For the second time, the province and the Tahltan Central Government have come to a consent agreement on a northwestern B.C. mining project.

The agreement, signed Nov. 1 in Vancouver, will allow Newcrest Mining to seek approval to vastly expand the lifespan of its Red Chris gold-copper-silver mine in B.C.sa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒淕olden Trianglesa国际传媒� by developing a block-caving operation.

Under the provincesa国际传媒檚 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) sa国际传媒� which is based on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sa国际传媒� resource projects require the free, prior and informed consent of First Nations affected by them.

It means the environmental assessments, permitting and approvals for the mine expansion will be a collaborative effort between B.C.sa国际传媒檚 Environmental Assessment Office and the Tahltan.

sa国际传媒淭his agreement is nothing new for us as Tahltan people,sa国际传媒� said Chad Norman Day, president of the Tahltan Central Government.

sa国际传媒淚t only affirms what wesa国际传媒檝e known all along, which is that when theresa国际传媒檚 major development in Tahltan territory, the world, the province, industry, they require our consent. And if wesa国际传媒檙e to work together and thrive together, the province and the Tahltan Nation and industry is always going to have to come together in a respectful way to really honour and give life to the words of reconciliation.sa国际传媒�

In 2021, B.C., the Tahltan Nation and the proponents of the Red Chris project and the Skeena Resourcessa国际传媒� Eskay Creek project, began negotiations under Section 7 of DRIPA.

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In 2022, the Eskay Creek Revitalization Project became the first consent-based agreement in history under the legislation.

According to Marie Quock, chief councillor of the Iskut band, on whose land Red Chris is situated, this agreement goes a long way toward peace of mind that the land will be protected.

sa国际传媒淚 know that our community is pleased with this agreement because we now have certainty where we didnsa国际传媒檛 before,sa国际传媒� she said.

Environment Minister George Heyman said it is sa国际传媒渋ncredibly meaningfulsa国际传媒� to see what was just an idea in 2019 when DRIPA was created come to fruition in the form of actual consent agreements.

sa国际传媒淭hrough new processes that we are co-creating, the Tahltan people and the province as a whole will benefit from Tahltan stewardship of the land,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淎nd we all benefit from these and other acts of reconciliation.sa国际传媒�

Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin added that this is just the beginning.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e doing this work thatsa国际传媒檚 never been done before, under the auspices of a statute thatsa国际传媒檚 never been done sa国际传媒� we were the first jurisdiction in North America to do this,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚 want to say itsa国际传媒檚 just the start because theresa国际传媒檚 many more relationship agreements of this sort that we are going to work on together with the Tahltan, because wesa国际传媒檝e been able to forge such a strong partnership.sa国际传媒�

Block-caving is a relatively new mining technique that is far more efficient than conventional underground mining making ore bodies previously deemed uneconomical for extraction more feasible.

Red Chris produced its first copper concentrate in 2015 and the lifespan of the mine was projected to be around 28 years.

In 2019, the Australian gold-mining giant Newcrest acquired a 70-per-cent stake in the operation in a joint-venture with Imperial Metals. Shortly thereafter, it began a pre-feasibility study for the block-cave operation.

Estimates currently peg the new resource at approximately 480 million tonnes. The company intends to process approximately 12.8 million tonnes per year, which would extend the mine life by 31 years.

Newcrest expects the expansion to cost $2.6 billion with a payback on the investment within 3.2 years.

Editorsa国际传媒檚 note: A previous version of this story unintentionally implied the agreement was approval for the block cave operation, rather than the ability to seek approval.

thom.barker@blackpress.ca
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