Participant Funding Program – Aboriginal Funding Envelope
Funding Review Committee's Report

Allocation of Federal Funds for the Environmental Assessment of the Elmtree Property Gold Mine Project

The Participant Funding Program (PFP) is established pursuant to subsection 58(1.1) of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (the Act), which states: For the purposes of this Act, the Minister shall establish a participant funding program to facilitate the participation of the public in comprehensive studies, mediations and assessments by review panels.

A Funding Review Committee (FRC) independent of the environmental assessment (EA) was established for the Elmtree Property Gold Mine Project (the Project), which is being conducted by means of a comprehensive study (CS). Its purpose was to assess funding applications received under the PFP – Aboriginal Funding Envelope (AFE) to support Aboriginal participation in the EA process for the proposed Project, and to recommend whether funding should be provided, and if so, in what amount.

Under the AFE for this Project, a total of $70,000 was made available to support Aboriginal participation and related consultation activities in the EA, including:

• Review and comment on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Guidelines;
• Review and comment on the EIS submitted by the Project proponent;
• Prepare for and participate in community meetings/open houses to consider the proposed Project;
• Prepare for and participate in the conduct of the EA prior to the preparation of the Comprehensive Study Report (CSR);
• Input and comment on the draft CSR; and
• Final input into the CSR

The deadline to submit an application was February 8, 2011. One application was received on behalf of 15 First Nations requesting a total of $168,990.

On February 15 and 18, 2011, the FRC met to review the application. The FRC members were Mr. Paul Scott, retired Regional Director of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency's (the Agency) Pacific and Yukon office, acting as Committee Chairperson; Mr. Guy Demers, Senior Environmental Assessment Consultant; and Mr. Paul Charest, Environmental Assessment consultant.

Background

Castle Resources Inc. (the Proponent) proposes to develop an open-pit gold mine and ancillary facilities in northern New Brunswick (NB). The mine will be located approximately 20 km northwest of Bathurst, NB. A feasibility study is to be completed in the first quarter of 2011. The proposed production schedule is based on supplying the processing plant at a rate of 1,500 tonnes per day. The mine will operate for only 18 to 24 months, after which decommissioning, reclamation and abandonment will occur. Development of the mine would require stockpiling of ore, waste rock, organics and overburden, runoff collection and treatment and transportation of the ore for off-site processing.

Ore processing will be undertaken by a third party at an existing approved facility in northern NB. The mining operation, over the lifespan, will extract up to 559,000 tonnes per year of gold-containing ore for off-site processing.

As part of the Project, the Proponent also proposes to relocate a portion of the South Branch Elmtree River to allow for the development of the mine for the purpose of gold-containing ore extraction.

The Proponent submitted a project description to the Agency and the Major Projects Management Office on September 30, 2010. Following a scan of the document, the Agency determined that it was incomplete, notably lacking details on ore processing. The Proponent followed up with an addendum to the project description on November 16, 2010 at which time the Agency accepted the document and initiated the CS. It is expected that the federal Notice of Commencement will be posted on the Agency's web site on March 15, 2011 and the public and Aboriginal review of the draft Scoping-EIS Guidelines will begin in March 2011.

The Project is subject to review under NB's Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation. The Agency will cooperate with NB to the extent possible; however, the Project is undergoing a Determination Review in NB, which is similar to a screening in the federal EA process. As such, there will be limited opportunities to harmonize with the exception of the review of the EIS.

Eligibility

Under the PFP - AFE, funding may be provided to Aboriginal groups to support their input to an EA and/or to support their engagement in consultation activities with the federal government. These activities must be linked to the EA of a proposed project through a CS, mediation or review panel.

Eligible recipients must plan to engage in Aboriginal consultation activities with the federal government that are linked to the EA of the proposed Project and be able to demonstrate that they meet at least one of the following eligibility criteria:

• have a direct, local interest in the proposed Project, such as a residence in the area or historical or cultural ties to the area likely to be affected by the proposed Project;
• have community knowledge or Aboriginal traditional knowledge relevant to the EA;
• have expert information relevant to the anticipated environmental effects of the proposed Project.

The applicant was deemed to have met the eligibility criteria.

Under the PFP - AFE, Aboriginal applicants can request funding for costs related to:

• professional fees;
• staff salaries and benefits;
• travel expenses;
• honoraria for Elders and Chiefs to attend meetings and functions;
• ceremonial offerings related to receiving traditional knowledge;
• administration and reporting;
• other expenses related to local collection and distribution of information;
• office supplies and telephone charges;
• rental of office space and meeting rooms;
• legal fees;
• general media, advertising and promotion; and
• purchase of information material.

Rationale for Allocation

In reviewing the application received and in reaching its conclusions and recommendations, the FRC took into consideration a number of factors including the following:

• The quality, clarity and content of the application, particularly with respect to the relationship between specific project components and the applicant's traditional lands and resources, and the applicant's proposed EA participation work plan;
• Advice received from the Agency regarding which Aboriginal groups are expected to be participants in the EA, and the role that these groups may play in the review;
• The ability of the applicant to represent the interests of First Nation communities that might be impacted by the Project;
• Presence/absence of specific project components within the traditional lands of First Nations represented by the applicant;
• Project impacts on traditional lands and resources, and on the related interests and asserted rights and title of First Nations represented by the applicant;
• Awareness that the applicant represents 15 separate Aboriginal groups for the purpose of this application;
• The small scale and relatively short time span of this particular project; and
• The potential for negative environmental effects and the potential for permanent follow-up and mitigation should there be acid generating rock discovered in the Project site;

Recommendation

The FRC recommends awarding $65,000 of the available AFE funding to support the Assembly of First Nations' Chiefs in NB.

The FRC further recommends that a condition of any funding award be that the Assembly of First Nations' Chiefs provide input to the EA through comments on at least one of the following: the EIS Guidelines; the EIS; the draft CSR; and/or the final CSR.

The Participant Funding Review Committee
Elmtree Property Gold Mine Project
Aboriginal Funding Envelope

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Paul Scott, Committee Chairperson, Retired Regional Director of the Agency's Pacific and Yukon Office

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Guy Demers, Environmental Assessment Consultant

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Paul Charest, Environmental Assessment Consultant

Recommended Participant Funding Allocations
Elmtree Property Gold Mine Project
Aboriginal Funding Envelope

Applicant	Total award amount recommended
Assembly of First Nations' Chiefs in New Brunswick	$ 65,000
TOTAL:	$ 65,000