Taranis Resources Inc. has been waiting 15 months for a decision on its mining exploration permit application for its Thor project near Trout Lake, in Ktunaxa traditional territory northeast of Nakusp. The Canadian mining company believes that First Nation consultation is holding things up, and has filed a petition with the British Columbia Supreme Court.
“We believe the government is unwilling to do its legal duty [to grant the permit] because of First Nation pressure,” said Taranis President and CEO John Gardiner in an October 16 press release.
In the petition, Taranis asks the court to order the Chief Permitting Officer to finally make a decision on the permit application. The company also asks the court to declare that Minister of Energy and Mines Josie Osbourne’s statement that First Nations are “the rightful owners of the land,” and her reference to a “Ktunaxa-declared moratorium” are contrary to law.
Osbourne referred to First Nations as “rightful owners of the land” in her statement in celebration of Mining Month this past May. In a letter to Taranis in June, she mentioned a “Ktunaxa-declared moratorium.”
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