The Canada Carbon mining company holds the authorizations to begin exploration on agricultural land of nearly 58 hectares as part of its controversial graphite mining project located in the municipality of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge.
The Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ) – a provincial body responsible for the application of the Act respecting the protection of land and agricultural activities – gave the green light to the Vancouver mining company in mid-September.
Under certain conditions, Canada Carbon will therefore be able, over the next two years, to explore a territory of an area of 57.89 hectares on agricultural land, where there are sugar maples.
The graphite produced would meet a growing global demand for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries and electrical conductors. Processed and upgraded, the ore could reach the “grade of nuclear purity” of “very high economic value”, which would allow it to be used in the manufacture of new generation nuclear reactors, such as small nuclear reactors, according to the company. .
However, exploration on agricultural land continues to raise concerns. In a letter sent to the CPTAQ on August 20, the Outaouais-Laurentides division of the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) indicates that it “disagrees with the preliminary orientation” of the CPTAQ.
The Vancouver mining company has downplayed the “maple syrup potential” present on “almost the entire site targeted by the application,” says the UPA, which also deplores the environmental impact “of the acid treatment of the ore” on the water table, if the project goes ahead.
“The fertile soil rests on a very variable cracked granitic bedrock, the risk of spillage and contamination of the surface and groundwater table is therefore high”, one writes.
This aspect was “quickly avoided” in the documents filed by Canada Carbon, said the UPA. “However, improvisation has no place in the use of a concentration process using acids. “
A chase
Canada Carbon’s Miller Project has been controversial for many years. In 2018, Grenville-sur-la-Rouge adopted a regulation that prohibits extractive activity on its territory. In the weeks that followed, Canada Carbon filed a $ 96 million lawsuit against the municipality.
In February 2020, after two years of legal proceedings, the company and the City reached an agreement. The exploration company then agreed to submit the Miller project to a review by the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment.
Tom Arnold, mayor of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, recalls that part of the population is still opposed to the project. “I think that in order to avoid receiving government bonds [du Québec], the CPTAQ decided to be wise, to let them complete the necessary studies in order to make a new request. It is during the new request that we will see how the CPTAQ will react. “
In its decision, the CPTAQ expresses several reservations regarding the mining project. It imposes conditions on the conduct of exploration. If it authorizes exploration for a period of two years, it has also refused the request for an exploitation right for a period of 25 years. These restrictions are viewed positively by Tom Arnold. “But what is sad is that it was the municipality, our citizens, who had to pay for the studies that allow the real impact of the project to be revealed to the Commission and the UPA. “
“I don’t know what’s missing there [à la CPTAQ] to understand the danger in this type of project. And it’s not because they don’t have the experts to help them, ”he says.
Norman Éthier, one of the spokespersons for SOS Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, also perceives these conditions positively: “The threat remains, but in fact, it is less strong than it was. “
Mr. Éthier recalls that the company has undergone many transformations in recent years and weeks. Nothing indicates that she will be able to complete her project, according to him. “It gives the impression that the company is on the wane. “
A director of the company, Conservative Senator Michael L. MacDonald, who was vice-chair of a Senate committee studying a bill to regulate the environmental assessment of the resource sector, resigned from the board in 2018.
In 2020, following the death of founder and CEO Bruce Duncan, his wife, Olga Nikitovic, took over as head of the company. She announced last week her departure from management for “personal family” reasons. She will officially leave her post on December 15. The company did not respond to calls from To have to.