Moose Cree First Nation – An Open Letter to Shareholders of NioBay Metals Inc.

Press Release

February 18, 2026

“NioBay’s attempts to pursue the development of a niobium mine in our backyard are misguided and will be unsuccessful. There is simply no path forward on the James Bay Niobium Project.”

Dear NioBay Shareholders:

As the Chief of Moose Cree First Nation, I am writing to you directly because our engagement with NioBay has been unsatisfactory and inadequate for several years. I hope to make it clear that NioBay’s attempts to pursue the development of a niobium mine in our backyard are misguided and will be unsuccessful. There is simply no path forward on the James Bay Niobium Project.

As you may know, NioBay was recently granted an exploration permit for the Wasiskaw Sipiy (South Bluff Creek) area of the Moose Cree Homeland in northeastern Ontario, near James Bay, and intends to conduct exploratory drilling there this month. Moose Cree First Nation does not support the proposed exploration and will never support mining in the Wasiskaw Sipiy area.

More than 20 years ago, the broader Kâpânyâw Sîpiy (North French River) watershed, which includes Wasiskaw Sipiy, was identified as one of the last untouched water systems in the vast Moose Cree Homeland that remains free from the impacts of industrial development. Chief & Council have had a strong mandate from Moose Cree members to protect the area, including Wasiskaw Sipiy, ever since. Moose Cree First Nation has expressly rejected several iterations of the James Bay Niobium project multiple times over the past twenty years due to the vital importance of Wasiskaw Sipiy. Our people expect us to keep it pristine. We hope that you can appreciate why it is so important to us.

Among other things:

• The mouth of Wasiskaw Sipiy is only 11 kilometres from the Moose Cree First Nation reserve and residential community on Moose Factory Island. The creek itself runs right through the Moose Factory 68 reserve to the south of our community. The proposed drilling and mine site is located just 40 kilometres upstream from Moose Factory Island, and 20 kilometres upstream from the Moose Factory 68 reserve.
• Our people have had a sacred connection to the area since time immemorial and rely on it for hunting, trapping, gathering, and sacred ceremonies. It is a high-use corridor for subsistence-based activities. Travel routes within the Wasiskaw Sipiy area include transportation corridors for hunting, fishing, gathering, and portages.2
• There are cabins, moss houses, and multiple campsites located along the creek. Members regularly fish and trap around the entire length of Wasiskaw Sipiy.
• Wasiskaw Sipiy has ideal conditions for a variety of freshwater fish, some of which are endangered or at risk of becoming endangered, as well as cold waters that provide crucial thermal refuge for cold water fish like brook trout in the hot summer months.
• Wasiskaw Sipiy supports an abundance of aquatic life including diverse benthic invertebrates and fish communities with the notable absence of invasive aquatic species. Water quality measurements show no signs of pollution and low concentrations of metals in the water. The aquatic ecosystems are accordingly in excellent condition.
• Wasiskaw Sipiy is home to dozens of species of mammals and hundreds of species of birds, including fifty-seven which are considered to be a conservation priority.
• Protecting Wasiskaw Sipiy is critical for climate change mitigation. Wasiskaw Sipiy overlaps with the Hudson Bay Lowland, the second largest peatland complex in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The broader Kâpânyâw Sîpiy watershed, including Wasiskaw Sipiy, is estimated to contain between three and six hundred million tons of captured carbon, equivalent to seven to fifteen times Ontario’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.

For those and other reasons, Moose Cree First Nation considers Wasiskaw Sipiy to be a protected area in which we will not support development. We have been working with the Government of Ontario for years to have its protected status provincially recognized, and we have requested that the Minister of Natural Resources provisionally protect the area for land use planning purposes under the Far North Act.

In a press release dated October 9, 2025, about its exploration permit, NioBay stated that it “respect[s] the Indigenous rights and interests of Moose Cree” and that it “is a priority for the Company to work with the MCFN to advance this exploration work.” Please allow me to set the record straight. NioBay has a history of failing to respect Moose Cree rights and is undertaking its exploration activities without our consent or cooperation.

In 2018, Moose Cree First Nation filed a lawsuit to challenge an early exploration permit granted to NioBay without Moose Cree support. In 2020, Moose Cree First Nation withdrew its lawsuit and signed a Protection Agreement with NioBay, in which NioBay formally committed that it would never build a mine in our Homeland without Moose Cree First Nation support. The Protection Agreement also provided for a detailed engagement process for NioBay and Moose Cree First Nation to discuss proposed exploration prior to NioBay seeking any regulatory permits.

NioBay proceeded with early exploration drilling programs in 2021, 2022, and 2023, but repeatedly failed to comply with the terms of the Protection Agreement.

In March 2023, after an extensive survey of our members, Moose Cree First Nation advised NioBay that we would never support a mine in the Wasiskaw Sipiy area. We met with NioBay to explain our decision, expecting that NioBay would respect our choice because of its formal commitment not to build a mine without our support.

Given NioBay’s knowledge of our opposition, we were surprised to receive the application for NioBay’s current permit from the Ministry of Energy and Mines in December 2023, without any prior notice from NioBay. We were disappointed that NioBay’s application failed to even note our strong objections to its project. We understand that NioBay did not convey that message to multiple local operational suppliers, either. We have since met with both NioBay and those suppliers to make clear that Moose Cree First Nation does not support the proposed exploration activities and will never support a niobium mine in the Wasiskaw Sipiy area. We were pleased that, after hearing our concerns, several local companies expressed their understanding of our concerns and I understand they may have stopped working with NioBay altogether. We ask that you similarly respect our position and our connection to our land.

Moose Cree First Nation does not understand why NioBay continues to pursue expensive and environmentally harmful exploration for a future mine despite knowing that it does not have our community’s support. NioBay has never answered that question. As shareholders, it is a question that I am now asking you. You have the power to hold NioBay to its commitments. Please respect our community’s wishes and exercise that power.

The citizens of Moose Cree First Nation have directed their leadership to fight back against NioBay and defend the core of our Homeland by any means necessary. We hope it does not come to that. We sincerely hope that, unlike NioBay, you will respect Moose Cree First Nation’s fundamental rights and way of life. We would be pleased to further discuss this matter with any of you directly.

But, if you permit NioBay to continue on its current trajectory, take notice that we will stand in firm opposition at every step of the way. I must be clear: a niobium mine will never be built at the proposed location of the James Bay Niobium Project, by NioBay or by anyone else. Any attempt to do so will be opposed at every turn. This is our Homeland and we are not going anywhere. We will do whatever is needed to protect our people and lands.

Thank you for your consideration.

Meegwetch,

Chief Peter Wesley
Moose Cree First Nation

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