Members of the Anishinaabe nation of Lac-Simon demanded and obtained, on Monday, the cessation of labor at an open-pit mine in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
Members of the group went to the Novador undertaking web site, close to Val-d’Or, to ship a discover to the employees on web site to stop all actions.
On this letter, the First Nation chief, Lucien Wabanonik, argues that the Fresnillo firm’s work is going down with out the group’s consent, despite the fact that it “has expressed its clear and unequivocal opposition to this undertaking.”
The gold mine undertaking, beforehand developed by Probe Gold, was acquired by the Mexican mining firm Fresnillo final January. Wabanonik factors out that it’s positioned on the ancestral territory of the Anishnabe Aki Nation, a reality acknowledged by the corporate in numerous undertaking paperwork.
For its half, the corporate says it’s “delicate to the place expressed by the nation.” The director of group relations and sustainable improvement, Chantal Dancose, indicated in an e mail to The Canadian Press that “exchanges and data periods have been held with numerous stakeholders in the neighborhood, together with the Lac-Simon group,” from the outset of the undertaking.
She stated she needed to proceed these exchanges constructively with the group.
“We’re open to dialogue, however to not a course of the place selections have already been made and work is carried on regardless of our opposition,” Chief Wabanonik warned in an announcement.
He additionally accuses the Quebec Ministry of Pure Sources and Forests of issuing permits “for exploration work with impacts” with out having obtained the consent of the nation.
“The Quebec authorities can not authorize work on our territory as if our nation didn’t exist. Our opposition is thought. Our considerations are critical. Our consent has not been obtained,” says Chief Wabanonik.
The ministry didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark from The Canadian Press.
The Novador undertaking envisions floor and underground operations that may result in the extraction of 15,500 to 19,200 tonnes of ore per day over a 14-year working interval, in response to paperwork filed by Probe Gold with the division.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
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