Damage done to the Ring of Fire: NGO: Wildlands League asks for environmental review process for exploration.

AuthorMigneault, Jonathan
PositionMINING

An environmental organization based in Toronto says it worries about the environmental restoration in the Ring of Fire after exploration work concludes in the James Bay region.

Representatives with the Wildlands League, a chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, flew over parts of the Ring of Fire development in northwestern Ontario last March and took aerial photos of exploration camps.

One image showed more than 25 drill pads--cleared circular areas that host two or three drill holes each--along a one-kilometre stretch of land.

In the photo, the drill pads were connected by a horizontal trail cut through the woods, and a series of vertical lines.

"Exploration is a necessary part of the mining cycle, but it's not benign," said Anna Baggio, Wildlands League's director of conservation planning.

Baggio said there is no environmental review process for mining exploration, and has advocated for a regional environmental assessment in the Ring of Fire, that would provide a blueprint for future exploration activities.

But Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association, said prospectors work under rules set out by the Ministry of the Environment when they apply for exploration plans.

Clark added photos of exploration camps taken during the winter can be deceptive.

"I don't think it's as bad as some winter photographs would display," he said.

Clark said the vertical lines that connect the drilling pads in one of the photos, would be a maximum of 1.5 metres, or roughly five feet in width, and are usually closer to three feet, or under one metre wide.

The lines are used for geophysical readings, and are kept as small as possible to keep the workload and cost down to a minimum.

"The person walks the line and takes geophysical readings on a grid," Clark said.

In a remote environment like the Ring of Fire, the drills would be transported by helicopter--both out of necessity and to reduce the environmental impact.

The areas set aside for...

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