Quebec town leaders, residents unite to decide fate of mine with ties to Pentagon

Five Quebec municipalities located by a proposed site for a graphite mine with ties to the Pentagon have created an alliance to accelerate public consultations on the project and pressure the provincial government to listen to what locals have to say.

When Lomiko Metals Inc., a mining company based in Surrey, B.C., announced plans for a mine in Quebec's Laurentians region to produce graphite — one of the world's most sought after minerals needed for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries — some residents living nearby began protesting the project, fearing the potential harm to the environment.

They got even more upset when they learned that Lomiko received $11.4 million from the United States Department of Defence for the project.

Since then, municipalities near the proposed mine site — Duhamel, Lac-Simon, Cheneville, St-Emile-de-Suffolk and Lac-des-Plages — have taken charge of informing the public.

"Usually companies that want to build major projects have the responsibility to hold public consultations and ensure a level of 'social acceptability,'" says Duhamel Mayor David Pharand, spokesperson for the alliance.

But not this time. Pharand said the alliance wants to hold consultations over the next few months and then, by 2026, launch a type of vote, possibly a referendum, to find out exactly what people think of the project. However, Pharand says, the provincial government must agree that a referendum or other type of process to gather public opinion is a legitimate way to reflect the project's social acceptability.

Rodrigue Turgeon, national program co-lead at Mining Watch Canada, says the level of engagement from the communities so early in the process is "unusual" in the country, calling it a "true example to be followed by other municipalities."

Turgeon, who also practises environmental and mining law, says a referendum would be "unprecedented" for Quebec, though common in Latin America.

Louis Saint-Hilaire, president of a local environmental group, will attend the first public information session on July 21 as one of the speakers opposing the mine.

"We don't want to have a gigantic open pit mine in the middle of all those lakes and all those people living around them," he said, insisting that few locals support the project, especially after Lomiko announced in May it received a grant of $11.4 million from the Pentagon.

"People are furious about this," he said.

The Pentagon has said Lomiko's graphite will bolster North American energy supply chains and be used for "defence applications."

Lomiko has said it will be conducting feasibility and metallurgical studies over the next five years and will be subject to a review by Quebec's environment consultations office, known as the BAPE.

It says it plans to begin construction by 2027.