Caribou protection
As part of its Strange Lake mining project in Nunavik, Torngat Metals undertakes to implement measures designed to protect the George River migratory caribou herd.
As a project developer in a sensitive and culturally significant sub-Arctic ecosystem, Torngat Metals recognizes the caribou’s critical importance to the Inuit, Innu and Naskapi peoples.
Torngat Metals has adopted a rigorous “no net loss” biodiversity strategy, guided by the following internationally recognized mitigation hierarchy: avoiding, minimizing, restoring and offsettig.
Our caribou protection strategy is based on four action areas.
KEY PROTECTION MEASURES
Avoiding
- Critical areas are excluded: Our project will avoid sensitive habitats, including calving grounds, cultural sites and protected areas. Activity planning will avoid critical times of the year, such as migration or reproduction.
- Responsible design: Mining infrastructure will be designed and located to minimize disruption, in particular by preserving wildlife corridors.
Minimizing
- Caribou protocol: A strict protocol will govern our operations; work will be slowed or suspended whenever caribou are observed nearby. Operations will be coordinated based on migratory patterns and sensitive times of the year.
- Technical measures
- Electric trucks will be used to reduce noise and emissions.
- A closed-loop water system is designed to ensure that no wastewater is discharged into the environment.
- Dust/noise control programs will be put in place.
- Buffer zones will be maintained to preserve wildlife corridors.
- Continuous ecological monitoring will include the participation of land guardians from neighboring Indigenous communities.
Restoring
- Gradual rehabilitation: the ecological restoration of disturbed areas will reestablish native vegetation (e.g. replanting of lichens and sub-Arctic shrubs) and reconnect caribou habitats as soon as possible (waterways, wetlands).
- Local partnerships: traditional knowledge will be integrated into the rehabilitation process with the support of Indigenous nurseries growing key plants for caribou; all of this will be incorporated into the site closure plan to ensure the sustainable return of wildlife.
Offsetting
- No net loss on the ground: for any residual impacts deemed unavoidable, offsetting measures will be taken to protect or restore equivalent habitats outside the site.
- Collaborative projects: offsetting will target priority species such as the George River caribou or Arctic char. Carried out in partnership with various communities, these projects will include long-term scientific and monitoring programs to ensure a true net gain of biodiversity.
Torngat Metals is working closely with Inuit, Naskapi and Innu communities to incorporate their traditional knowledge into the planning and decision-making processes. Under participatory monitoring programs, community members will be involved in tracking caribou and environmental conditions.
Thanks to our proactive approach, we are striving to balance responsible rare earth development with the preservation of migratory caribou and their habitats. This will ensure that the Strange Lake project leaves behind a positive legacy for communities and ecosystems in northern Quebec and Labrador.