BC First Nation, Skeena Resources reach mining partnership peak
Spectrum mineral claim near Mt. Edziza National Park, British Columbia. Image from Skeena Resources.
Canadian junior explorer Skeena Resources (TSX: SKE) grabbed headlines this week when it announced the company is returning the mineral tenures for their Spectrum claim near Mount Edziza Provincial Park to establish a new 3,500 hectare conservancy in the Tahltan territory in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle.
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Eskay Creek is a past-producing mine first discovered in 1988 that Skeena initially optioned from Barrick Gold in 2017, before acquiring 100% ownership in October of last year.
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Low-impact economic opportunities are allowed in conservancies but commercial logging, mining and most hydroelectric plants are banned. Skeena Resources Ltd., says it is supporting the Tahltan by returning mineral tenures for its claim in the area. Energy Minister Bruce Ralston says the partnership between Aboriginal, provincial and federal governments, Skeena Resources, B.C. Parks Foundation and the Nature Conservancy of Canada protects the land and fosters long-term relationships between Indigenous Nations and mineral companies. Walter Coles, president and CEO of Skeena Resources, said his company came to appreciate the cultural importance of the region to the Tahltan after open and respectful conversations with its leaders.
“I’m very relieved and very proud of all the hard work of our team and of all the leaders and Tahltans that have been advocating to protect this area for the decades,” Chad Norman Day, president of the Tahltan Central Government, said in an interview. “Mount Edziza is one of those areas, similar to the Stikine River, the Sacred Headwaters and Sheslay Valley, that is amongst the most sacred places to the Tahltan people culturally.” Skeena Resources, a mining company with several interests on Tahltan territory, agreed to surrender its claims on the mountain’s slopes for $5 million, roughly one-fifth of the market value, according to the company. The province paid half the bill and the federal government and NGOs, including the BC Parks Foundation and the Nature Conservancy of Canada, funded the remainder.
Winnipeg Free Press By: The Canadian Press
VICTORIA - Indigenous, provincial and federal leaders have worked beside industry and environmental groups to create a new conservancy in an area of northwestern British Columbia sacred to the Tahltan Nation.
British Columbia s provincial flag flies on a flagpole in Ottawa, Friday July 3, 2020. Indigenous, provincial and federal leaders have worked beside industry and environmental groups to create a new conservancy in an area of northwestern British Columbia sacred to the Tahltan Nation. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
VICTORIA - Indigenous, provincial and federal leaders have worked beside industry and environmental groups to create a new conservancy in an area of northwestern British Columbia sacred to the Tahltan Nation.