Tarsis Resources still working in protected Peel watershed

The Yukon Government says it has no intention of adjusting the Peel Land Use Plan.

Tarsis Resources is calling for changes in relation to its claims in the region.

The company holds 90 claims along Goz Creek in the southeast part of the region.

Under the government plan, the claims now lie in a protected area.

While those claims can still be permitted and developed, officials at Tarsis say the government should create a buffer zone around the claims that would make room for any potential development. 

But the government says that won’t happen.

“The plan recognizes that activity that's well managed and conservation can co-exist,” says Bob Holmes, director of the mineral resources branch for the Yukon government’s Department of Energy Mines and Resources. “We really have to look at what's proposed. Companies have to propose work, it has to be looked at, accessed and permitted... but it's not a closed door.”

Tarsis' claims contain a high grade zinc deposit.

The company has spent more than $3 million in exploration so far.