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This article was published 29/3/2018 (908 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government has issued mine exploration permits in Nopiming Provincial Park to two Vancouver companies looking to cash in on the surging global demand for lithium.

Quantum Minerals and Equitorial Exploration received drill permits this month to support exploratory work in and around a 1950s mining site that existed before the park was formed in 1976.

A local representative for a national environmental group said he discovered "extensive" forest destruction caused by the exploratory work near Cat Lake, 200 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, while ice fishing in the park recently.

Eric Reder, wilderness and water campaigner with the Wilderness Committee, said that area of the park is recovering from forest fires and is protected for recovering moose populations.

"There’s a reason a park exists, and it’s not for mining," he said Thursday. "A park is for nature, for animals, for our solace. It is not for destructive industry and corporate profiteering."

"A park is for nature, for animals, for our solace. It is not for destructive industry and corporate profiteering" – Eric Reder, wilderness and water campaigner for the Wilderness Committee

Reder said the new mineral exploration permits were quietly approved and have yet to be recorded on the province’s website. The government mineral resource map online states this region is for mine claim-staking only, and no mineral exploration licences are listed, he said.

He said work is being carried out around the clock in this "sensitive area" of Nopiming. "It’s outrageous they’re permitting this in a provincial park and that this government is being so secretive about it."

The two publicly traded companies have separately issued several news releases about their lithium mine exploration work in southeast Manitoba without mentioning that it was being carried out in a provincial park.

An official with Quantum Minerals hung up on a Free Press reporter when asked about the subject Thursday.

The Cat Lake project features prominently on Quantum’s website.

The company says since early 2015, lithium prices have more than tripled, shooting to $22,000 per tonne from $7,000. It forecasts the "electric car revolution" will spark increased demand in the coming years for the element used in rechargeable batteries.

Jack Bal, chief executive officer of Equitorial Exploration, said there’s "a huge demand" for lithium.

Both Equitorial and Quantum are awaiting the results from test drilling to determine if mining would be profitable in the park.

In an interview on Thursday, Bal emphasized ore extraction would likely not occur for some time.

"We’re a long way away from a mine," he said. "It’s early exploration. The results that we’ve got to date... makes us very happy."

Bal said if it proves a mine would make economic sense in the park, "the surface disturbance would be minimal."

"It’s not an open pit; it’s an underground mine," he said.

The Lithium Corp. of Canada sank a shaft at the Irgon Mine within what are now park boundaries in 1956, and did substantial development work in 1957, when work was suspended awaiting more favourable markets for lithium oxides. The project never reached the production stage. A concrete slab seals the shaft opening, according to a local historical marker.

There are 29 mining claims assigned to seven companies in the Cat Lake area of Nopiming park, the Sustainable Development Department said in a statement late Thursday.

"Nopiming Provincial Park has a long history of mineral exploration and extraction going back to the 1950s. Other parks, such as Grass River Provincial Park (north of The Pas) also allows mining," the statement said.

"Cat Lake is located in the resource-management land-use category, the main purpose of which is to permit commercial resource development or extraction," the statement said. "Mining in provincial parks is primarily permitted in this land use category.

"While recreational development and access land-use categories may allow for mining activities, it would only be permitted if it does not compromise the recreation or access values of the land use category. The site is also located outside the moose closure area and (land) clearing was scheduled outside the breeding bird season."

The department said there was an "extensive" approval process carried out before the two companies’ test drilling applications were approved.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca