First Nation showdown in Northern Ontario

In his April 9th Discovery Watch broadcast, John Kaiser from Kaiser Research Online returns to James Bay, but this time on the Ontario side (he covered Midland Exploration's Mythril project in Quebec last week). On March 5th, Niobay Metals (NBY) reported that the Moose Cree First Nation and one of its members had brought an application for judicial review seeking to, among other things, set aside a recently issued exploration permit and requiring the government to consult further with the First Nation before issuing any other permit.

Location of Niobay Metals James Bay Niobium project (click for larger) This development will also likely catch the attention of Detour Gold ( DGC) investors. Detour Gold is attempting to do its West Detour expansion in the area. According to Mr. Kaiser, the same Moose Cree First Nation filed a protest back in 2017 which has delayed Detour's plans. According to Mr. Kaiser, the recent Moose Cree application for a judicial review of the Niobay exploration plans is a high-stakes play, "in essence, this is saying that the existing permitting process of Ontario has no validity." However, a surprise happened a few weeks after the application. According to Mr. Kaiser's broadcast, on March 20th, 9 members of the 12-member First Nation council resigned, forcing an early band election. According to Kaiser, the deadline for nominations is this Friday, April 12th.It will be interesting to see who is going to allow themselves to be nominated and then compete in the election which is scheduled for July 2nd. There [are] going to be a lot of eyeballs on it because this is really a referendum about the future of First Nations in this part of Ontario.Mr. Kaiser believes this election is important for mining in the area, especially Niobay Metals which faces the potential for future delays should the outgoing First Nations chief Patricia Faries return. In the broadcast, Mr. Kaiser also returns to one of his favourite topics, Nevada. He discusses the upcoming Highway 50 Gold (HWY) drill program at Golden Brew and its potential to further boost the profile of the state as an exploration hotbed. He ends off the interview by providing an overview of Solstice Gold (SGC) which is in the very early stages of exploration at its Kahuna Project in Nunavut. Mr. Kaiser sees this as an interesting longer-term play, and notes decent insider ownership and recent buying. This post first appeared on INKResearch.com.

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