January 19, 2024 Mineral…

January 19, 2024

Mineral Development Office (Thunder Bay)
435 James Street South
Suite B002
Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 6E3 Canada

Re: Patriot Lithium (Canada) Inc. Mineral Exploration Permit (ERO number 019-8060)

Dear Ms. Colantonio,

We provide this submission in our respective capacities as a spatial data analyst and scientist working with Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS Canada) and focused on conservation solutions for the far north region in Ontario. WCS Canada (www.wcscanada.org) is a national non‐government organization that has been engaged in policy, legislation, and land-use planning that affects species at risk and ecosystems in and around the far north region in Ontario for two decades.

As part of our work, we have been tracking mineral claims in Ontario since 2013, and mineral exploration permits since 2016. We have previously commented on specific mineral exploration permits (most recently ERO 019-5249 and ERO 019-7761).

We have also recently started sharing maps of new proposed mineral exploration permits, to make it easier for people to see where mineral exploration is proposed in relation to existing mining activity and other ecological and cultural values (https://www.facebook.com/MineralTrackerON/).

We wanted to provide the comment to the Ministry that there appears to be significant concern from the local communities opposing this particular permit application, based on the response to the map we created for this proposed mineral exploration permit. The post for ERO number 019-8060 had much higher engagement than we typically see, with 8,776 impressions, 3218 engagements, 88 reactions, 83 comments, 117 shares, and 75 link clicks as of January 19, 2024. The vast majority of comments expressed concern about the proposed mineral exploration permit.

We encourage the Ministry and the proponent to reach out to surrounding and downstream communities, and ensure that free, prior, and informed consent is obtained from all potentially affected First Nations communities before undertaking any mineral exploration for this area.

Thank you for your consideration of our recommendations and concerns. We welcome opportunities to engage in any discussion regarding our submission.

Sincerely,

Meg Southee
Lead Geospatial Analyst

Constance O’Connor
Director, Ontario Northern Boreal