Like some of the best tales of the New World, it began with two prospectors in the wilderness. Despondent that their hunt for diamonds in the frozen wastes of Canada’s north had been fruitless, they were ready to head for home.
It was then they spotted something in the land: not diamonds but what has turned out to be the richest find of nickel, cobalt and copper in Canada for nearly 40 years.
And with echoes of the Klondike and the Yukon, the rush on Voisey Bay, Labrador, began.
This being the late 20th century, rather than 100 years earlier, there have been no hard treks by foot through frozen mountain passes.
In fact, for many there has hardly been a trek at all: the lawyers and bankers, the dreamers and speculators are staking a claim through their brokers.
“I think it’s even crazier than the Klondike,” said Sam Blagdon, in line for a claim.
“At least in the Klondike you would be off in the hills poking around on your own. Here everyone sees you walking around-and they say, `He’s lost his marbles.’ “
But others’ perceptions do not deter the hopeful: it is still a claim on a plot of land, with the hope that the $5 investment-and $50 bond-will be on the richest of all the mineral veins.
In the last five months, more than 80,000 claims have been staked through the government offices in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Frontier-like fights break out, people buy their way to the front of the line, all in the hope of getting at least one of the spots.
The map-making machine is churning out newly drawn maps daily, marked with the sites already taken. It is expected the fast pace will continue for at least another few months because the amount of land in the region is so vast.
Mining has not yet started. Analysts are talking of excavation starting in 1997, but others say it could be the turn of the century when the first significant deposits are removed.
But before any work starts, a fundamental issue which was often ignored in the land rushes of bygone ages has to be resolved. There are aboriginal claims to the land. The Innu and the Inuit both say the land is theirs.
“The older people in the community, the hunters and so on, keep telling us, `What the hell is going on?,’ ” said Daniel Ashini of the Innu Nation.
“We have never consented to any of this activity, we have never surrendered our right to continue living on this territory. What is going on?”
Talks over land claims between the Innu and the Canadian and Newfoundland governments were suspended last year. And there is a real sense of concern that the native claims will be lost in the rush for prosperity.
It is a prosperity the Innu do not believe they will share.
The Inuit meanwhile have been negotiating with the federal and provincial governments over their land claims for nearly five years.
William Barbour of the Labrador Inuit Association said there is a verbal agreement with the provincial government that they will try to settle the claim before any development of the mine.
While the Inuit are not opposed to the mining, they do want a voice in the way it is carried out.
Said Barbour: “If a major development does occur we want it to happen in the best possible way-not just the land torn up, the rivers and fish gone, the animals gone. And when the ore is gone, so are the jobs as well.”
The region is depressed, and the native peoples, as well as the Newfoundland and Labrador government in St. John’s, know that mining could bring in millions of dollars, not to mention, of course, hundreds of jobs.
While no side is prepared to risk the potential for prosperity, there is a mixed view on who will reap the benefits of the mining bonanza which many are expecting.
A number of Inuit already are working at the exploration camp; the leaders of the Innu say many of their people, already plagued with social problems, may not be able to cope with any newfound wealth, should it arrive.
Meanwhile the geologists, the prospectors, the new-age investors and a host of hangers-on are continuing to put down their $5 to secure a small hold on their dreams for the end of a century.
