Robertsville-mine_Owner

Jeff Green | Jul 05, 2007

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Robertsville mine owner and tenant both say they will stay away

byJeff Green

Rumours circulated over the long weekend about possible attempts by Peter Jorgensen, the owner of the Robertsville mine, or George White, the President of Frontenac Ventures Corporation, to bring equipment onto the Robertsville mine site.

However, when contacted on Monday, both men said they had no plans to bring men or equipment to the site at this time.

Jorgensen went to the mine on Friday, and asked the members of the Ardoch and Sharbot Lake First Nations to leave, as they were trespassing on his property. “They told me they had a right to be on the property, according to a royal proclamation, but that I could access the buildings if I wanted to.”

Jorgensen made a formal complaint to the OPP, telling them someone was trespassing on his property, and “if you hurry you might find they are still there. The OPP stated that they are not going to take any action,” Jorgensen said. “I feel that I have been intimidated by the OPP, and I’ve been intimidated by the Aboriginals.”

Peter Jorgensen has operated the Robertsville mine for about 14 years. It is a 55-acre mine site, and includes a processing building, which is visible from the road, and a Tremelite mine, which is currently inactive. (Tremelite is used in brake shoes, and on highway surfaces as well). In recent years, the principal activity at the Robertsville mine has been custom milling. Rock is trucked in, crushed and processed, and then shipped out. The plant has not been used to process uranium, Jorgensen said, which would require its own mill.

As well, Jorgensen has rented space to the Frontenac Venture Corporation as their base of operations. The Robertsville mine is not part of the staked territory.

Frontenac Ventures President George White told the News on Monday morning that he was not going to bring his crew back to the mine site at this time.

“We are absolutely not going to risk confrontation, it is not our intent to put anyone’s life in danger,” he said.

He also said that his next step is to set up a meeting with Chief Doreen Davis of the Sharbot Lake Algonquins, which is something he talked about a couple of weeks earlier.

He reiterated that his company has not been told to cease their operations by any government official. “We are not anticipating anything of the sort,” he said, “because we have been operating under all the rules and regulations that there are.”

In an earlier interview, White said, “Ontario has a solid reputation worldwide as a good place to invest in industry and mining, and I don’t expect that to change.”

As to what he plans to do in the near future, George White said he has no immediate plans, other than to meet with Chief Davis.

“When we believe that someone is violating our legal rights, that’s the time we should contemplate legal action,” he concluded.

Chief Davis made it clear again this week, from the Robertsville mine site where she is now based, that she is against the uranium exploration, and the alliance between Ardoch and the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations is holding.

George White will likely have to meet with the leadership from both.

The News has received an unconfirmed report that some sort of meeting may take place on July 9.