Mineral exploration to ramp-up at Sudbury's Wolf Lake

Come February, drills will be fired-up again at the Wolf Lake Forest Reserve in Greater Sudbury — but not without some howling. 

Flag Resources leases 28 mining exploration claims in the northeast part of the city. Little has been happening with the claims since they were renewed by the province in 2012.

But this September, the company applied to the province for a work permit to redrill some of their old bore holes in order pull out some new core samples. 

Speaking for the company, Wayne Whymark said, "all of the drill core that Flag produced is lost. It's been destroyed, dumped, bulldozed, whatever. It's not available for study."

He says that's a problem "because we have a new geological model for the mineralization at [Wolf Lake], and we think that ... the gold and the copper and the other minerals that are there are actually a Sudbury deposit — they're actually related to the Sudbury impact event."

If that's the case, he told CBC News, he believes the mining potential could be "almost unlimited".

"You've heard about the Ring of Fire," Whymark said.  "[If our hypothesis is true], it would be worth more than the Ring of Fire, multiplied by many times." 

'Save Wolf Lake,' others, pushing for park

For Franco Mariotti, the stakes are too high.

The biologist and naturalist in Greater Sudbury has long been involved with groups that are lobbying to have the forest reserve turned into a provincial park. 

"[Wolf Lake] is the largest remaining contiguous ... old-growth red pine forest, not only in Canada but in North America," he said. 

"The threat ... is that there's mining exploration," Mariotti continued. "Now, in and of itself, it's not a major threat to the ecosystem, but it's preventing us from making it into a park."

Provincial parks are protected from things like logging, mining and destructive outdoor recreation. 

"There's a park to the north and a park to the south," he continued. "Wolf Lake has been removed like a missing link in the chain because of that mining exploration."

Flag Resources' mining exploration claims won't expire until 2033, and that won't change unless the province buys out the claims or provides a tax receipt to the company. 

And, as long as Flag Resources remains in good standing with the province, Whymark said the company is entitled to renew the leases. 

Mariotti organized a benefit concert in Greater Sudbury called "Save Wolf Lake" to draw attention to the cause. 

"What we're honestly doing right now is keeping Wolf Lake in the public's eye so when the leases come up, there'll be so much public pressure to make it into a park, that that's exactly what will happen."

He added,"If any minerals were discovered and a mine were to be built in the area, that would damage the ecosystem, and mines are always a short-term gain."