BAPE Says Uranium Mining in Quebec Not Feasible for Several Years

Mining Weekly reported that the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) committee stated that uranium mining in Quebec was not feasible for several years as residents of the province still have “numerous unanswered” questions regarding human health and ecosystem integrity.
As quoted in the market news:

The public hearings office Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) committee reported that owing to scientific uncertainty and gaps in technological knowledge, uranium mining in the province was far from reaching social and political consensus.
The BAPE found that the Quebec government could decide to temporarily or permanently suspend the local uranium industry, but warned that the potential legal and economic ramifications of such a decision should not precipitate costly legal suits. The committee had conducted province-wide consultations since Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks Yves-François Blanchet tasked BAPE chairperson Pierre Baril with forming a commission to undertake “an inquiry and a public hearing on the uranium industry,” on March 3, 2014.
However, should the Quebec government decide to open the door to the exploitation of uranium on its territory, it should satisfy three requirements. These were securing social acceptance, making sustained efforts to gain knowledge with the aim of closing scientific knowledge gaps and technological uncertainties and taking the time required to formulate and adopt a legal framework for uranium mining through harmonised rules with federal legislation as part of a federal/provincial agreement.
The BAPE pointed out that its requirements could not be met realistically for several years yet, resulting in it being unable to give the green light to uranium mining in Quebec in the current context.

Click here to read the full Mining Weekly report.