SSN signs historic agreement with the Province

B.C. signs historic mining agreement with aboriginal groups in Kamloops
By Andy Ivens, The Province August 24, 2010 Be the first to post a comment
•Story The B.C. government is hailing as historic an agreement signed Tuesday to share mining royalties with aboriginal groups in the Kamloops area.

Minister of State for Mining Randy Hawes said the agreement the province made with the Stk’emlupsemc of the Secwepemc Nation (SSN) regarding the New Afton mine is the first in B.C. history.

“I think it may be the first in Canada,” Hawes told The Province.

The deal will see $30 million of mining royalties flow to the SSN over the expected 12-year life of the gold-silver-copper mine 10 kilometres west of Kamloops once it opens in 2012, said Hawes.

Reports indicate the $30 million is about one-third of the royalties Vancouver-based New Gold Inc. will pay to mine the site.

The B.C. government has previously negotiated revenue-sharing agreements with First Nations in the forestry and oil-and-gas sectors.

“For generations, we have been opening mines in First Nations traditional territories and the revenues have come to government, but there has been no direct benefit to First Nations,” said Hawes.

“I think we can all agree that many First Nations [people] live in abject poverty. In the past we haven’t respected First Nation territories.”

He said New Gold plans to employ hundreds of SSN members at the site.

“This is a three-way partnership — industry, First Nations, provincial government,” said Hawes.

He noted job prospects for First Nations youth are grim.

“There’s almost no hope, it’s pretty desperate for some First Nations kids,” said Hawes.

“Mines provide fantastic employment. They are the kinds of jobs that build families.”

Hawes said a similar agreement with the McLeod Lake Indian Band will be signed Wednesday morning in Victoria covering a mine near Prince George.

But he would not reveal whether the same percentage of the royalties negotiated by the SSN would apply to the McLeod Lake deal.

Chief Shane Gottfriedson of the Tk’emlups First Nation said in a press release the New Afton development “must be sustainable and . . . our lands and resources must be accessed in a respectful way and that we continue to cherish the cultural and traditional bonds that First Nations people have with their land.

“We also need to ensure that our people benefit from the opportunities gained by developing our lands and resources, and that they share in the prosperity that our resources generate.

“With this agreement we are building and strengthening our government-to-government relationships on ventures that benefit us all,” said Gottfriedson.

The door was opened to revenue sharing with First Nations by a 2008 decision of the government.

Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of B.C., commended the government for its “leadership and implementation of such progressive public policy.”

“B.C. is breaking new ground in aboriginal and natural resources public policy, not just in Canada but internationally,” he said.

New Gold vice-president of Canadian operations Ron Allum said the agreement with the Stk’emlupsemc “is the cornerstone of our relationship” with them.

“In addition to wanting to see these communities as part of our successful business in Kamloops, we also support the move of the province to share the mineral tax revenues so they can pursue their own success.”

The project is an underground mine on the site of a former open-pit mine opened in 1978 by Teck Corp. which ran until 1991.

A new, larger deposit was discovered in 1999.

New Gold expects to mine 85,000 ounces of gold, 214,000 ounces of silver and 75 million pounds of copper out of the New Afton mine.

aivens@theprovince.com

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