Attawapiskat First Nation challenges De Beers’ mine waste plans

Canada’s Attawapiskat First Nation is challenging the construction of a new mine landfill near the community in the province of Ontario, which is being proposed by diamond miner De Beers.

The Anglo American unit has been seeking provincial approval for a place to dispose mine demolition waste from the Victor diamond mine, which is being decommissioned. 

The planned location, the Attawapiskat First Nation said, is part of its traditional territory — about 90 km west of the community in the vulnerable James Bay wetlands. The area is place of critical cultural, spiritual and subsistence importance to the Kattawapiskak Cree people, the group noted.