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Agnico-Eagle caribou guidelines put to test Hunters and trappers organization concerned with helicopter traffic during migration seasonTim Edwards Northern News Services Published Wednesday, Aug 1, 2012
"They came through two weeks ago and then turned around and came back (a week later)," said Dale Coffin, corporate director of communications and public affairs for Agnico-Eagle, on July 26. "So it was like one morning waking up and finding you had new neighbours." He said the workers at the exploration site, located 25 km northwest of Rankin Inlet, automatically stopped drilling - the drills weren't in use but motors were left running and rods turning so the steel wouldn't freeze in the hole - and grounded helicopters. "So there was very little movement at all unless there's an emergency," said Coffin. In a mid-July interview with Kivalliq News, when caribou first started appearing near Rankin Inlet, Kangiqliniq Hunters and Trappers Organization manager Norman Ford said he's heard concerns, and has concerns, about the helicopter traffic during migration season, from mid-July to mid-August. "There's lots of choppers flying around, as usual, as mining exploration goes on," said Ford. He said it's hard to tell the mining company exactly where the caribou's migration paths are, because they vary every year, but the organization is using Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, traditional knowledge, to see why the patterns of migration change. There were issues with foot rot among the ungulates last year, said Ford, and many caribou were observed limping. "Last year, our hunters had reported 100 mercy kills," said Ford. While this may not be directly linked to the mine, Ford said people are concerned about the interference of exploration activity with the caribou herds that pass by Rankin. Coffin said the company wants to take this opportunity - the first contact the site has had with caribou since exploration started - to revisit its protocols and speak with hunters and trappers to see if everything "is in complete compliance with their expectations as well as the overall agreements that we have." The company's air traffic policy is the same one it uses at its Meadowbank mine near Baker Lake, said Coffin, and is in line with GN policy; where there's a large concentration of caribou - 50 or more - in a close proximity to one another, helicopters must keep at least 1,000 metres away vertically and 1,500 metres away horizontally. Similar measures are in place when dealing with birds and nesting areas. Ford said he expects helicopter traffic to lessen with the completion of Agnico-Eagle's all-weather road from Rankin to the Meliadine site. Coffin said that project, which started in March, is expected to be complete by April of next year. The company has just started work on its Meliadine Bridge, the first of three bridges it needs to erect, which is close to Rankin Inlet. Coffin said the project is in the permitting process and the company is still concentrating more on exploration than cementing a mine start-up date, and exploration has been going well. The company, as a whole, just reported a solid second quarter for 2012, seeing a net income of $43.3 million for the quarter. At the Meliadine site, new areas of ore are still being found, and the company is trying to determine how much of the mine will be open pit and how much underground. The company's board has recently approved a $10-million extension to prolong this summer's exploration campaign by two months based on the good results its been putting in. "It's a very good position to be in but there's still a lot, from an exploration point of view, to complete before we finalize all of our feasibility studies - and the results keep getting better," said Coffin.
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