Detrimental to young Indigenous women.Marathon, Ont., — A proposed palladium and copper mine would be a boon for the regional economy, pay above-average wages and give Marathon’s property tax base a hefty boost, an environmental hearing into the project heard Tuesday.
But critics said market demand for the Generation Mining project is questionable, and the plan for the open-pit mine contains serious shortcomings that the proponent has yet to adequately address.
In a presentation to the project’s three-member review panel, Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas said the operation, if approved, would be a welcome addition to the town’s history with forestry and mining.
“We’ve always had a resource-based economy,” Dumas told the panel during the second day of the 30-day hearing.
A municipal report said the mine — slated to create 375 jobs a short drive from town — would provide the municipality with $1.5 million in property taxes per year.
Marathon could become a mining hub and develop a training centre for miners in conjunction with Confederation College, Marathon chief administrator Daryl Skworchinski told the hearing.
In a separate presentation, Northwatch environmental group representative Brennain Lloyd said the company has so far failed to consider the potential negative social impacts of establishing an all-male work camp on the outskirts of town — particularly in regard to evidence gleaned from other industrial operations showing camps can be detrimental to young Indigenous women.
Generation Mining senior executive Drew Anwyll said accommodation options for construction and mine workers were under discussion with the municipality and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation. Locations have yet to be finalized, Anwyll said.
Lloyd also questioned the need for a new mine that produced copper, given that there is no evidence from Natural Resources Canada that the country is experiencing a shortage of that metal.
Generation Mining has positioned its proposed mine as a green-metals producer: palladium for catalytic converters in gas-powered cars and trucks, and copper for the emerging market of electric vehicles (EVs).
Lloyd said in her view the company has minimized or not thought through the mine’s greenhouse gas emissions impact, as well as its effects on fish species in adjacent waterways and on the local housing supply.
The company “has not presented a case that should be approved,” she said. Many of the mine’s impacts in regard to social issues and infrastructure would end up being “shouldered” by the municipality,” Lloyd warned.
During a response to Lloyd, Dumas countered that what would really cause the town to suffer is a lack of employment.
“If we have jobs here, then people are working and our schools stay open,” said Dumas. “There would be a substantial economic benefit.”
At the end of the 30-day hearing, the panel is to file a report to recommend the mine be approved, or declined. The decision to approve or reject the project rests with the provincial and federal governments.
The panel’s report could be available sometime in June.
Environment North environmental group reps Kerrie Blaise and Karen Peterson claimed Generation Mining’s environmental assessment report gives a misleading impression that the mine won’t contribute to climate change.
The company’s assessment of adverse environmental effects is insufficient in regard to Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) standards, while potential effects of a waste-ore (tailings) facility is wrongly based “on an assumption that climate is stable,” Blaise said.
Peterson contended the company’s report lacked evidence of “meaningful participation, used vague terminology and lacked a socio-economic analysis that is “robust.”
The company should have paid closer to attention to the impact of other new projects in the area, such as the construction of the East-West Tie high-voltage transmission line project, Peterson said.
Anwyll said the company is confident it adhered to Canadian Environmental Assessment Act standards when it prepared its report about the mine project.
Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson referenced the mining industry’s economic importance to the Thunder Bay district, noting that 850 people in the city alone work at mines outside the municipality.
“Thousands more are employed by the over 400 service and supply companies that support (regional) mining operations and exploration sites,” Robinson said.
The Thunder Bay district has six operating mines and 15 projects actively under exploration, with the former producing 790,000 ounces of gold and 200,000 ounces of palladium per year, Robinson said in her presentation.