CCAMU Object to the Uravan Garry Lake Project

December 12, 2008

To Leslie Payette, Manager of Environmental Administration for Nunavut.
Re: Uravan Garry Lake Project, NIRB File 08EN037

The Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) is writing to add our strong objection to the Uravan Garry Lake Project. The CCAMU is a grassroots organization in Eastern Ontario with many thousands of people supporting us. The group was formed in response to the proposed exploration for and development of a uranium mine north of Sharbot Lake and in the Ottawa River watershed.

The CCAMU is very concerned about the proposed exploration for uranium in the Beverly caribou herd's calving ground in the Kivalliq region. We are concerned about the negative impacts that exploration activities will have on wildlife, and the health and well being of people living in the area and who depend on caribou for sustenance and ceremony. Surveys show that the herd is at risk. There should be no added stressors to the herds from exploration activities.

It is imperative that long-range protection of the caribou calving range be established without the complication of mineral tenure. Disentanglement of mining claims and leases interferes with, and may require compensation, when a decision is made to protect the area.

The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board recommended that a uranium exploration project for drilling 20 holes near the Thelon River should not proceed under any circumstances. The CCAMU urges you to make a decision that the Uravan Garry Lake Project should not proceed.

Therefore, CCAMU asks the Environmental Administration for Nunavut and the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) do everything within their mandate to:

Deny Uravan's application to gain access to mining claims to conduct low-impact entry-level exploration programs for uranium;

Refuse to issue permits for mineral exploration in the area;

Cancel or refuse to renew the 727 active mineral tenures-permits, claims and leases- on the Beverly calving ground; and

Adopt recommendations of the Beverly and Qaminirjuaq Caribou Management
Board (BQCMB) to help protect the herd:
- Governments, regulators and others should use a "precautionary approach" when making caribou-related decisions;
- The federal government must reject a permit application for uranium
exploration on the Beverly herd's calving ground filed by Uravan Minerals Inc.;
- Additional mineral exploration on the Beverly herds calving grounds should not be allowed;
- A management plan for the Thelon wildlife sanctuary should be implemented; and
- The Beverly herd's calving ground should become a protected area.

Please receive CCAMU's strong opposition to Uravan's plans for mineral exploration on the calving grounds of the Beverly caribou. Please advise us of your decision.

Marilyn Crawford
CCAMU