Heritage status could hinder area’s economy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/10/2009 (5852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the last things Gary Doer did before he left his job as premier of Manitoba was to put $10 million into a trust fund to support the efforts of turning a large swath of isolated land on the east side of Lake Winnipeg into a UNESCO world heritage site.

But with the 2011 bid presentation deadline looming, prospectors, mining interests and First Nations groups concerned about economic development potential in the area are worried that things might be moving too fast.

The problem is little is known about the mineral potential in a large part of the 40,000 square kilometres that makes up the east side planning area.

The concern is that if and when world heritage status is achieved, it will eliminate the possibility of developing mineral resources if any are found in the region.

Ed Huebert, executive vice-president of the Mining Association of Manitoba, said it is incumbent on the province to at least look at the resource base to know what’s in the best interests of the province.

"That has not yet been done," he said.

That is not to say that Huebert and the mining industry are not supportive of the initiative. He said the international mining industry has strict codes of conduct in honouring environmental protection features in parks around the world.

And even though HudBay Minerals says it believes it has just found another motherlode deposit of base metals and gold near Snow Lake, it doesn’t mean anything substantial might be found under the dense, pristine boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

But he and others contend more information ought to be produced before everything is locked down.

Manitoba has a reputation in the mining and mineral exploration community as having some of the best geological surveys in the country.

For instance, the geological formations in the southern part of the area are quite well known.

That area includes Bissett, where San Gold produces thousands of ounces of gold every year and is just west of some of the largest producing gold mines in the world.

Rick Syme, director of the Manitoba Geological Survey, said there is also a pretty good idea about mineral resources in the northern part of the region around Island Lake through Gods Lake and Oxford House.

"It is adequate enough for us to know there is minimal potential (in that northern region)," Syme said.

But both he and Huebert agree that geological information on the remote area on the middle of the lake on the east side is inadequate and outdated.

"It is a challenge for the community and for the province to say something definitive about the mineral potential in that area because we really don’t have up-to-date information," Syme said.

The only information in existence was produced by the federal geological survey done in the 1960s.

"Geological techniques and models have changed substantially," Huebert said. "No one has gone in there and done a thorough assessment. What we have was done so far back that we really can’t use it."

Huebert figures it would cost $3 million to $4 million to produce such a survey and maybe less if it was targeted on the least-well-known area.

Syme said such a basic survey could be done, but his department’s resources are targeted on the areas with the most mineral potential.

Rod Bushie, a member of the Hollow Water First Nation and a former grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba chiefs, said he believes information about potential mineral development in the region is crucial to the future wellbeing of the region.

"My concern is that five to 10 years from now there will be no opportunity for economic development and no jobs for young people in the area," he said.

Bushie works as a consultant to San Gold and knows first-hand the impact that employment in the mining industry can have on the lifestyle of aboriginal people.

The mining industry happens to be one of the largest employers of aboriginal people in the country.

A spokesman for the province said staff geologists will be made available to First Nations land use planning going on among the communities on the east side.

It certainly seems prudent to undertake the basic technical work required to make informed decisions.

At the end of the day, the map makers can accommodate areas that could support resource industries.

But they need to know where they might be.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca