We received a number of great questions, both through the blog and in person. Last week, Dianne hosted the first group of winners on a visit to the Kiggavik camp. Stephan Anautalik, Matthew Uqayuittuq, and Rosie Iyago departed Baker Lake via helicopter to experience a breathtaking “birds eye view” of the tundra.
When the group got to camp, they experienced one of the best parts: the kitchen! After a delicious lunch, Dianne toured them around the camp facilities, office, and the first aid centre. Matthew was impressed with how the camp looked; he commented that it was very clean. Mario Blain, one of AREVA Resources’ geologists, gave an interesting talk on geology in the tundra. After the tour of the camp, the helicopter flew to one of the drill rigs to see what that was like. They happened to visit while there was a safety and environmental inspection in progress.
After the drill rig, the group boarded the helicopter again and flew back to Baker Lake. It was a good tour and a good chance to learn about the activities that are going on at the Kiggavik site. Do you still want to go and visit the camp to see it for yourself? We will be doing more tours for people that ask questions. So, all you have to do is ask a question on this blog or drop by the Baker Lake Office. Click here for full details.
Hello
would like to say that the camp was very clean and friendly people also had an awesome time touring
and very exciting to go on a helicopter for the first time was great
thanks to all
Hi Rosie. It was great to have you on the trip. Glad you enjoyed it!
is it safe for the animals?
Who or what gave Kiggavik the go ahead to open (start working),shouldn’t it be the local people of Baker Lake that should have the say wheather it should or shouldn’t open, as we are the ones that will have the long term impact?
Hi Taliruq
Our operations are safe for animals; wildlife has the right of way and we do the best to stay out of their way. If animals come near camp, we leave them alone. We do research, planning, and use Inuit Qaujimatajatuqangit from locals to minimize the impact we have on animals. We operate with a Wildlife Monitoring and Mitigation Plan in place and we have an independent Wildlife Monitor onsite to ensure wildlife is protected. A summary Wildlife report is submitted to the Baker Lake Hunters and Trappers Organization each month. The annual report also includes a summary of wildlife activities on site for the season.
You can read the Wildlife Monitoring and Mitigation Plan here: http://www.kiggavik.ca/download/Wildlife_Mitigation_and_Monitoring_Plan_V4.pdf.
Hi Sarah, the response to your question is a little long and will likely become a blog post soon. Thanks for asking!
We agree the public should have their say about the Kiggavik project and public participation is an important part of the environmental assessment in progress. AREVA is always interested in what people are thinking and what concerns they might have. This blog is one of many ways AREVA can listen to and learn from Baker Lake residents. Baker Lake residents can also make sure their voices are heard and considered by the Institutions of Public Government established under the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement (NLCA) in addition to federal and territorial government departments. We have outlined the permits required and the opportunities for community participation in this response. The best source for information about participation opportunities with regulators is with the regulators themselves.
Kiggavik is presently an exploration camp and is undergoing an environmental assessment for a proposal to operate a mine and mill. Kiggavik has the approvals to operate the exploration camp. Approvals for operating the mine can only be issued after a positive environmental assessment decision; a decision that is anticipated to take at least another two or three years.
EXPLORATION
For the exploration camp, AREVA has been issued a permit from the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA), from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and from the Nunavut Water Board (NWB). The Baker Lake Community Lands and Resource Committee (CLARC) reviewed the requested Kiggavik exploration activities and provided feedback and recommendations to the KIA as one part of the KIA permit approval process. Before these permits were issued, the Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC) decided that AREVA’s proposed exploration activities conformed with the regional land use plan and the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) conducted a screening of project activities which included an opportunity for the public to comment. The original NPC conformity determination for exploration activities at Kiggavik occurred in late 2006 and the NIRB conducted their initial screening in 2007. AREVA’s exploration activities must conform to the terms and conditions issued to the company with each of the above approvals. AREVA reports on exploration activities annually as one of the many requirements of these approvals. The annual reports can be found http://www.kiggavik.ca/downloads
MINE DEVELOPMENT
AREVA submitted a project proposal to the regulators in November of 2008. NPC evaluated the proposal and determined the proposal was in conformity with the regional land use plan in January 2009. NPC then forwarded the Kiggavik proposal to the NIRB for screening to determine if the proposed project may have effects on the ecosystem, wildlife habitat, Inuit harvesting activities, socio-economics, if there was public concern or technological innovations in order to determine if an environmental review would be required. The public was invited to comment on the proposed project from January 20 2009 to February 18, 2009 and many people in Baker Lake provided comments. (all of these comments are publicly available here: ftp://ftp.nirb.ca/REVIEWS/CURRENT_REVIEWS/09MN003-AREVA_KIGGAVIK/1-SCREENING/02-DISTRIBUTION/COMMENTS/ In March 2009, the NIRB recommended to the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs (the ‘Minister’) that the Kiggavik Project undergo an environmental assessment and in February 2010, the Minister made the decision that the environmental assessment for the Kiggavik project would be carried out by the NIRB.
The NIRB visited Baker Lake for a three day information session from April 25 to 27, 2010 where staff gave a summary of the proposal, explained the environmental assessment process and schedule and asked for community input. Similar NIRB-led sessions were held in every Kivalliq community.
The KIA has also held a public meeting in Baker Lake on February 26, 2010 as well as public meetings in each of the other six Kivalliq communities during the winter/spring of 2010 in order to consult with Land Claim Beneficiaries about the Kiggavik Project.
The remainder of the environmental assessment process over the next two to three years will provide many more public opportunities for the people of Baker Lake and elsewhere to comment on the Kiggavik project. At the end of the review process, the NIRB will recommend to the Minister of INAC whether it believes the project should proceed and the Minister will make the decision. If the decision is to proceed, the NIRB will issue a project certificate to AREVA with terms and conditions that must be met and then AREVA will apply for permits/licences from the KIA, INAC, the NWB, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and other authorizing agencies. There would be additional opportunities for public participation during the permitting and licensing stage including public hearings for both the NWB and CNSC licences.
AREVA initiatives since the project proposal was released in 2008 have included, 17 Community Liaison Committee meetings that were open to the public; one meeting with the Hamlet Council; five meetings with the Baker Lake Hunter and Trapper Organization; three meetings with the elders and three public meetings in Baker Lake. AREVA will continue to visit communities and provide opportunities to participate and comments on the Kiggavik Project can be made to AREVA at any time through this blog or by visiting the Baker Lake office.
Anyone can submit comments directly to the NIRB for consideration in the Kiggavik review at:
General Inquiries: info@nirb.ca
Toll Free: 1-866-233-3033
Fax: 1-867-983-2594 or 1-867-983-2574
FTP Site: http://ftp.nirb.ca
Website: http://www.nirb.ca
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1360, Cambridge Bay, NU, X0B 0C0
What will the mine site look like when the uranium runs out and the mine closes?
Hi Ken,
When the uranium runs out and the mine closes, we are responsible to return the land to as close to the natural state as possible. We have successfully done this at our Cluff Lake operations in Saskatchewan. We design uranium mines to be safely decommissioned. We work hard to ensure that the area is once again useable for traditional uses. We wrote a blog on this. You can see a good before and after photo: http://www.kiggavik.ca/2010/07/21/mining-a-temporary-use-of-the-land/
[...] After many questions and answers about the Kiggavik Project, the Ask a Question contest is over. Thank you to everyone who participated. It was great to see so many good questions related to uranium mining, the environment, tailings management, radiation, decommissioning, jobs, and other topics. Many of the question-askers got a chance to take a helicopter ride to the Kiggavik site and tour the operations. Read about one of the visits here. [...]