QAMANITTUAQ/BAKER LAKE
More than a year after the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) recommended a proposed uranium project outside Baker Lake should not proceed at this time, the responsible federal ministers upheld the regulator's decision on July 14.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett upheld the Nunavut Impact Review Board's recommendation that the Kiggavik uranium project outside Baker Lake should not proceed at this time. A crew spent 10 days at the site this field season transitioning and securing the camp for care and maintenance. - photo courtesy Areva Resources Canada

"The Kiggavik project as presented has no definite start date or development schedule. The board found that this adversely affected the weight and confidence which it could give to assessments of future ecosystemic and socio-economic effects," stated board chairperson Elizabeth Copland in May 2015.

The ministers responsible agreed with the board. They are the ministers of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Natural Resources, Transport and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), with INAC minister Carolyn Bennett as signatory.

>Bennett said uncertainty about project-start dates is not uncommon in the North "reflecting time for permitting processes and the challenges of project economics and investment. The board should continue to assess each project based on its specific circumstances and, if possible, consider terms and conditions that can accommodate uncertainties with respect to the commencement of a project."

Barry McCallum, manager of Nunavut affairs for Areva Resources Canada which proposed the project, stated in an e-mail to Nunavut News/North "provisions were discussed at length throughout the process and during the NIRB final hearing and we are obviously disappointed that they were not applied to the project."

But the Baker Lake Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO), which has participated in the board's review process since 2009, is satisfied with the ministers' decision.

"There were serious problems with what Areva was proposing. We recognized it, the Nunavut Impact Review Board recognized it, so it only makes sense for the government to recognize it as well," HTO chairperson Jamie Seekeenak told Nunavut News/North in an e-mailed statement.

"Some people supported it, some opposed, and some said they were undecided. But even those who supported it were clear that we need the best possible deal for the people of Baker Lake and the best possible environmental safeguards. At the final hearings, Areva did not convince the HTO or community representatives that this was the case."

The proposed project would see one underground and four open-pit mines approximately 80 kilometres west of Baker Lake in between two caribou calving grounds - the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq. The site is also near the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, considered the largest and most remote wildlife refuge on the continent of North America. The proposed project had an indefinite start date that might be 20 years into the future.

Region might be a very different place in 20 years

Areva is very disappointed with the outcome, stated McCallum. Further, he stated the company is discouraged with the uncertainties of the regulatory approval process and had it known the start date would prove such a substantial obstacle it would likely have changed its approach and saved millions of dollars and years of time.

"Areva and its partners in this project spent over eight years and tens of millions of dollars on the environmental assessment process," he said.

"The Kiggavik project, demonstrated through the NIRB review, had no unresolvable issues and would provide positive, long-term benefits to the Kivalliq region. Having start date uncertainty is not unique to this project and it occurs quite frequently in Canada given the timeline for approvals and constantly changing market conditions."

The Baker Lake Hunters and Trappers Organization disagrees, as does the Kivalliq Wildlife Board and several other groups including the majority of official representatives from Kivalliq communities at the end of the two-week hearing in 2015, Seeteenak said.

"Without knowing when the project would start, it was very difficult for the HTO to consider the impacts it might have," stated Seekeenak. "Our region might be a very different place in 20 years. And we know approving Areva would open the door to more uranium mines. The HTO wanted important wildlife habitat and heritage lands protected before approving a project like Kiggavik."

The final draft Nunavut Land Use Plan will soon make the rounds for final community consultations prior to a public hearing planned for 2017. The plan would introduce protection measures for caribou, among other protections, which was an issue at the NIRB hearing in May 2015.

"We will take some time to decide our next steps and will discuss with our partners in this project in the coming months," McCallum stated.

Areva recently concluded its summer field season in Nunavut.

"There was no drilling, geophysics, prospecting, or geological mapping in 2016. A crew spent 10 days at the site transitioning and securing the camp for care and maintenance. Given the decision on the project and the market conditions, there are no immediate plans to resume exploration activities," McCallum stated.

On July 20 it was widely reported that uranium prices hit an 11-year low "as the market struggles with oversupply of the key nuclear material." This has followed a buildup of supply following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

But McCallum stated Areva continues to believe the Kiggavik project is sound and can offer many benefits to Nunavut without compromising the environment.