A battle is brewing just south of James Bay between Moose Cree First Nation and a resource company that wants to develop the world’s next niobium mine in the heart of its traditional territory.

For now, NioBay Metal Inc. wants a drilling permit to confirm the results of an exploration program undertaken in the 1960s. Down the road, the company has plans to develop an underground mine to produce niobium, a metal that helps make lighter, stronger steel.

NioBay says the mine will cause minimal environmental damage and offers big benefits for Moose Cree, but the First Nation fears otherwise. The proposed mine site sits near the shore of South Bluff Creek, a culturally significant area for Moose Cree members that borders the North French River watershed, a region they consider protected. Now, they want the province of Ontario to protect it, too.

Company president and CEO Claude Dufresne said Moose Cree members aren’t in a position to make a decision about the project because NioBay hasn’t been allowed to make its pitch in the community.

From a global economic perspective niobium is critical, he said.

The metal is used in the construction of cars, highrises, bridges, jet engines and MRI machines, but most of the production comes from only three mines in the world — one in Quebec and two in Brazil. Its significance to the U.S. became clear in 2010, when it appeared more than once in a diplomatic cable, leaked by WikiLeaks, outlining 300 foreign infrastructure and resource sites considered critical to U.S. interests.

If NioBay’s James Bay project proceeds, the mine will be built in the heart of Moose Cree’s homeland in northern Ontario.

To date, the province has protected 1,583 square kilometres of the North French River watershed from development. Moose Cree wants that protection extended to cover the remaining 5,080 square kilometres of watershed still open to mining, as well as the South Bluff Creek watershed that lies next door.

Stuck in the middle, the Ontario government has put NioBay’s application on hold, leaving Moose Cree and NioBay to wait for a final decision.

In a statement to the Star, Northern Development and Mines Minister Bill Mauro said his government “will continue to work with the company and Moose Cree First Nation regarding this exploration permit application. Any potential impacts that are identified will be considered in a future permitting decision.”

Moose Cree Chief Patricia Faries says her community is united in its opposition to the project.

“The South Bluff Creek is highly used by our members and has camps all along it. You can still drink the water from the creek and the sensitive wetland area supports brook trout, moose, black bear and boreal caribou,” Faries wrote in a letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne in May.

“Families that occupy the area are united in their opposition to this project. Its protection is also of paramount importance to our people,” she said.

Her letter and a band council resolution rejecting the project have been posted on the First Nation’s website and Facebook page.

In a statement Natural Resources and Forestry Minister Kathryn McGarry added that her ministry has met with Moose Cree First Nation and “recognizes the importance” of the two watersheds to the community.

“The (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) supports the participation of Indigenous groups and communities in natural resource management which is why the ministry has taken steps to protect areas of interest to Moose Cree First Nation in the past and is interested in pursuing a dialogue with Moose Cree First Nation to further these opportunities in a balanced approach. ”

Meanwhile, Dufresne said the mine would bring more benefit than risk to Moose Cree First Nation, including jobs for Moose Cree members and a partnership agreement for the First Nation.

The mining claim is about 40 km south of Moose Factory, where Moose Cree First Nation is based. Dufresne said the footprint of a future mine would be smaller than the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec and a fraction of the size of the Detour gold mine near the southeastern edge of Moose Cree’s traditional territory.

“The risks associated with niobium processing are very, very low,” he added, noting the Niobec mine in Quebec has been operating for 40 years with no environmental issues.

Niobium doesn’t require toxic chemicals for processing, unlike gold processing, which often involves cyanide, and the mine could recycle most of its water, limiting its discharge to close to zero, he told the Star.

When asked about effluent reports from the Quebec Niobec mine in 2013, which show it released some amounts of arsenic, zinc, copper and nitrogen, though at levels below regulated limits, Dufresne said it’s “too early to say which elements will be discharged.”

“However, I would like to note that even drinking water contained minerals,” he said.

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Right now, NioBay is focused on finalizing exploration work to validate the resource. But a presentation to investors on its website shows NioBay was hoping for mine construction by 2020 and production by 2021. The company is estimating a mine life of 25 to 30 years.

“Obviously now everything will be postponed until we can get some support from the Moose Cree,” Dufresne said.

“We obviously want to make sure that the project is well known and after that if the community as a whole is against it, well then, obviously we won’t be able to build a mine – but we haven’t reached that stage yet,” he said.

Moose Cree First Nation, however, seems resolute.

“It is not a matter of our community needing more time to better understand the economics of the project. Moose Cree will not allow any industrial development here ever,” Faries wrote in her letter to Wynne.

“Our ancestors have lived on this land since time immemorial, drawing the animals, fish and plants for our sustenance. We are charged by the Creator with the sacred duty of preserving and protecting the land including its waters for our future generations.”

Moose Cree’s opposition to development in this area is nothing new and their right to reject the mine should be respected, said Anna Baggio, the director of conservation planning for Wildlands League, the Ontario chapter of CPAWS.

Moose Cree declared the North French River watershed protected in 2002 and rejected a similar drilling proposal in the South Bluff Creek watershed by the mining claim’s previous owner in 2003 — 13 years before NioBay acquired the claim.

“NioBay should have done their due diligence and checked with the community before they purchased that property because if they had checked with Moose Cree, Moose Cree could have told them that they had said no to drilling before,” Baggio said.

Moose Cree say damage from exploration work in the 1960s, which was undertaken without the First Nation’s consent, is still visible on the landscape and Baggio is concerned that a mine would cause permanent damage to the ecosystem.

“These are very sensitive wetlands, it’s cold and the growing season is very short, the land does not restore itself,” she said.

“There are certain places where mining just shouldn’t happen, and this is just one of those places.”

Wildlands League and 11 other environmental organizations have thrown their weight behind Moose Cree First Nation’s call for protection of these lands and waterways.

In an open letter to Wynne in June, they noted the watersheds not only provide critical habitat for migratory birds, fish and threatened boreal caribou, the boreal forest serves as a vital carbon sink.

Protecting these areas could help Canada meet its international climate and biodiversity targets, they said.

Canada has committed to reduce emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and, under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, to protect 17 per cent of its lands and inland waters by 2020. With three years left to reach its goal Canada is lagging behind other G7 countries, a CPAWS report released last week said.

Only Canada and the U.S. have not yet met the 17 per cent target, but the U.S., which has protected 13 per cent of its territory, is ahead of Canada, which has protected 11 per cent. Germany meanwhile is leading the pack with protection for 37.8 per cent of its lands and inland waters.