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ARTICLE · 21 DECEMBER 2011

Increased Mining Activity In Nunavut And The Related Burden On Regulators

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
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On October 1, 2011 BLG was pleased to participate in the Bridges to Nunavut conference at the University of Ottawa.

CanadaEnergy and Natural Resources
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
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As a result of a confluence of factors, including rising commodity prices, the reduction in arctic ice conditions and the resulting availability of new shipping lanes, mining activity in Nunavut is increasing dramatically. While this has many obvious implications for Nunavummiut (citizens of Nunavut) and the environment of the territory, the impact on regulators is perhaps not as evident to those outside the regulated community.

The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) is the most significant of several regulatory bodies in Nunavut and was created by the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement to consider the impacts of large projects such as mines. While many issues are coming to the fore in the NIRB proceedings regarding mining projects under development (and Team NorthTM lawyers will be reporting on them in the future), one important issue that may go unreported is the capacity of the NIRB to handle the coming projects.

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