By Bryan Eneas

Eagle Plains Resources changing consultation policy after trappers raise concerns

Mar 21, 2018 | 12:00 PM

A resource exploration company conducting work northeast of Pelican Narrows is looking to make things right with locals who were upset by their presence.

Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. and their partner company Aben Resources started exploration activities near Manawan Lake at the “Chico Lake” project March 1 only after they obtained the appropriate permits, according to statements posted on both companies’ websites.

“Chico drilling activity is planned to commence on or about March 9 and will consist of 1,200 [to] 2,000 [meters] of drilling in a minimum of 4 [to] 5 holes at various locations,” the release from Eagle Plains Resources read.

On March 16, employees of Terralogic Exploration Inc., who were hired by Eagle Plains to conduct the exploration, were met by a group of trappers from the N-74 fur block who said they were never consulted about the work. The meeting was captured on video by multiple trappers and shared on social media. At least one of the recordings has been viewed almost 5,000 times. When contacted, members of the fur block declined to comment on the matter beyond saying “nothing had been finalized.”

Tim Termuende, president and CEO of Eagle Plains Resources, said the trappers’ frustrations came from not being informed of the exploration activities.

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“It makes me wonder if there was a breakdown in communication in an area that was out of our control,” he said. “I believe the ministry consulted, and I believe we consulted and again. We had a permit; we had a legal right to be there.”

Photographs posted by trappers showed a letter from Eagle Plains outlining the exploration activities to Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation’s Land Manager Ted Merasty. paNOW tried to contact Merasty and the Cree Nation’s Vice Chief Harold Linklater but were unable to obtain a response by deadline.

Termuende said after letters explaining their plans are sent to stakeholders in projects, the company assumes they are distributed to those directly impacted by the activity. To prevent similar events from happening in the future, he said Eagle Plains Resources will be looking at changes to their consultation policies. Termuende said he intends to meet personally with the trappers from the N-74 fur block this week to address their concerns and hopes to find a solution as quickly as possible. Terralogic Exploration had stopped all of their work until the matter is sorted out, he said.

“We’ve got a pretty narrow window as to when we can complete this drill program, which is basically before the ice comes off, so we’ve got two or three weeks,” Termuende said. “We’re hopeful we can get a satisfactory resolution with everybody, but that’s being hopeful.”

Termuende stressed the company wasn’t present to conduct actual mining activity. Instead, he said, Terralogic is present to conduct low-impact exploration activity. Once the work is complete, he said people would be “hard pressed to know we were there.”

“We are very concerned about the environment, like everybody else,” he said. “Most geologists I know are geologists because they love the outdoors, and that’s why they’re in the business, myself included.”

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas