Hundreds of mining claims blanketing tens of thousands of acres are currently active in West Quebec according the the Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife.
Recent trends indicate the number of newly filed claims is beginning to climb again for the first time in about a year, as some previously registered claims continue to expire. Low commodity prices, weak financial markets and the global recession continue, with few exceptions, to be taking their toll. Nevertheless, a great deal of private and public land in West Quebec remains subjected and subjugated to the mining industry's privileged and preferential access to territory.
The referenced territory ("West Quebec") spans Maniwaki to the north, Fort-Coulonge to the west, La Pêche to the south and Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette to the east. Both Crown land and private property are affected. The claim blocks overlap several designated wildlife habitats and urban perimeters (areas of human settlement).
The vast majority of these claims are thought to be for uranium but a minority are reportedly for zinc, lead, palladium and more recently rare earth elements.
Four major concentrations of uranium claims are found. One is in La Pêche, centred around Lac des Loups (Wolf Lake), Duclos and East Aldfield (up as far as Lac Sinclair). New claims have been filed since the summer in this area. The other three are in the Pontiac near Fort-Coulonge/Mansfield/Thorne (where new claims are also starting to re-appear), Otter Lake (south of more new claims) and on Grand-Calumet Island (in the heart of the Ottawa River), an area that has been gradually seeing reduced claims activities.
Many property owners have been alarmed to discover they do not own the sub-surface (mineral) rights to their land. These rights (with rare exception) are owned by the Quebec Government and are available for mining claims via the Internet by anyone who pays a $50 per claim fee.
Mining claims vary is size but they can be as large as 150 acres (60 hectares) each. The initial mining claim is valid for two years. For the claim to be renewable about $1,200 worth of exploration work must be done in that time frame.
One company that was involved in exploration in La Pêche and the Pontiac is Aldershot Resources Ltd. of Vancouver. In early August 2007 it published exploration results from its team of 13 prospectors in the Fort-Coulonge area signalling an interest in three mineralized zones and started conducting channel sampling and trenching at those locations. In the fall of 2007 it added another 25 claims adjacent to those already in its hands in the Pontiac. In public filings since the fall of 2008, Aldershot proclaims it has abandoned all its claims in Quebec due to lack of financial resources. Notwithstanding these assertions according to the GESTIM mining claims system Aldershot still owns a number of claims northwest of Fort-Coulonge.
Hawk Uranium was active on Grand-Calumet Island and held a public meeting June 11, 2007 to present its 2007 uranium exploration program on its properties on the Island. This poorly announced meeting was attended by about 40 - 50 residents, most of whom are opposed to uranium exploration and mining. In public filings since the fall of 2008 Hawk stated it was not actively exploring its properties on Grand-Calumet Island due to blocked access to claims by surface rights owners.
The Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife says exploration work can not be done on private property without the consent of property (surface rights) owners and that it will not support any expropriation of land by prospectors or mining companies (although the Quebec Mining Act makes expropriation legal). There have been at least three reported instances of trespassing by exploration personnel on private property. One was in the Pontiac and two were in La Pêche.
The reality is physical relocation of private dwellings and institutions is a possibility in Quebec as demonstrated by the 2009 Quebec government approval of the Malartic open pit gold mining project in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region. That project involves moving a neighborhood of 75 residences, along with a new elementary school, a day care facility, and an adult training center to make way for the new mine. The mine site itself will be immediatlely adjacent to the community that lives there.
A petition from citizens in La Pêche with hundreds of signatures opposing uranium exploration and mining and requesting a moratorium we presented to the Premier of Quebec and the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife in 2007. To date well over 2,800 signatures have been collected.
La Pêche Municipal Council passed a unanimous resolution requesting a moratorium on uranium exploration and a safety study from the Quebec Government (April 2007) – it, along with the petition, was acknowledged by the Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs.
Chelsea Municipal Council passed a similar resolution in early June 2007. Also, in June 2007, the Mayors' Council of the MRC des Collines de L'Outaouais passed a supporting resolution adding the municipalities of Pontiac, Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, L'Ange-Gardien, Val-des-Monts and Cantley to the roster of communities supporting La Pêche's opposition to uranium exploration and mining.
Cantley Municipal Council passed its own uranium moratorium resolution in May 2008 and asked that the MRC des Collines de L'Outaouais do the same thing.
On July 11, 2007, Ecojustice Canada sent an open letter to the Quebec Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife advocating changes to the Quebec Mining Act. Requested changes include clarifying citizen and municipal rights. It is available here: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/2007/07/sierra-legal-defence-fund-open-letter.html.
(The letter was re-submitted in October 2007 in response to a Quebec Government public consultation on a mineral strategy for Quebec - see below).
The Quebec Government responded by affirming consent is required from property owners before an exploration company can access the land; by saying it does consider all uses of land before granting mineral rights and that it would be taking Ecojustice Canada's comments into consideration.
