Editorial: Northern Superior loses case in Ontario – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – June , 2016)

http://www.northernminer.com/

A long-simmering legal case revolving around the duty to consult in Ontario’s Mining Act has been resolved, with plaintiff Northern Superior Resources having its action against the province of Ontario in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice dismissed.

If you’ll recall, Northern Superior Resources is a Sudbury-based junior mineral exploration company that has spent the last couple of decades looking for gold in Ontario and Quebec.

The claims at the heart of the court case — named Rapson Bay, Meston Lake and Thorne Lake — were staked by Northern Superior between 2005 and 2007 in the Red Lake Mining Division located 740 km northwest of Thunder Bay, with an eye to their gold potential.

As the judge lays out in detail in the decision, the initial exploration results were good, but in 2009, with financing in short supply during the global recession, Northern Superior had to bring in a partner with some ready cash. Junior explorer International Nickel Ventures stepped in and agreed to spend $1.5 million on exploration over four years to get a 50% interest in Thorne Lake.

Relations between Northern Superior and the local Sachigo Lake First Nation appear to have started out on a good footing in 2005, with the aboriginal community agreeing to exploration drilling in the nearby Ellard Lake region in return for the company hiring First Nations members, using First Nations suppliers where possible, renting a camp on First Nations land, working around moose-hunting season, and other related benefits.

For the rest of this column, click here: http://www.northernminer.com/court-cases/editorial-northern-superior-loses-case-ontario/1003773940/