Mineral exploration to ramp-up at Sudbury's Wolf Lake - Action News
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Mineral exploration to ramp-up at Sudbury's Wolf Lake

Come February,drills will be fired-up again at the Wolf Lake Forest Reservein Greater Sudbury but not without some howling.

Environmentalists decry exploration activity among the pines, saying the site should become a provincial park

People are dwarfed by the towering red pine trees in the Wolf Lake Forest Reserve in Greater Sudbury. Scientists say the stand some 1600 ha in size is the largest continuous old-growth red pine forest in North America. Environmentalists have been pushing for years to have it enshrined as a provincial park. But, there are still valid mineral exploration leases in the area which won't expire until 2033, and the spokesperson for the company that holds the leases thinks there's "almost unlimited" mining potential to uncover. (Ryan Mariotti)

Come February,drills will be fired-up again at the Wolf Lake Forest Reservein Greater Sudbury but not without some howling.

Flag Resources leases 28 mining explorationclaims in the northeast part of the city. Little has been happening with the claims since they were renewed by the province in 2012.

But this September, the company applied to the provincefor a work permit to redrill some of their old bore holes in orderpull out some new core samples.

Speaking for the company, Wayne Whymarksaid, "all of the drill core that Flag produced is lost. It's been destroyed, dumped, bulldozed, whatever. It's not available for study."

He says that'sa problem "because we have a new geological model for the mineralization at [Wolf Lake], and we think that ... the gold and the copper and the other minerals that are there are actually a Sudbury deposit they're actually related to the Sudbury impact event."

If that's the case, he told CBC News, he believes the mining potential could be "almost unlimited".

"You've heard about the Ring of Fire," Whymarksaid. "[If our hypothesis is true], it would beworth more than the Ring of Fire, multiplied by many times."

'Save Wolf Lake,' others, pushing for park

For Franco Mariotti, the stakes are too high.

The biologist and naturalist in Greater Sudburyhas long been involved with groups that are lobbying to have the forest reserve turned into a provincial park.

Franco Mariotti has organized a benefit concert in Sudbury called "Save Wolf Lake." The biologist and naturalist says the 1600 ha forest reserve should be a provincial park, but mining exploration is getting in the way. (Roger Corriveau/CBC)

"[Wolf Lake] is the largest remaining contiguous ... old-growth red pine forest, not only in Canada but in North America," he said.

"The threat ... is that there's mining exploration," Mariotti continued. "Now, in and of itself, it's not a major threat to the ecosystem, but it's preventing us from making it into a park."

Provincial parks are protected from things like logging, mining and destructiveoutdoor recreation.

"There's a park to the north and a park to the south," he continued. "Wolf Lake has been removed like a missing link in the chain because of that mining exploration."

Flag Resources' mining exploration claims won't expire until 2033, and that won't change unless the province buys out the claims or provides a tax receipt to the company.

And, as long asFlag Resources remains in good standing with the province, Whymark said the company is entitled to renew the leases.

Wayne Whymark, spokesperson for Flag Resources, says the company has applied for a new permit to re-drill some existing holes. "Maybe they don't like to see a diamond drill when they go past in their canoes," he says of those protesting mineral exploration at Wolf Lake. "We all have to share the place that we live." (Submitted by Sandra Whymark)

Mariotti organized a benefit concert in Greater Sudbury called "Save Wolf Lake" to draw attention to the cause.

"What we're honestly doing right now is keeping Wolf Lake in the public's eye so when the leases come up, there'll be so much public pressure to make it into a park, that that's exactly what will happen."

He added,"If any minerals were discovered and a mine were to be built in the area, that would damage the ecosystem, and mines are always a short-term gain."