The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 28, 2005 ~ AS i “around the Chimdemash headwaters east of Terrace. Mining minist no ‘ NICOLE Boudreau, a summer student geologist for the Ministry of energy, Mines and Petroleaum Resources n maps ‘out some of “the area CONTRIBUTED PHOTO maps out | ~ northern mineral possibilities JOANNE NELSON can’t take you to the = treasure that waits underground in the mountains , Surrounding Terrace but she can give you an idea of where to-look. pA geologist with the ‘provincial mines minis- ;try, Nelson was in charge of a team of people who. " spent the summer hiking, biking and flying to map out the mineral potential of the area. ~ ‘ This kind of intensive probe, ‘marking the first “year of a three-year project, is part of a program to cover the entire province. -¥ > Only 15 per cent of the province has been in- Stensively studied so-far, r, Meaning it remains asa - g place: pf mystery: for mining. exploration: compa--,: nies, yi ‘Terrace has really been under explored,” j;Nelson. “To geologists, it looked like a big black } hole.” Ny ment. “I guess perhaps the development of a woods Uindustry here took peoples’ attention away from fimining,” Nelson added. ‘zi This time she expects her work to draw not yonly attention but companies ‘interested in follow- ‘Mineral exploration to continue e me THE GEOLOGICAL work ;, done around Terrace this “past summer is just one part “of a concentrated effort to “develop more mines, says the provincial mines minister. A 180-day environmen- Ztal approval process, an in- creased ability to write off mineral exploration costs and reduced regulatory re- quirements help as well, said Bill Bennett. jz, “It's the one thing’! hope and pray for —- that one . day soon we'll have a new ry ‘mine. he said. As it is. exploration ex- “ _ penditures are heading to- ward the $200 million range Yeach year ye Just one company, Nova- 1,;Gold, is scheduled to spend =, $40 million this year on ‘proving up gold and copper reserves at the Galore Creek ; location northeast of Stew- ‘art. heel ‘total annual exploration ex- penditures — province-wide iididn’t even meet Nova- zi-Gold’s budget for this year. fii NovaGold is using Ter- =face as its main marshalling th. point and spending millions ,+here, providing a taste of “what could happen if more ‘ mining companies are drawn "to the area, said Bennett. ” “It’s simple, we. want J more mines. I’m a strong ‘advocate for mines. It’s one -lithing 1 hear when I travel _ : lraround — we have a glorious -yopportunity, perhaps a once epin a generation opportunity yjto develop more mines,” the She also found the work interesting because = while modern-day Terrace isn’t known as a min- ‘ing centre, it did have small-scale mining projects €'going on in the early days of European settle- :§ It’s a far cry from the be- “+ ginning of the decade when ing up on her team’s findings. Lake north of Terrace. _ the property for several years. tion companies have comfort _ “Where one goes, people will follow, Nelson in citing Cranbrook-based Eagle Plains Resources which has_a property west of Kalum A junior company, Eagle Plains has been on Just as it is with any other profession, explora- “We have a saying, if your looking for el-" ephants, go to elephant country,” said Nelson of her work to attract exploration companies... “We're saying we have a velde here in Ter- race and there could be elephants; we just haven’ t ” ‘said found them that.” Nelson was accompanied. this summer by three local people — zones and breaking through them can be a challenge, said Nelson. It could be why she equates rock: formations in« this : area hs. ..+ with ones in. other. areas: that have resulted in mines being developed. : “One of the real interest- said “Terrace has_ reaily been under explored.... . to: geologists, it: looked ‘like a big black hole,” -. ~ Joanne Nelson ing things we found is that the : geological. set up at Kitselas gone,” Mountain is of the same age of rock of the Toodog- said Nelson. The Toodoggone area, north of Smithers, has been an active exploration and mining area for more than 60 years and ranks high in the minds of geologists for its potential. It’s now where Northgate Minerals has its Ke- mess South gold and copper mine and where it wants to open a new mine called Kemess North. said Nelson. Chad Gerow, Dan Parker and Richard Seymour — thanks to a Kitselas band program and three geology students — Tony Barresi, Nicole Boudreau and Eli Knight. , --, They spent -time scour- ing logging. roads and time flying from mountain top to mountain top via helicopter. They studied rock formations . but did not drill as the latter is something reserved for ex-_ ploration geologists. Nelson is now assembling the material taken over the summer and will be presenting it next January to one of the mining industry’s show- case conferences, Vancouver.“It would be great to convince the mining companies to come here instead of Chile,” the Cordilleran Roundup in - ment employee Chad Gerow in the field this summer. TONY BArresie and Nicole Boudreau, mining ministry employees and Kitselas First Nation resource manage- CONTRIBUTED PHOTO" minister added in pointing to increased prices for minerals world-wide. “T think the future in min- ing is really in the north- west.” staking has resulted in a huge explosion of claims, 3.6 million so far this year. Bennett said he’s also driven to expand mining in the province because of the massive kill affecting B.C.’s. forests due to the pine beetle A. shift to on-line. clam invasion. Although logging in the interior has expanded rap- idly to take out trees before the pine beetle makes them worthless, Bennett said the province has to worry about the economy and communi- ties once that logging ends. “In 10 years from now, when that logging is done, mining is one source from where we can get jobs,” he continued. The first mine approval in years took place last month when the copper-gold Red Chris property, . located. north. on Hwy37, received provincial environmental approval. ‘Owner