FOG BLOG NB NEWS LOG: FARMER PLEASED WITH OUTCOME REGARDING MINERS RIGHTS TO PROPERTY:

NB Farmer pleased gold mining company can't access his land without permission.....John Detorakis's farm was part of a large mineral claim along the Bay of Fundy coast...A farmer in St. George is celebrating after fighting to keep a Montreal mining company from including his land in a mineral rights claim.

John Detorakis had thought his farm, Canada Green, was already protected because he'd registered it with the province's farmland identification program.

The program, also known as FLIP, is designed to preserve and protect farmland for agricultural use.

When Detorakis got a flyer in the mail last December, informing him his farm was now a part of a mineral rights claim, he decided to fight it.

He filed a complaint with the mining commissioner and won.

According to the decision, Brunswick Exploration Inc., a gold mining company based in Montreal, cannot explore for minerals on the farm without consent from Detorakis.

Permission from the Town of St. George will also be required.

"It's great. I appreciate it very much," said Detorakis, who also learned this week that he was elected mayor of St. George.

In a 20-page decision, mining commissioner Michel C. Poirier ruled the Detorakis property is considered cultivated land, and any prospecting or mining activities would cause damage to it.

Poirier did not consider the farm's registration with FLIP as a factor that would