Platinex exploration moratorium lifted, drilling to resume.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: MINING

An Ontario Superior Court Justice has ruled exploratory drilling can resume on a controversial mineral claim in a remote part of northwestern Ontario.

In a Thunder Bay courtroom May 1, Justice G. P. Smith ruled Aurora-based junior miner Platinex Inc. can start a 24-hole test drilling campaign after their exploration program was shut down last year following a protest by residents of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (K. I.) First Nation.

The court ordered both parties to reach a consultation protocol, timetable and memorandum of understanding by May 15. The earliest Platinex can begin exploration is June 1.

The Ontario government has committed to be present during these proceedings.

Platinex's exploration for a prospective chromium-platinum group element (PGE) deposit has been halted since February 2006, when residents of the K. I. First Nation protested the activity on their traditional lands, claiming they were not properly consulted by the miner. They imposed a moratorium against mineral development.

The remote fly-in community of 1,200 Ojibwe-Cree, formerly known as Big Trout Lake, is located 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

Last summer, Platinex sued the community for $10 billion but Justice Smith sided with the K. I. band and upheld the band's counter-injunction application, blaming the Ontario government for failing in it's "non-delegable duty" to consult with the Native band.

In a May 2 statement, Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci says the government remains committed to reaching a resolution through "meaningful" consultation.

"Any process that brings parties back together and encourages greater understanding of each others' concerns is a positive development."

Platinex President and CEO Jim Trusler says resuming any exploration at Big Trout Lake by June 1 is likely premature, since his company needs to raise funds and secure a drill rig.

"The court schedule is optimistic, but we want to ensure the community is onside with the whole process," says Trusler, who was hopeful of starting the first phase of a larger 80-hole program sometime this summer.

The court-ordered protocol must identify potentially sensitive Native burial sites near the Platinex claim and outline any environmental impacts on hunting and trapping grounds. The band must be a participant in all decision-making on-site and the company must make use of local supplies, services, labour as well as provide some unspecified financial compensation...