TORONTO - PLATINEX announced on May 22, 2008, that it had commenced a lawsuit against the Government of Ontario claiming $50 million of general damages, $20 million of special damages, plus interest and costs. The lawsuit arises out of its mining claims in the Big Trout Lake area. The company says it has been unable to gain access to its mining claims because of actions by Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI).
Platinex claims that Ontario failed to discharge its obligation to consult KI and that it breached its duty to warn the company that it would not enforce the rule of law around the Platinex mining claims. The company claims to have suffered substantial wasted expenditures and economic harm as a result of not being able to access its mining claims.
Platinex is active in other areas of northern Ontario and Nunavut (see www.Platinex.com).
The six KI members who had been sentenced to six months in prison for ignoring a court order to allow Platinex to drill on their traditional territory, were released from prison on May 23, after serving more than two months of the sentence, according to an article in the National Post ("First Nations leaders to be released from prison: Attorney-General" - May 23, 2008). The court granted a motion for a stay pending the appeal of their sentence for contempt of court.
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