SNOWDRIFT - National and territorial mining associations are fighting a recent recommendation to reject a mining exploration application in the Thelon River area, east of Lutsel K'e.

Ur Energy, a junior mining company in Canada and the U.S., had applied to carry out a uranium exploration project in the Akaitcho region of the NWT.

The application was rejected May 7 by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB).

The recommendation was based on environmental and "spiritual" reasons, according to the board's report.

A letter responding to the rejection has been sent to the territorial and federal governments.

The four-page letter is signed by officials from the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, the Mining Association of Canada, and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC).

It lambastes the MVEIRB for its May 7 recommendation and questions if the board's reasoning was valid.

Sent May 25, the letter calls the board's recommendation "deeply troubling" and asks that it be rejected and returned to the board to be reconsidered.

"The mineral industry believes that ... the Review Board has strayed from its mandate," reads the letter.

Located next to Screech Lake and the Thelon River, the area in question is 300 kilometres east of Lutsel K'e.

The proposed exploration involves drilling five holes initially, according to Ur Energy's application. Another potential 20 holes would be drilled, depending on initial results.

The proposed exploration would be "very, very low impact," said Tony Andrews, executive director of PDAC.

"When they do this work no one will be able to find any evidence of where they were and what they were doing," he said.

The board published a 70-page document outlining its reasons for rejecting the exploration project. It cites the beauty of the Thelon area and the importance of the land to the Lutsel K'e Dene people.

"As one of the last stands of pristine wilderness in North America, it is a territorially important destination for ecotourism," reads a description of the area in the board's report.

Eleven different groups were involved in the environmental assessment process.

"This place is special to us," said Bernadette Lockhart, a Lutsel K'e elder at the hearing, "This place is a spiritual place. The important thing is to keep that paradise the way it is."

"If you do find uranium you'll try to get it, right? It's better just not to check ... just leave it there," said 13-year-old Michael Lafferty of Lutsel K'e, according to hearing transcripts.

The Ur Energy issue is representative of a larger problem, said Tony Andrews, PDAC executive director.

"We're very concerned about the permitting process up there," he said in a phone interview from Toronto. "It's not working as well as we think it should. It's affecting exploration."

"We believe the board has been pretty heavy handed in its decision to reject the project," he said.

Representatives of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines were not available for comment, as several were in the field and one was ill.

Ur Energy is disappointed with the recommendation but will not give up, said Bill Boberg, company president and CEO.

"(We) will continue to pursue any and all approaches that will allow us to advance exploration on the project," he said.

The recommendation has to be approved by the federal minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada before anything will be done, said Wanda Anderson. Mackenzie Land and Water Board executive director.