Kiggavik decision 'disappointing' for Areva, uplifting for others

While the French company that hoped to build a uranium project near Baker Lake, Nunavut, is disappointed, anti-uranium activists are thrilled with the Nunavut Impact Review Board's decision to say no to the project.

In its decision issuedFriday, the board saidAreva's lack of a construction timeline would make its environmental impact review redundant over time.

"[It] is, of course, disappointing," said Barry McCallum, Areva's manager of Nunavut Affairs. "For Areva, and all those who worked so hard to submit and present what we believe to be a sound environmental impact statement."

The $2.1-billion project called for one underground and four open-pit mines just west of Baker Lake, and would have provided at least 400 jobs, many reserved for local Inuit.

Areva acknowledged that uranium prices are currently so low it could be up to two decades before construction would actually begin.

The company will not say what's next for Kiggavik.

'We worked really hard'

HiluTagoona, a spokesperson with the anti-uranium groupNunavummiutMakitagunarningitorMakita, says the impact review board did the right thing.

"We worked really hard to make sureNIRBwas well aware of what the concerns were, and they were valid concerns. And I feel that we were heard."

The Baker Lake Hunters and Trappers Organization argued that Areva's environmental assessment would become useless over time as caribou migrate and the climate shift.

"We do not want this proposal approved but still hanging over our heads for decades to come, not knowing what the future of our community will be," the organization said in its closing submission.

It remains up to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs to approve or alter NIRB's decision.