Impact Assessment Agency of Canada
Assessment of the Mont Sorcier Mining Project
901-1550 Estimauville Avenue
Quebec City, Quebec G1J 0C1
Telephone: 418-254-2435
Subject: Comments on the draft individualized guidelines for the impact assessment and the draft public participation plan for Voyager Metals’ Mont Sorcier mining project in Eeyou Istchee in Northern Quebec
These comments (in french only) are submitted as part of the assessment of Voyager Metals' Mont Sorcier mining project in Eeyou Istchee in Northern Quebec before the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, following consultation with our members and partners interested in assessing the project's impacts. More specifically, we ask the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to improve the analytical framework for the assessment of the mining project under review. We invite the IAAC to include in the guidelines a series of questions on the analysis of the cumulative impacts of mining in the area where the Mont Sorcier project is seeking to establish itself.
The Agency should also question the proponent about the usefulness of its deposit in meeting supplier demand, given that its iron concentration is below the 67% threshold set by the Quebec government for a mineral to be considered “critical and strategic.” The proponent should also be questioned about its commitment to assume all or part of the mining liabilities in the area where it seeks to establish itself, and the impact assessment should adopt as a baseline the conditions that prevailed in the region before the numerous mining accidents and impacts successively altered the local environment.
We reiterate that, in its current form, we do not support the development of the Mont Sorcier mining project. We intend to continue our participation in the assessment of the impacts of this mining project in the years to come.
For information:
- Rodrigue Turgeon, lawyer, M.S.V.D., J.D.
- Co-Director, National Program, MiningWatch Canada
- Co-Spokesperson, Coalition Québec meilleure mine
- 4 Florence Street, Suite 210, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0W7 | www.miningwatch.ca
- rodrigue@miningwatch.ca