TORONTO - Exploration company Platinex (TSXV:PTX) has won court approval to continue working on aboriginal land in a remote part of northern Ontario until a constitutional challenge of the province's Mining Act goes before a judge.
The Superior Court of Justice ruled Platinex can continue to drill in the Big Trout Lake area, about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., but it must first consult with the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation to satisfy its concerns.
The aboriginal community says the company set up for business on its traditional territory in 2005 without consulting it first, setting off a series of court files.
After a blockade kept Platinex workers from entering the work site, the company filed a $10 billion lawsuit and asked for a court order to remove the protesters.
The aboriginal community launched a constitutional challenge of Ontario's Mining Act which allows companies to explore Crown land for minerals without having to purchase it.
Community members say the government didn't consult with them to determine what impact the exploration work could cause, and argue their rights were violated.
A spokesman for the community, which is also known as the K-I First Nation, says there is some good news in the decision even though they wanted all exploration halted until their constitutional challenge is heard.
"It says Platinex shouldn't be given carte blanche to proceed with this drilling program at this time,'' John Cutfeet said.
"I think the judge did what he could in terms of being fair to all parties... and he set out an interim declaratory order to ensure monitoring was still occurring on the part of the court.''
The community is not necessarily against development, but must have a much greater role in determining what's acceptable and what will harm the land, he said.
"Consultation without any real substance behind it is not consultation,'' Cutfeet said.
"I've always said what Ontario has been proposing has been that we do the consultation while drilling takes place, and to me that would render the consultation process meaningless.''
