Mining claims in Ring of Fire up 66 per cent over past 3 years: environmental group [Video]

Mining claims in the Ring of Fire region are up 66 per cent over the last three years and now total an area 14 times the size of Toronto, an environmental group said Wednesday after compiling the data.

There are now more than 43,000 claims in the region that is some 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., said Anna Baggio, the conservation director of Wildlands League.

“The claims are exploding, so that’s a problem,” said Baggio, who extracted the data from the Ontario Geological Survey site.

“The problem is that much like the rest of Canada, this is all happening under a free entry system where anyone can register a claim as long as they have a prospector’s licence and do the Mining Act course.”

Ontario has recently tabled legislation, known as Bill 5, that would create so-called special economic zones where any project can be exempt from laws …