RE:I rarely short for all kinds of reasons...however (a)If the reason for the decision is they "want more loot", how much are they going to get if there is never any mine built?...The answer, obviously, is zero. Which is about the amount of sense your post makes.
And don't blame it on the caribou. They are just pawns in the game. If the caribou had a say in things, they would probably prefer the locals made a living working in (and for) the mine rather than killing more of them than they can possibly eat in order to sell the surplus.