BQCMB Pleased with Decision on Kiggavik

August 3, 2016 – The Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board is very pleased the federal government has accepted the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s (NIRB) recommendation that AREVA’s proposed Kiggavik uranium mine project should not proceed at this time.The BQCMB has been a fully engaged participant in all stages of the NIRB’s screening and review processes for the Kiggavik uranium mine proposal since 2009.

BQCMB Chair Earl Evans, a hunter from Fort Smith NWT, is one of many people who made presentations during the final technical and publlic hearings on the proposal, which took place in March 2015. “Many people made personal sacrifices to make submissions, attend meetings and hearings, and give presentations over the past five years,” he said. “This is certainly good news for caribou and caribou harvesters.”

One of the major issues was the potential project-specific and cumulative effects on caribou, including the Qamanirjuaq herd, that would result from the Kiggavik project and other mining projects that would become more feasible once road access to the area was provided by AREVA. Rejection of this mine proposal means that these impacts will be avoided at a time when the herd is declining and vulnerable.

Evans also commends the work of NIRB. “The staff and Board of NIRB listened carefully to the input provided by all parties, and made sure that concerns and perspectives of caribou harvesters from across the caribou ranges (including outside Nunavut) were clearly represented in their report to the ministers,” he said.

The NIRB’s review is now complete and there will be no more formal consideration of the project at this time.

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