Article

Historic agreement

October 23, 2003

Temiskaming Speaker

Historic Agreement for Diamond Exploration with Timiskaming First Nation and Tres Or Resource

An agreement being hailed as a first in the relationship between mining companies and First Nations was signed earlier this week. Timiskaming First Nation, headquartered in Notre-Dame-du-Nord, and Vancouver-based Tres-Or Resources have signed a memorandum of understanding covering exploration on land on both sides of the Ontario-Quebec border claimed by the First Nation as its traditional territory. From left, Tres-Or president Laura Lee Duffett, TFN vice-chief Beverly Chevrier-Polson, and hockey legend Bryan Trottier, at left, look on as TFN Councillor Arden McBride signs the agreement. (Staff photo by Diane Johnston)

Historic agreement

by Diane Johnston
Speaker Reporter

DYMOND — The prospect of diamonds has made a match between the Timiskaming First Nation and a mining exploration company.

The Timiskaming First Nation (TFN), headquartered in Notre-Dame-du-Nord, and Vancouver-based Tres-Or Resources have signed what they believe is a first — a memorandum of understanding covering exploration on lands the TFN claims as its traditional territory.

That traditional territory extends on both sides of the Ontario-Quebec border.

It’s the first time that a company has come to the TFN prior to beginning a project, said TFN Vice-Chief Beverly Chevrier-Polson.

“I think this is a first, where a company from the private sector comes to a First Nation and asks for its partnership in this type of exploration,” said Ghislain Picard, vice-chief for Quebec and Labrador with the Assembly of First Nations.

The agreement “is setting a precedent in new resource development in our community,” said Laura Lee Duffett, president and director of Tres-Or Resources.

She said it provides a framework in which the company and the First Nation can mutually participate in exploration and potential discoveries.

More than two dozen people filled the Tri-Town and District Chamber of Chamber of Commerce boardroom to witness the signing of the agreement October 21. The ceremony was repeated later that day in Notre-Dame-du-Nord.

“We came together as a region to protect the water and the air,” Ms. Chevrier-Polson said, recalling efforts to stop the Adams Mine landfill project and a bid to build a hazardous waste incinerator in Kirkland Lake.

Now, she said, communities on both sides of Lake Temiskaming can come together “to build a better future for the region.”

THE PROJECT

Tres-Or Resources was listed on the TSX junior venture exchange in January, 1999.

Its current focus is diamond exploration, but it is also testing for base and precious metals in what it considers one of the richest mineral regions of Canada.

Today, it says it controls more than 100,000 hectares of ground in the Temagami and Cobalt-New Liskeard area. It is also exploring in the Notre-Dame-du-Nord area, including the TFN’s reserve lands.
A tangible spinoff of the agreement is the development of a database to be shared by the TFN and Tres-Or that lists the region’s mineral and cultural resources.

Three First Nation members are now working with the Haileybury firm of Hinterland Geoscience and Geomatics on geological data interpretation.

The database will identify areas of natural and cultural interest of concern to the First Nation, ranging from old gravesites to wildlife-rich areas, explained Randy Polson, a TFN councillor who helped draft the agreement.

He said the information will help mining develop in a sustainable manner.

As a First Nation, “we don’t go far without looking at the environmental issues and the impact it (development) will have on the land and the territory.”

On the Ontario side, Temiskaming MPP David Ramsay hailed the agreement as “great news,” and viewed the new partnership as “just the beginning.”

“We are still very resource dependent in our region. This potentially is a brand new resource for us.”

He said he and premier-elect Dalton McGuinty agree that, if the North is to move forward, “we have to be doing that in full partnership with our First Nations people.”

Diamond exploration is also active in the Tri-Town area, with discoveries of kimberlite — rock that may contain diamonds — in the Twin Lakes and Haileybury areas.

Haileybury Mayor Tom Wells also commended the company and the TFN.

He too recalled that the TFN and communities on the Ontario side of the border had joined forces to fight the Adams Mine landfill project.

Northeastern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec are more closely linked with each other in many ways than with the South, he said.

Contact between the TFN and Tres-Or was made less than a year ago, facilitated by Norm McBride, a long-time prospector and former TFN councillor.

Tres-Or acquired claims staked by Mr. McBride and fellow North Bay prospector Phil Brown in the Notre-Dame-du-Nord area earlier this year.

The discovery of kimberlite was the most exciting in his 35 years of prospecting, said Mr. McBride earlier this week.

But he’s also excited about the potential of the new partnership between Tres-Or and the TFN.

“Everything’s positive,” he said.

A hockey legend was also on hand to praise the arrangement.

Bryan Trottier, a seven-time Stanley Cup winner and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, is a member of Tres-Or’s board of advisors. The Saskatchewan-born Trottier is also a recipient of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award.

Mr. Trottier said Tres-Or has taken “a progressive step” and the TFN “a bold step” to work in partnership on what could bring a productive and sustainable future for generations to come.

The TFN, meanwhile, continues to work on a land claim application covering a region from the east side of the Blanche River to the headwaters of Lac des Quinze in Quebec, said TFN Councillor Polson.
He said research is now in its final stages, and hoped a claim covering Crown land within the region could be filed next year.