WHATI/LAC LA MARTRE - The environmental assessment for Fortune Minerals' proposed NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project just north of Whati is now underway after the submission of the mining company's developer's assessment report to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board.

An aerial view of Fortune Minerals' proposed NICO mine site, located 50 km north of Whati. The company says its project would add $128 million per year to the NWT's gross domestic product over the site's 18-year mine life. - photo courtesy of Fortune Minerals

The 3,000-page document was officially submitted to the review board in May, after the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories dismissed an application from the Tlicho Government to halt the environmental assessment of the mining project.

According to Justice Louise Charbonneau's written decision, at issue is the inclusion in the environmental assessment of two roads that do not yet exist. A 27-km all-season access road, which Fortune says the GNWT is planning to construct to connect the Behchoko, Whati and Gameti communities with Highway 3 to Yellowknife, and a spur road the mining company plans to build to haul material and fuel to the NICO mine site and transport ore out. Both access roads would be on Tlicho lands where there is currently a moratorium on land development due to work on a land-use plan in accordance with the Tlicho Lands Protection Law.

After the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board told Fortune it was not eligible to apply for land-use permits for activities on Tlicho lands without proof of right of access, the mining company applied for an assessment inside the NICO project's claim block only, with plans to submit a separate application for its proposed all-weather road site at a later date.

The application was referred to the review board, which decided to include the impact of access road construction in addition to the impact of Fortune's eventual use of the new GNWT highway for consideration in the initial environmental assessment.

The Tlicho Government argued in Supreme Court the review board acted outside its authority by including the roads and not waiting until the road access issues were resolved to conduct the environmental assessment.

The review board argued that "an indefinite postponement of the (environment assessment) would be unfair to Fortune."

Charbonneau found that the review board's decision to include the impact of the roads in the environmental assessment was within its jurisdiction and dismissed the Tlicho Government's application to halt the assessment, clearing the way for Fortune's submission of its report.

Senior adviser John B. Zoe said the Tlicho Government will be meeting this week to review the court's decision.

"The chiefs need to assess it and consider the next steps, if any," Zoe said, adding the Tlicho Government does not have an issue with Fortune Minerals but with review board's authority.

"There's a precedent that is going to be set in whatever we do with Fortune in the area that they are in," Zoe said. "Whatever process that's existing now and being used is being defined as they go along. What we are doing is to ensure the process is right and appropriate and proper."

The mining company has been collecting environmental data for the proposed gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper mine from the region since 1998, said Julian Kemp, Fortune's chief financial officer. With the submission of the report, the company is hoping to begin construction at the site within the next two years.

"It's taken significantly longer to get into production than we ever thought it would," Kemp said, adding it's more difficult to get investors and other interested parties to participate with the publicly-traded company's project without a specific time line.

"Shareholders expect you to get projects done in a timely manner," he said.

The estimated 31-million-tonne deposit is located 50 km north of Whati and holds approximately one million ounces of gold, and what is said to be the largest deposit of bismuth in the world, according to Fortune.

"It's not a small operation, it's a world-class deposit," Kemp said, adding the NICO project would contribute about $128 million per year to the NWT's gross domestic product over the site's 18-year mine life.

The company is planning a "significant amount" of public consultation and continued relationship-building with the Tlicho Government as the permitting process continues, Kemp said.

"We are looking forward to working with the Tlicho Government and people and the other stakeholders and regulatory agencies," he said. "We'd like to develop a project everybody could be proud of."

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