AROLAND FIRST NATION DENOUNCES WYLOO ANNOUNCEMENT OF RING OF FIRE PLANT
MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday, June 4, 2024 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AROLAND FIRST NATION DENOUNCES WYLOO ANNOUNCEMENT OF RING OF FIRE PLANT
AROLAND, ON: Wyloo Canada announced late last week that it just entered into an MOU with the City of Greater Sudbury to build a battery materials processing plant in the municipality that would take minerals mined from the Ring of Fire area to process them before delivery for use in EV battery plants to be built further south.
Aroland First Nation Chief Sonny Gagnon says, “It’s shocking that Wyloo and other mining giants act as if the Ring of Fire mining is going ahead for sure despite the extreme level of harm it could cause to First Nations, climate change, the fragile environment, and endangered species in the area. Aroland stands to be really affected, because all of the traffic hauling all of that ore farther south, will go right through our back yard.”
The Ring of Fire area now has hundreds of mining claims staked in it and could lead to trillions of tons of resource extraction. It also sits in the world’s second largest intact peatlands. Peatlands are critical in the defense against worsening climate change as they capture and hold more carbon from the atmosphere than does any other form of terrain. “Mining the Ring of Fire could have catastrophic results if it compromises the integrity of the peatlands, and to date no one knows what level of development the peatlands can sustain,” says Chief Gagnon.
“Aroland has been working hard over the past five years to ensure that we get the answers to questions such as whether and if so, what mining can occur in the Ring of Fire area that would be safe for the environment and for the over 15 First Nations that live in the region” says Chief Gagnon. “We are not opposed to careful development in our territory, and we have a track record of working constructively with industry. But this latest announcement by Wyloo is putting the cart before the horse.”
“We have called on the federal Minister of Environment to conduct a regional impact assessment so research could be done to better understand the potential impacts. And we then worked with other First Nations to ensure that Canada co-led that regional assessment with us. We were successful – Canada agreed. That regional assessment process has begun. We cannot allow mining companies to derail this process by jumping ahead of its results. This proposed development will have direct and long-lasting impacts on our environment and our community if it goes ahead. Anyone working in our Territory or whose project will impact our lands must listen to us. We are not opposed to development, but we must ensure that proper environmental due diligence is carried out, and that any development that is approved minimizes impacts to the land, water and people. Nothing about us without us.”
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For more information, please contact: Carol Audet, Communications Manager – Matawa First Nations at (807) 632-9663 or (807)646-6505 or by email at caudet@matawa.on.ca.