Membership Update Regarding NioBay Exploration

Press Release

January 14, 2026

As some Moose Cree community members may have heard, the NioBay mining company has received a permit to conduct exploratory drilling in the Wasiskaw Sipiy (South Bluff Creek) area of the Moose Cree Homeland. NioBay has advised that it intends to begin a drilling program this month.

“…Moose Cree First Nation…will not support a mine in the [South Bluff Creek] area… NioBay has refused to cancel the drilling program.”

Following the clear and consistent direction of our members—including most recently at a special membership meeting on September 18, 2025—Moose Cree staff and leadership have repeatedly advised NioBay and the Government of Ontario that Moose Cree First Nation does not support the drilling program and will not support a mine in the Wasiskaw Sipiy area. Despite this, NioBay has refused to cancel the drilling program.

“NioBay continues to try and avoid our Chief and Council, violate our agreements, and misrepresent its relationship and history with Moose Cree First Nation in its permit applications.”

NioBay has made public statements about wanting to work with our First Nation, but in practice, NioBay continues to try and avoid our Chief and Council, violate our agreements, and misrepresent its relationship and history with Moose Cree First Nation in its permit applications. NioBay is not a good partner and cannot be trusted.

“[Moose Cree First Nation] will continue to demonstrate to NioBay that industrial activity is not welcome in the [South Bluff Creek] area.”

We will continue to demonstrate to NioBay that industrial activity is not welcome in the Wasiskaw Sipiy area. Moose Cree First Nation treats the interconnected Wasiskaw Sipiy (South Bluff Creek) and Kâpânyâw Sîpiy (North French River) watersheds as a protected area and we have been actively seeking provincial protection to recognize this.

Some of the key facts about the Wasiskaw Sipiy and Kâpânyâw Sîpiy watersheds include:

• The mouth of Wasiskaw Sipiy is only 11 kilometres from the Moose Cree First Nation reserve and residential community on Moose Factory Island. The creek itself runs right through the Moose Factory 68 reserve to the south of our community. The proposed drilling and mine site is located just 40 kilometres upstream from Moose Factory Island, and 20 kilometres upstream from the Moose Factory 68 reserve.

• Our people have had a sacred connection to the area since time immemorial and rely on it for hunting, trapping, gathering, and sacred ceremonies. It is a high-use corridor for subsistence-based activities. Travel routes within the Wasiskaw Sipiy area include transportation corridors for hunting, fishing, gathering, and portages. There are also cabins, moss houses, and multiple campsites located along the creek. Members regularly fish around the mouth of Wasiskaw Sipiy and trapping occurs along the entire length of the creek.

• Wasiskaw Sipiy has the ideal pH for a variety of freshwater fish, some of which are endangered or at risk of becoming endangered, as well as cold waters that provide crucial thermal refuge for cold water fish like brook trout in the hot summer months.

• Wasiskaw Sipiy supports an abundance of aquatic life including diverse benthic invertebrates and fish communities with the notable absence of invasive aquatic species. Water quality measurements show no signs of pollution and low concentrations of metals in the water. The aquatic ecosystems are accordingly in excellent condition.

• Wasiskaw Sipiy is home to dozens of species of mammals and hundreds of species of birds, including fifty-seven of which are considered to be a conservation priority.

• The important Kesagami Boreal Caribou range overlaps with the Wasiskaw Sipiy and Kâpânyâw Sîpiy area. Boreal Caribou is highly sensitive to disturbance from development and infrastructure and has a low reproductive rate. Caribou require large continuous tracts of undisturbed habitat comprised of mature to old-growth coniferous forest, lichens, muskegs, peatlands, and upland or hilly areas. Recent provincial figures suggest almost half of the Kesagami range has been disturbed. Meanwhile, the northern portion of the range that falls within the Moose Cree homeland remains largely intact. Protection of the intact Wasiskaw Sipiy and Kâpânyâw Sîpiy area makes a significant contribution to protecting critical habitat for caribou in the Kesagami range.

• Protecting Wasiskaw Sipiy is critical for climate change mitigation. Wasiskaw Sipiy overlaps with the Hudson Bay Lowland, the second largest peatland complex in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The broader Kâpânyâw Sîpiy watershed, including Wasiskaw Sipiy, is estimated to contain between three and six hundred million tons of captured carbon, equivalent to seven to fifteen times Ontario’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.

• As part of a major peatland complex, Wasiskaw Sipiy is in a low-lying region dominated by extensive wetlands and interconnected waterways that recover very slowly after disturbance.  It took thousands of years to generate the current environmental conditions. Fragile soils, slow vegetation growth, and high-water tables mean that developments can cause long-lasting or permanent changes to water movement, wildlife habitat, and carbon storage. When combined over time, multiple disturbances can fragment previously intact habitat and disrupt ecological and cultural connectivity across the landscape in ways that are practically impossible to remediate.

For further information, please contact our NioBay Working Group by email at questions@moosecree.com. The NioBay Working Group includes Chief Peter Wesley, Councilors Nathan Beck, Howie Isaac, and Elliott Schimmens, and Director of Lands and Resources Ron Spencer.

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