Nunavut uranium reviews give investors the jitters
“Review of uranium policy is perceived as a negative on Bay Street”
An executive with a tiny uranium exploration firm that’s operating in Nunavut north of Baker Lake, said April 7 that the uranium policy reviews now underway in Nunavut have made it difficult for his company to raise enough money on the stock market to pay for its exploration programs this year.
Ken Wheatley, vice-president of Forum Uranium, a tiny junior exploration firm with only five employees and a market value of only $25 million, told participants at this week’s Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit that just by reviewing its uranium policy, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is scaring investors away from companies like his.
“[The] review of uranium policy [is] perceived as a negative on Bay St.,” Wheatley said, reciting words displayed within a PowerPoint slideshow that summarizes Forum Uranium’s activities so far.
The words that would have described the company’s 2011 exploration program were crossed out. Wheatley said that’s because his company has not been able to raise enough money yet, and they have no program to announce.
“We can’t raise the money for a full program in Nunavut,” Wheatley said.
Forum has been searching for uranium north of Baker Lake since about 2008, in an area that includes Inuit-owned lands controlled by NTI. Such companies typically pay for their exploration programs by selling shares on the stock market.
The Government of Nunavut, which owns no mineral rights and has no direct authority over mining, is now conducting a consultation process aimed at producing its first uranium policy. The consultations will end May 15, with a draft policy to be produced by the fall.
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. announced recently that they will review the organization’s existing uranium policy, which dates back to the fall of 2007.
NTI won’t start its review until the GN consultations have finished. The organization also said they will take into account their existing legal obligations, which include land lease and other agreements with mineral exploration firms.
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