Garry Lake Land Issues

Garry Lake Project Land Use Permit Issues

On January 25, 2008 the Corporation submitted a Land Use Permit (LUP) application to the Nunavut Impact Review Board ("NIRB") outlining its Garry Lake project proposal.  On June 27, 2008, the NIRB submitted a "Screening Decision Report" to the Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). The NIRB Screening Decision Report recommended an environmental impact statement (the "EIS Review") be completed on the Garry Lake project proposal prior to approval or rejection of the Garry Lake LUP application.  The EIS Review is in accordance with Part 5 of Article 12 of the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement ("NLCA"). On September 25, 2008, the Honourable Chuck Strahl determined that the Garry Lake project proposal shall be subject to an EIS Review.  Both the Screening Decision Report by the NIRB and the INAC Minister acknowledged in their decisions that it is unusual for a project of this size to be recommended for EIS Review. Further, the INAC Minister also stated that he "...favored an expeditious review process in light of the size of the project".

On November 20, 2008 the NIRB submitted Draft Guidelines To The Preparation Of An Environmental Impact Statement For Uravan Minerals Inc's Garry Lake Project (the "Draft EIS Guidelines"), for comment by interested parties and The Corporation.  On January 12, 2009 the Corporation filed a response to the Draft EIS Guidelines to the NIRB. 

The Draft EIS Guidelines for the Garry Lake project, among other things, would require the Corporation, to collect baseline information over the Garry Lake project area (covering about 3,319 sq kilometers or 829,170 acres). The baseline information would encompass all existing 'valued' physical, biological and socio-economic environments; the assessment and mitigation of impacts to these environments, including biophysical impacts on caribou habitat, caribou migration and calving activities and socio-economic and cultural impacts (the "Baseline Information"). In the Corporation's response to the Draft EIS Guidelines, the Corporation rejected the proposed requirements based on the redundancy and arduous nature of this task.  Collecting Baseline Information over thousands of acres in the barren-lands of the subarctic as a first step to gain access to its mineral tenure for the purpose of conducting low impact entry-level exploration is not only dubious but does not support "...an expeditious review process in light of the size of the project", as recommended by the INAC Minister.

As an alternative to the Draft EIS Guidelines proposed by the NIRB, the Corporation recommended a proactive 'hands-on' approach. This approach would require monitoring exploration activities concurrent with ongoing exploration work as a means of collecting information and assessing potential cumulative impacts. The direct monitoring of exploration activities is a 'learning' process that the Corporation believes would provide a greater opportunity for determining, understanding and mitigating potential cumulative impacts on wildlife habitat and Inuit wildlife harvesting, as well as caribou calving and caribou migration plus other physical and biophysical environments. The Corporation believes this is an approach that would provide opportunity for concerned parties to observe real time exploration activity thereby forming a factual basis for addressing concerns and potential cumulative impacts.

On February 20, 2009, the NIRB issued final guidelines for the preparation of an EIS on the Garry Lake project thereby rejecting the Corporation's recommendation of a 'proactive hands-on' approach. This approach would allow exploration to proceed concurrently while assessing potential impacts on biological and socio-economic environments.

EIS Reviews are typically compulsory for 'development sites' (i.e. mine construction and surrounding area) not low impact entry-level exploration drill programs. Based on the size, scope and low impact entry-level exploration program proposed for the Garry Lake project the Corporation does not agree that an EIS Review is necessary or required.  The Corporation believes the current and existing land use regulations and guidelines, regulatory oversight, operating standards and industry best management practices have been established and tested over time to mitigate public concerns regarding the impacts on the environment and on caribou. The Corporation believes the recommendation by the NIRB to conduct an EIS Review on a low impact entry-level exploration drill program is without merit and unprecedented anywhere in the world. What the Garry Lake EIS Review may mean for the Corporation and the Garry Lake project is uncertain.  Clearly the current planned exploration work will be delayed further into the future. The Corporation is currently evaluating its options to determine how best to proceed.