A junior exploration company is reportedly shutting down its uranium exploration site near Sept-Îles, Que., after protests from local groups.

Vancouver-based Terra Ventures Inc. has hired a contractor to remove all drilling equipment and oil barrels from its Lac Kachiwiss property, which is about 20 kilometres from the Sept-Îles port, Radio-Canada reported.

The company has not confirmed that it's leaving the 866-hectare site for good.

Terra Ventures, whose uranium exploration permit is valid until February 2011, already drilled dozens of holes at the site to determine how much uranium was underground. The company said in a December 2009 release that it didn't conduct any core drilling on the property in 2009 and that no further drilling would occur until a spinoff transaction to reorganize its mineral property assets was completed.

The possibility of a uranium mine angered many groups in Sept-Îles, a coastal community where more than 30 area doctors threatened to quit their jobs if the project went ahead.

The town also adopted a motion asking for a moratorium on the operation.

Marc Fafard, who heads a citizens' coalition opposed to the mining project, credited the apparent decision by the company to pull out to the swell of protests from residents.

"We basically nagged them with a bunch of complaints and actions, which made the Terra Ventures name a bad name in the industry now," he said.

He and others from Sept-Îles will go to Quebec City next week to attend a legislative hearing scheduled to review proposed amendments to Quebec's mining law.

Canada is the largest producer of uranium, which is used in nuclear power plants. There are currently no active uranium mines in Quebec.