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Debogorski diamond drill project approved
Ice road trucker's 10-hole diamond exploration drill program the latest in controversial Drybones Bay area to be approved by review boardThandiwe Vela Northern News Services Published Tuesday, January 10, 2012
In a decision released last Friday, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board approved Debogorski's proposed 10-hole diamond exploration drill program, about 50 kilometres southeast of Yellowknife on Great Slave Lake. "The proposed development ... is not likely to have any significant adverse impact on the environment or to be a cause of significant public concern," the board concluded, after submitting its report of environmental assessment to Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, John Duncan. "It's basically yes, I can go and drill there, but there's still a few more, I guess you can call it, minor hoops," Debogorski told Yellowknifer. "It's not 100 per cent over yet, but yes, I can potentially be able to go and drill a hole this summer." Debogorski admitted he was surprised the review board approved his Drybones Bay drill program, after a public hearing held last October, where several parties voiced concern over development in the area, including the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, who say 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. Although the band opposes any development in the area,the approval may not come as a surprise after the review board recently approved another diamond exploration project in the Drybones Bay area, proposed by Vancouver-based junior exploration company, Encore Renaissance Resources Corp. The band did not respond to Yellowknifer's requests for comment by press time. In its decision, the review board included one key suggestion, that mineral claim holders in the Drybones Bay area be granted section 81 relief of work required to keep their claims until "competing interests in land use in the Drybones Bay area are resolved." Both the Yk Dene and Debogorski, whose claim is under section 81, argued for this option during the public hearing. "If I'm willing to wait, if the guys out there are willing to wait until the jurisdictional disputes are kind of looked over, are fixed, then that just takes a few things off their plate so they can address the more important issues of the day," Debogorski said. Debogorski is still considering renewing his section 81 this summer, as he continues to navigate the permitting process, and costs of carrying out the drill program. "To go drill a hole it's gonna cost tens of thousands to do the job," he said. "I'd ideally like to drill a hole now, but I'll have to see how much it's going to cost, how much time, money it's going to take. I'm not a mining company, I'm not an expert on this; I'm learning as I go along." Debogorski can return to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board to apply for the necessary permits to work in the area after 10 days, if the aboriginal affairs minister does not order an environmental impact review of the development within that period.
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