RE:RE:Funded to PEA 2016I have posted in the past about it but will gladly repost.
If you look at Iqaluit on a map you think Wow it is so far North but Iqaluit is by far the largest and most development community in all of Nunavut. It is the Yellowknife of Nunavut, though by no means is Iqaluit as developed as Yellowknife.
The communities that will be consulted for any mine development at Chidliak will be Iqaluit and Pangnirtung but the vast majority of PGD land claim lies on Crown land, not Inuit owned land. They will still need to produce an Inuit Impact Statement and consult with the local organizations and communities.
Since they first found results that they felt held good potential for mine development they have done a good job of consulting the communities. They routinely host meetings in Iqaluit and Pangnirtung, which are scarcely attended. Being scarcely attended means no concerns. The ones with the concerns go to the meetings and as you said it is the usual stuff, how will this affect the trail between Iqaluit and Pangnirtung? Will this affect the caribou herds / polar bear / fish etc. The area of concern, Chidliak, is located in an area not really well known for Caribou and the Baffin Island Caribou herds are already so small and primarily located in the North and North West sections of the island. There are so few of them that a complete ban on caribou hunting is in effect currently.
There has also been an increase in educational courses in Nunavut to encourage people to move into a career in mining with courses for Heavy Equipment operator touted everywhere. Diamond mining also has some of the lowest impacts to the environment of all mining types. Essentially you pull the rock out, crush it, get the diamonds, pile it, put it back in. It is not that simple but in comparison to Uranium mining it doesnt make local Inuit people jump out of their seats in fear like it did in Repulse over the Uranium Mine.
Iqaluit is THEE most and Pangnirtung is one of the most developed and modern communities in all of Nunavut. Meaning not so many people rely strictly on hunting / fishing as a way of life and more people are up on technology / lifestyle meaning much more open to development. I predict a very smooth permitting process, obviously it will still take time but their wont be the up-in-arms level of concern as with seismic testing in Clyde River or with uranium mining in Repulse Bay. Also, Tom is very well known in Iqaluit and many of the Peregrine crew are well known in Iqaluit. The Premier himself, Peter Taptuna, touted the Chidliak project as an example of responsible natural resource development in his speech at the Northern Lights conference in Ottawa.
A lot of people do not know the VAST difference between Iqaluit and a community. It's like walking through time when you go from Iqaluit to a community such as Repulse Bay. In Iqaluit people buy houses, attend school board meetings, attend city council meetings, the roads are paved, there are stop-signs, taxis, hotels, restaurants, electronic stores, heavy-duty equipment, storage, one of the largest runways in all the Northern world, etc etc etc Not to mention the deepest talent pool as far as potential employees in all the North meaning if a mine ever is developed there will be VERY low turn over as people WANT to move to Iqaluit and WANT to stay in Iqaluit.
Anyways I truly believe that is one of the major contributing factors to PGD's low market value. If this exact same project was in NWT we would be at $200-million right now.