An environmental lobby group dismissed Nova Scotia’s ban on uranium exploration as a joke Thursday after a major Canadian uranium company reported a significant find near Windsor Forks.
The Hants County group Citizens Action to Protect the Environment is monitoring uranium exploration in the central part of the province by Capella Resources Ltd. and said it was no surprise the company found uranium values in excess of 100 parts per million, as the area is known to be rich in uranium deposits.
"It is a joke that the company keeps drilling in an area known for its uranium deposits while insisting it is not exploring for uranium," said Donna Smyth, an area resident and a spokeswoman for the watchdog group.
She said exploratory drilling in the area is unacceptable, regardless of what the company says it is looking for.
"Drilling into a uranium-bearing ore body, whatever the motive, carries the same environmental risks," she said.
The province confirmed Capella Resources has stopped its exploration at its Titus Project site near Windsor Forks after encountering uranium values of more than 100 parts per million.
A committee has been appointed to assess the find, as stipulated in the province’s moratorium on uranium exploration, Natural Resources spokeswoman Diane LeBlanc said.
Ms. LeBlanc said it will take at least a couple of months for experts to assess samples and make a decision about the significance of the find.
"We have to determine if this is an anomaly or if the numbers reflect a mineralized zone," she said.
Ms. LeBlanc said the exploration company complied with requirements of the moratorium by notifying appropriate authorities after encountering uranium concentrations above 100 parts per million.
The company has ceased exploratory drilling at the Titus Project site, she said, although some followup drilling might be required by the province to obtain complete samples on the uranium concentrations.
Capella Resources holds exploration licences issued by the province that allows it to search for various minerals, but uranium is not on the list.
Company officials were unavailable for comment, but a news release from Capella noted an 11-hole diamond drilling program at the Titus Project yielded "significant" uranium values.
Capella reported its probes found "significant concentrations" of uranium at five of 11 drill holes. There was about one kilometre between each hole.
"Capella and the (provincial) monitoring committee are in discussions concerning future drilling on the Titus Project in order to define the extent of the newly discovered uranium mineralization as it relates to the potential associated base and precious-metal mineralization."
The company said core samples were sent to a laboratory in Ancaster, Ont., for analysis of base metals and gold.
Capella holds thousands of mineral exploration claims covering more than a half-million hectares in Atlantic Canada.
The exploration company’s claims area in central Nova Scotia amounts to about 60,000 hectares and includes the Millet Brook, Middletown and Hubbards areas, according to the corporate website.
Public outcries about the environmental risks of uranium exploration in central Nova Scotia prompted implementation of the moratorium against uranium exploration in 1982.
Canada is the world’s major exporter of high-grade uranium. Nova Scotia is the only province that forbids uranium exploration.
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1048945.html
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