“We don’t want to have a gigantic open pit mine in the middle of all those lakes and all those people living around them.”
Five Quebec municipalities located by a proposed site for a graphite mine with ties to the Pentagon have created an alliance to accelerate public consultations on the project and pressure the provincial government to listen to what locals have to say.
When Lomiko Metals Inc., a mining company based in Surrey, B.C., announced plans for a mine in the Laurentians to produce graphite — one of the world’s most sought after critical minerals needed for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries — some residents living nearby began protesting against the project, fearing the potential harm to the environment.
They got even more concerned when they learned Lomiko received $11.4 million from the U.S. Department of Defense for the project.
Since then, municipalities near the proposed mine site — Duhamel, Lac-Simon, Chénéville, St-Émile-de-Suffolk and Lac-des-Plages — have decided to take charge of informing the public.
For the rest of this article: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-town-leaders-residents-unite-to-decide-fate-of-mine-with-ties-to-pentagon