Nunavut exploration firms enter diversion agreement with public prosecutor – Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Two companies involved with exploration in Nunavut on Wednesday entered into a diversion agreement with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada following an Environment Canada investigation of alleged violations under the Fisheries Act.

Newmont subsidiary Hope Bay Mining and drilling services provider Orbit Garant Drilling had agreed to each pay $75 000 for a total voluntary payment of $150 000 to the Environmental Damages Fund, which would help to fund projects in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.

The Environmental Damages Fund is administered by Environment Canada and was created in 1995 to provide a mechanism for directing funds received as a result of fines, court orders, and voluntary payments to priority projects that would benefit the Canadian environment.

Under the diversion agreement, which is not a plea bargain but rather a means of avoiding a judgement of criminal guilt, the offending companies would also hold a public meeting on Wednesday, in Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay) to discuss the incident with local community members.

Read more: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/nunavut-exploration-firms-enter-diversion-agreement-with-public-prosecutor-2014-06-11