DAILY NEWS 2/1/2010 6:19:00 PM - 0 comments

Chief explains Ring of Fire protest

First Nation groups eager to be involved in the mining business in northern Ontario are blocking two ice airstrips used by mining companies in the isolated but heavily-staked Ring of Fire camp in the McFaulds Lake area.

Members from Marten Falls and Webequie First Nation have been blocking the landing strips because they are concerned about the lack of consultation on development in the area.

Of particular concern to Chief Eli Moonias of the Marten Falls First Nation is a 350-km long rail corridor proposed by Cliffs Natural Resources (CFL-N) and Canada Chrome, a subsidiary of KWG Resources (KWG-V) from McFaulds Lake, running south to Nakina, Ont., where rail infrastructure already exists.

"We don't want the corridor over there, we want it to come through here," says Moonias, noting that land for the north-south railway was staked 50 miles west of Marten Falls.

The railroad would be used to haul ore from a future chrome mine that Cliffs and KWG want to develop. Noront Resources' (NOT-V) well-known Eagle One nickel-copper-platinum group metal project is also in the area and about 100 companies have staked exploration ground in hopes of finding something economic in this new mining camp (or benefit in some way from having staked ground there). The railway follows glacial eskers in the swampy area and would include an adjoining service road that could be accessed through branch roads from other communities.

But although Moonias is pro-development as far as mining goes, he does not agree with the railway proposal and says the current protest has many layers.

First, his individual band was not consulted about the railway which runs through Marten Falls traditional territory.

Second it undermines a decade of planning local First Nations have done for a future access road to the James Bay lowlands that would link up with Attawapiskat on the western coast of Hudson's Bay.

"The government will approve only one corridor," he says.

Another problem is that the staking was done ahead of the Far North Planning Act implementation and Moonias is hoping the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry will annul the claims.

"We have agreed to do the planning with the government and yet this is thing is happening that is going to make a mockery of our planning," Moonias says.

Moonias is also upset that the air strips being blocked were taking away potential business for people in Marten Falls to service the camps. "Our winter access road has not been used by any of these companies," he says. "We are sitting around scratching our backsides wondering what to do here, how we can benefit from the activity up there."

Marten Falls and Noront began to work on a land airstrip - deemed illegal by the Ministry of Natural Resources in November - near the camps as a potential alternative to landing on McFaulds Lake and Koppper.

"We got stopped by two environmental groups and a couple of bands near us that were protesting," Moonias says.

But then Moonias says he asked the government to also shut down McFauld's Lake and Koper Lake because they have become too polluted. That didn't happen.

Canada Chrome has been dealing with the Matawa First Nation, a tribal council that represents nine area communities including Marten Falls. But Moonias says the council doesn't speak for Marten Falls.

The government, mining industry representatives and First Nations representatives are meeting to discuss a solution to the conflict in early February.

"What we are looking for is to come up with a memorandum of direction," Moonias says. "I don't think we'll agree with anything in that meeting but I think we should agree to settle issues within a timeframe."

A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Northern Development Mines and Forestry says the government is working with all parties and hopes find a resolution soon.

Although Noront has had to halt its exploration program for the time being, it's being supportive of Marten Falls.

"The action was precipitated by some of the other companies operating in the Ring of Fire and we just happen to be caught up in the excitement," says Noront president and CEO, Wes Hanson.

Noront attempted to take over Freewest Resources (FWR-V) last fall but its offer was rejected. Instead shareholders agreed to sell out to Cliffs in a $240-million deal.