec governments have recently developed plans to develop minerals that they consider critical to the energy transition and thus secure their place in this new global economy.

The Mitchi exploration zone, Kintavar Exploration's most promising, is located a few kilometers from the outfitter and is accessible by snowmobile at this time of year. Under the snow cover, the drill holes are almost invisible. The only indication of the presence of mining exploration are small orange flags indicating where the core samples were extracted and are now being analyzed.

 

A mine that blends in with the scenery, or at least disrupts it as little as possible, Kiril Mugerman believes is possible. We want to be an example to the mining industry as well as to governments. How can we develop a mine and at the same time keep everything ecological, environmental and functional?

Michel Newashish is the territory chief for the community of Manawan. His hunting camp is located near the outfitter. He comes to visit from time to time to discuss the progress of the project.

The one who has been watching over Nitaskinan, the ancestral territory claimed by the Atikamekw Nation, for more than 30 years, knows that it is not because the forest is big that one does not step on it. In the past, it was not easy to be in relation with non-Aboriginal people, he says.

 

However, the territory chief sees the arrival of the project in a positive light. He has had a good relationship with the company's vice-president of exploration, Alain Cayer, for several years now.

For me, it was a natural fit. When you arrive at someone's house, it's normal to knock on the door and say, 'Look, I'm going to be close by, we're going to meet this summer. [...] This is the work I'm planning to do. Are there any areas that are important to you? Do you have any recommendations? Do you have people who are interested in working with us?

The company says it wants to hire Atikamekw workers when the work for the mine is more advanced. Alain Cayer is thinking of holding meetings and training sessions in the Manawan community.

An interesting proposal, according to Michel Newashish, who sees it as an economic choice. In our community, there is a lot of dropout and we want to take care of these young people and we want to send them to work somewhere and I think that, in the future, they want to go into the woods.

 

At the Atikamekw Council of Manawan, a hundred kilometers further south and east, the chief, Sipi Flamand, reveals that he has not yet had any contact with the company. However, he knows that families in the territory affected by the project have been directly contacted.

 

The company still has time to communicate with the community of Manawan. It is a necessity if we want to start a dialogue. All companies should communicate with the Aboriginal communities," he says.

 

Il est encore trop tôt dans le développement du projet minier pour que la communauté de Manawan se positionne en faveur ou en défaveur, mais elle invite Kintavar Exploration à entamer ce processus de dialogue.

Sipi Flamand rappelle que l’article 35 de la Loi constitutionnelle du Canada reconnaît les droits ancestraux des peuples autochtones. Son conseil défend aussi la notion de consentement libre, préalable et éclairé, comprise dans la Déclaration sur les droits des peuples autochtones des Nations unies.

« Il y a des enjeux qu’on considère importants quand on parle de projets miniers, ou bien de projets énergétiques. Il faut prendre en considération l’aspect environnemental, la protection de la biodiversité, mais aussi le mode de vie atikamekw sur ce territoire-là. »

— Une citation de  Sipi Flamand, chef du Conseil des Atikamekw

Les ours, les orignaux, les plantes médicinales, qui font partie intégrante de la culture atikamekw, sont eux aussi pensionnaires de la forêt.

 

[iceman]

And….

About a hundred kilometers further north, the Atikamekw Council of the community of Wemotaci is monitoring another area explored by the company Kintavar Exploration, named Wabash. Patrick Boivin is the file holder for the territory management office where the exploration project is taking place.

 

Honestly, we are very sensitive to this, everything that is mining. It is still new for us. Usually, it's a lot of logging. We are already sensitive to this. It's the environment. We live off the forest," he says.

 

The community of Wemotaci has been visited several times by the company's vice-president of exploration. This is the first time that someone like Mr. Cayer has come. He crossed the bridge here, he arrived, he announced himself, and then he came back afterwards to give an update on where he was.

An approach that is making a difference. The community feels that it has too often been excluded from the projects that take place on its territory. We want to change the trend, we want to be included in the discussions, even upstream. [...] We are finding ways to create a discussion with these people and that is the future for Wemotaci. We no longer want to be the last ones, we want to be included in the process.

 

For Patrick Boivin, the key is transparency and communication. The Wemotaci Atikamekw Council will make sure that the people of the community are informed and consulted if a mine project should materialize. It will not be us who will make the final decision.

In the village of Parent, a remote sector attached to the municipality of La Tuque, near the Atikamekw community, residents have been hearing about a mine project near their homes for some time, but little information is filtering through.

 

At the general store, people are talking. Opinions differ: some believe that the fauna and flora of the Haut-Saint-Maurice forest have already been disturbed too much. One example is the wolves, which are becoming more and more frequent in the heart of the village. One resident confided that she no longer lets her dogs out at night.

 

For others, the prospect of a new employer is attractive. Jobs are scarce in Parent and those that are left vacant attract few applicants. The hotel's restaurant, the only one within miles, is still closed due to lack of staff.

 

What is important for an area like Parent is to attract new families to come and secure our school, our infrastructure, all of these things," said area councillor Éric Chagnon.

The small community has a school that ends in secondary 3. The older children have to move to La Tuque to continue their studies. Éric Chagnon would like to have the money to restore certain infrastructures in the village, but the money is not there.

 

"We have a sawmill, that's the main economic sector, forestry. We have tourism, we have the outfitter in season, so it is certain that all these things, it gives a good economy, but another employer more, it would diversify, it is certain that it would be good from all sides.

- A quote from Éric Chagnon, city councilor

Kintavar Exploration is far from the cup to the lips and the arrival of a copper mine in the Upper St. Maurice forest is uncertain. Alain Cayer does not want to give a time frame, but he estimates that if the project becomes a reality, a mine could be created in less than 10 years. Today, to develop a mine, the number of permits it takes, the number of environmental assessments, the number of regulations that must be respected to open a mine, it's enormous," says the company's president and CEO.

But with the boom in mining exploration projects taking Quebec by storm, the territory's stakeholders are making their voices heard and want answers sooner rather than later. If we talk about reconciliation, companies must have a social conscience about the steps they take," adds Sipi Flamand, Chief of the Atikamekw Council of Manawan.

 

There are many stakeholders that must be taken into consideration that were not previously," explains Alain Cayer. Consult the local populations, the Aboriginals, the First Nations, involve the people as much as possible. What do we want to do? Why do we want to do it? And what can it bring for future generations?

 

Questions that are still pending, while the snow continues to fall on the forest.