bcMetals Corpo- ration is now seeking financ- ing for the project. In the Cariboo, the Mount Polley copper mine. located just south of Likely near Williams Lake re-opened last November after a four- year closure. NS : Bill Bennett - -Nisga’a ’ Era fashions may CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Premier suffering from tunnel vision __, Dear Sir: I would like to add my voice to that of J. McDonald who, in a Sept. 21 letter to the editor [Racism is not funny] regretted the unfortunate tone of one of your editorial car- toons that seemingly derided aboriginal fisheries policies, , practices, and culture. - The same edition that ran the letter featured an editorial extolling our premier’s vision for First Nations. Gordon Campbell’s assimilationist credentials are well known and of long standing. Need we be reminded of his disastrously divisive referendum on First Nations rights? His virulent opposition to the. a accord? premier’s New The “visionary” “For Mr. Campbell et al the only good Indian would seem to be an ex- Indian.” - be made of a more * finely-spun . cloth than previously, but look closely ~ at this new vision - and you'll find that it’s cut from the same coarse cloth of assimilation as previous models. _ Mr. Campbell’s simplistic vision’is to “increase the economic presence of native peoples. From that will come jobs and from jobs will come income and wealth, the vital © tools which any group needs to overcome any number of ~ social and other issues. Mr. Campbell can then tell native . “| people it is time to move on.” For Mr. Campbell et al the . only good Indian would seem to be an ex-Indian. In other words, First Nations’ problems all extend « - from their current incapacity (bordering on a congenital | _ deficiency, perhaps?) to be more like us. But hey! What if First Nations actually have their own vision? What if they have a vision that doesn’t place being hewers of wood and . drawers of water for our zany neighbours down south at the pinnacle of all cultural accomplishments? . What right has Mr. Campbell to strait-jacket First Na- tions (or anybody else) into his rigid, uniform mold? It’s time for him to move on, to order up some flexible home- spun from his spin-meisters. Hey,. how about reprising that nice © work-shirt plaid look again, Gordon. _Lakelse Lake, B.C. Q Incorrect cartoon “Dear Sir: _Idon’t know what possessed you to publish the cartoon of the native (Indians are from India, a mistake Christo-: pher Columbus made years ago) man-and Billy. As an aboriginal person I would like to update you on what I. .do with fish every year. We don’t use fish for ceremonies ‘ anymore. . Since the ‘arrival of the Europeans. we: have been introduced to other foods like beef. For anyone who " hasn’t been to a feast before, we serve beef stew. Many years ago we used to trade preserved ‘fish for berries and other sea food, with other nations that don’t have an abundance of fish. This food preparation is vital . for winter survival. Some of us still trade but because our traditions and-cultures. were neafly, stripped: from; us by residential school, not .many | people still practice this preservation. ‘It’s so much more’ easier'to go buy food from the stores. How many native people do you know that own a re- frigerated truck, let alone own a restaurant to supply the special of the day? ~ J ohn Hov, ° As you know fish has been a major source of food for — natives since before the Europeans arrived. Why are you making it such a big thing to share our culture with oth- ers? Canada is a multi-cultured society and we are en- couraged to share our differences. When I process my fish every summer, meaning jar- ring, salting, smoking, freezing for the winter months, I need to get it home first. So how would you transport fish? I personally don’t let the fish ride in the front seat with me, do you? The Sept. 14 cartoon was very incorrect and its” crude statement does no justice for anyone. Angie Campbell, Terrace, B.C. No extinguishment Dear Sir: Fortune Minerals has obtained a B.C. Supreme Court injunction that temporarily bars “dissidents,” members of the Tahltan grassroots aboriginal people, from blockading access to their traditional lands. Aboriginals can defend their lands. The grassroots In- dian people are not dissidents, or renegades. We originate from our ancestors, the original inhabitants of the lands; and we are the inheritors and descendants. I take offence to Bulkley Valley- Stikine MLA Den- nis MacKay quoting Sec. 423 of the Criminal Code of Canada. I ask, what are the people guilty of? This is clearly the case with respect to indigenous . peoples protecting their sacred allodial titled lands and resources, spiritual rights and freedoms. - Section 423, is an attempt to falsely marginalize and show indigenous people protecting their sacred spiritual human rights and freedoms in a criminal light. But Mr. MacKay failed to quote section 2 (a) and (b) of the Char- ter of Rights and Freedoms.” Aboriginal people are asked and/or tricked into enter- ing into negotiations called modern day treaties. Under international law, these are not treaties, but rath- er land claims agreements. These are agreements between two parties not to go to court, and are under the control of domestic or home government jurisdiction only and are not recognized or protected by international law. — The grass roots Indian people do not recognize the _ term First Nations. It is a form of extinguishment. The governments of Canada and British Columbia can extinguish First Nations domestic ethnic minority rights - and freedoms in order to further a legislative objective but cannot lawfully extinguish indigenous right and freedoms that are protected by international law. ‘Mary Dalen, : Terrace, B.C. About the Mail Bag The Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our address is 3210 Clinton St., Terrace; B.C. V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at newsroom @terracestandard.com. No attachments, please. Name, address and phone number required forverification. beth ere