Yukon prospecting plan approval is quashed by First Nation court victory

WHITEHORSE –

A Yukon court docket has quashed authorities approval for a mining exploration mission, siding with a First Nation that argued there was a failure to correctly seek the advice of it concerning the mission on its conventional territory.

The authorities had authorized a plan by Metallic Minerals Corp. to conduct exploration for a gold and silver mine each summer time for 10 years within the Beaver River Watershed, transferring it to the ultimate stage earlier than regulatory authorization.

But the Supreme Court of Yukon says in a ruling issued Tuesday that the 2021 choice breached the honour of the Crown by failing to seek the advice of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun or act in step with its treaty obligations.

Metallic Minerals, which wasn’t represented within the software for judicial evaluation, had plans to construct roads, trails, a helipad and a camp for 20 employees to prospect for quartz within the watershed.

The ruling by Yukon Chief Justice Suzanne Duncan returns the proposal to the analysis stage.

Na-Cho Nyak Dun Chief Simon Mervyn says in a press release that he hopes the ruling conjures up different First Nations to “defend their treaties and fight to have a say about what happens on their lands.”

He says the federal government should respect and implement treaty rights, and his nation appears to be like ahead to “a collaborative planning process, where we work to protect our rights, lands and waters together.”

The assertion says the watershed is a “pristine, highly significant part of” the First Nation’s territory.

It additionally expresses appreciation to Metallic Minerals for voluntarily not endeavor exploration whereas the case was continuing and never opposing the First Nation’s lawsuit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Feb. 3, 2023.