Nunavut open for business (November 15, 1993)

Canada’s aboriginal people are sometimes accused of being anti-development. But nothing could be further from the truth, according to Paul Quassa, president of Nunavut Tunngavik, a corporation composed entirely of Inuit.

Quassa is one of seven native leaders who met in Toronto and Vancouver recently, eagerly soliciting business from mining executives, lawyers, bankers and government representatives. The meetings were sponsored by the Bank of Montreal.

The leaders insisted the Arctic is open for business and that the “hardiest” mining companies are welcome to cut deals with aboriginal groups. Seven native groups recently completed land settlement packages with the federal government, giving them jurisdiction to large areas of the North. But while the uncertainty of land title has been largely cleared, the ground rules have changed considerably, Quassa said.

In future, aboriginal groups will not be satisfied with token job guarantees and passive participation in mining projects, he explained. In exchange for extinquishing their long-standing title to the land, aboriginals will be seeking active equity positions in all projects which fall within their jurisdiction. They would also like to assume managerial and administrative positions in the day-to-day operation of mining projects.

Aboriginal jurisdiction covers a huge area of prime geological real estate in the North — 350,000 sq. km in Nunavut alone.

The diamond discoveries of two joint ventures — Kennecott with SouthernEra Resources (TSE), and BHP Minerals International with Dia Met Minerals (TSE) — both fall within the Dog Rib native land claim area. Negotiations for a comprehensive land settlement in the area should get under way in 1994, according to Henry Zoe, a member of the legislative assembly for the area. Negotiators have been chosen and talks should start by March. Among the first properties to be subjected to the new aboriginal rules is the Izok Lake, N.W.T., copper-zinc-silver property of Metall Mining (TSE). This $350-million project falls within the jurisdiction of the Nunavut agreement. In January, Metall began negotiating an “Inuit impact and benefit agreement” (IIBA) with the “designated Innuit organization,” in this case Kitikmeot Corp. Under the agreement, the IIBA must:

* promote the cultural goals of the Inuit;

* provide a standard of living equal to that of other Canadians; * not undermine the viability of the mining project;

* be commensurate with the size of the project; and

* not prejudice other groups against negotiating agreements in other parts of Nunavut.

Negotiations should be completed by the end of this year, according to David Watkins, vice-president of projects and acquisitions for Metall. Public hearings will then be held in January or February.

Terms of the agreement will be made public, except for provisions dealing with aboriginal equity participation in the project.

Izok Lake is not the only deposit known in the area. Many others are waiting in the wings and, given the richness of the geology of the Far North, many more can be found.

Patrick Whiteway is editor of “Canadian Mining Journal,” the December, 1993, issue of which will feature two articles on mining north of the 60th Parallel.