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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has again approved Encore Renaissance Resources Corp.'s diamond exploration project at Drybones Bay, more than six years after beginning its environmental assessment of the program.

Review board members Danny Bayha, left, Peter Bannon, Richard Mercredi, chair Richard Edjericon, James Wah-shee, Darryl Bohnet, and Percy Hardisty at a public meeting in September regarding Encore Renaissance Resources Inc.'s proposed mineral exploration in the Drybones Bay area. - NNSL file photo

An Encore Renaissance official said the company, formerly known as Consolidated Goldwin Ventures, has already initiated a lawsuit against several parties including the review board over the duration of the permitting process, in spite of the decision announced by the review board last week.

Amid strong opposition from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation of any development at Drybones Bay, the review board first approved the project in 2007, sending its decision to the federal ministers responsible along with measures to mitigate the project's environmental impacts.

In Oct. 2010, the federal minister referred the decision back to the review board, requesting changes of wording to the measures in the recommendation, which led to a re-opening of the matter by the board.

Public hearings were called once again because the majority of the board members who made the 2007 decision were no longer on the board.

Encore Renaissance, which had no representatives at a September hearing in Ndilo about the planned exploration work, vocally opposed the proceedings in a written statement, read on behalf of the company by review board senior environmental assessment officer Alan Ehrlich.

"The developer does not believe that it's an effective utilization of resources to re-open this matter that

was fully aired and discussed in 2006 and 2007 public meetings and the subsequent decision was made," Encore Renaissance consultant Laurence Stephenson wrote. "The MVEIRB actions and this public hearing are both excessive, inappropriate, expensive, without merit, unnecessary, and I would venture to say illegal.

"On behalf of the developers, we object to the re-opening of this matter and this public hearing ... It is time for the other parties to abide by the decision made by the MVEIRB in 2007."

Other parties who participated in the consideration proceedings included the Akaitcho Treaty 8 Tribal Corp., the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, the GNWT, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and the Yellowknives Dene, who said the area contains old burial sites, the remains of a traditional Yellowknives Dene village, and is currently used by the Dene people for fishing, moose hunting, teaching youth about traditional knowledge as well as other cultural practices.

Contacted on Monday, Yellowknives Dene First Nation spokesman Shannon Gault said the chiefs had no comment on the program's approval at this time.

"They don't have all the information necessary to make a comment at this time but we are working on it," Gault said, adding the band will be issuing an official statement once they have gathered all the information about the decision.

The cultural significance of the area was taken into account by the review board, which modified several mitigating measures attached to the decision.

Final approval for the exploration is now subject to the acceptance of the minister of Aboriginal Affairs.

Exploration programs have been approved in the Drybones Bay area before, including Snowfield Development Corp.'s Slave Craton diamond exploration project.

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