Concerned citizens in the MRC de Pontiac have had discussions with the Amenagement du Territoire Committee and the mayors of the county regarding their concerns about uranium mining. Concerned citizens along with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society held two public awareness sessions on August 29 and 30, 2007 at the Cinema Lyn in Fort-Coulonge. Movies on eco-tourism and uranium mining were screened. The sessions were attended by over 175 citizens.
The Quebec Government has written to the Municipality of La Pêche to say it will not grant the Municipality its requested uranium exploration and mining moratorium because it supports the principle of "free entry" and the exclusive development of minerals by whoever discovers them (with conditions).
The Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife announced on September 6, 2007 a "public" consultation on the Quebec mining strategy. More information is available here: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/2007/09/minister-bechard-announces-brief-public.html.
Some of those submissions can be found here: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/2007/10/selected-submissions-on-quebec-mineral.html.
The consultation was not well publicized, there were no public hearings and all submissions were either made by mail or via the Ministry's web site. There were however "special" consultations held with representatives of the mining industry.
SOQUEM Inc., a wholly owned Crown company of the Quebec Government, was found to have registered dozens of claims in West Quebec, including 37 in La Pêche, in October 2007. This prompted an outcry about potential conflict of interest given the Quebec Government had recently denied a moratorium request in La Pêche. SOQUEM claims it is exploring for palladium, not uranium, and therefore is in no conflict.
There is no way to verify this information since SOQUEM is a "private" Crown company and files no public reports of its own about its activities. It's parent company Societe generale de financement du Quebec publishes consolidated information by portfolio. SOQUEM's web page does not even provide a phone number or address. It is however a partner in uranium exploration activities in the Otish Mountains region of Quebec.
In June 2009 the Quebec mineral strategy was finally published. The strategy essentially offered new incentives to the mining industry and did precious little to protect the environment, municipal planning powers or private property. More information is available here: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/2009/06/quebec-mineral-strategy-timid.html.
In October 2009 Ecojustice Canada publishes a report called "Setting A Gold Standard: Reforming Quebec's Mining Act." The document advocates several key changes to mining legislation to protect the environment, municipal powers and private property rights. The report can be found here: http://www.ecojustice.ca/publications/reports/setting-a-gold-standard
In November 2009 a prospector named Glenn Griesbach contributes to the latest round of mining claims activity in La Peche. Mr. Griesbach has filed at least 30 claims in La Peche around Duclos. Historically there have been several past uranium mining claims in the same area (known as the Kert Project). More information can be found here: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-mining-claims-in-la-peche-from.html
In December 2009 the Government of Quebec tabled new amendments to the Quebec Mining Act. More information can be found here: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/2009/12/just-what-are-changes-to-quebec-mining.html
In December 2009 Stelmine Canada Ltd. announced it had purchased mineral rights to a block of 6 and then 80 claims in the Wakefiled area in the hopes of finding rare earth elements.
Exploration Companies with Recent Activity in West Quebec
A list of companies recently active in West Quebec, along with their web sites, includes:
- Adventure Gold (Ottawa, ON): http://www.adventure-gold.com/home/en/index.html
- Aldershot Resources (Vancouver, BC): http://www.aldershotresources.com/
- Globex Mining Enterprises (Rouyn-Noranda, QC): http://www.globexmining.com/
- Golden Calumet Exploration Ltd. (Ottawa, ON): (web site not found)
- Hawk Uranium (Toronto, ON): http://www.hawkuranium.com/
- Jetcom (Toronto, ON): http://www.jetcom.com/
- Matamec (Montreal, QC): http://www.matamec.com/contenu/laCompagnie_profil_ang.cfm
- Midland Exploration (Rosemère, QC): http://www.midlandexploration.com/index-en.aspx
- SOQUEM (Val-d'Or, QC): http://www.soquem.qc.ca/SOQUEM%20anglais.htm
- Stelmine Canada Ltd. (Montreal): http://www.stelmine.com/
- Virginia Mines (Quebec, QC): http://www.virginia.qc.ca/
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In December 2007, the West Quebec Coalition Against Mining Uranium was founded. It's mission is to raise awareness and advocate changes to prevent West Quebec from becoming the host of uranium mines.
If affected by a mining claim land owners should send a registered letter to the exploration company, the actual claim holder (if someone other than the exploration company) and mail a copy to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife denying consent to access their land for exploration (if affected by a claim). Posting "No Trespassing" signs could help provide legal protection against unwanted visitors. More details on how to do this and sample documents can be found here: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/2007/05/take-action-now_14.html
Other Sources of Information
Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife GESTIM free online claims database: https://gestim.mines.gouv.qc.ca/MRN_GestimP_Presentation/ODM02105_eula.aspx
West Quebec claim maps and related information: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/2009/09/fresh-mining-claims-in-west-quebec.html
Association de Protection de l'Environnement des Hautes-Laurentides: http://www.apehl.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=9
RAssemblement Des Opposants Nord Cotiers aux Mines d'Uranium Inc.: http://www.radon-uranium.ca/
Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (the founding community group based in the Sharbot Lake area that is advocating a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining in eastern Ontario): http://www.ccamu.ca/
More information and updates are available at: http://no-uranium.blogspot.com/
