". tanCentral Council president .

Mining company and Tahitan

THE TAHLTAN have
ratified a. deal providing

., them with money, jobs and
' business opportunities tied to
* a potential major copper and

gold mine.in their traditional

. territory north of here.

Details of the vote con-

cerning. the Galore Creek

project of NovaGold Re-

_ sources that took place last
"year have yet to be released

but one Tahltan leader, Tahl-

Curtis Rattray, said it passed
by a comfortable margin.

“It went well,” said Rat-|
~ tay of the ratification.

The deal is worth millions

“to the Tahltan, who live in
‘the Iskut-Dease Lake-Tele- —
graph Creek region north’

along Hwy37.

Vancouver-based Nova- -

Gold has committed itself
to job training and hiring of

“ Tahitan, to business oppor- ©
-tunities to Tahltan compa-.
“nies surrounding the devel- .

» Opment:and operation:of its

io;

a re er are we

proposed Galore Creek mine
and to financing a heritage
trust fund in- recognition of.

Highlights
ofthe —

agreement
THE
between. the ‘Tahltan and

NovaGold covers a -wide
‘ranging series of economic —
:. and social issues..
. Here are some of the ©
highlights. _
. Recognition — ‘of: ‘the 7
_ Tahltan’ s traditional’ rights,
‘title and interests to the proj-
_ ect’ area aswell. as Nova- —
” Gold’s rights to explore and .. -
'. develop mineral resources in -
_the Galore Creek Valley.
“Mutual. cooperation for
_completing an efficient and

effective environmental re-

~ view and permitting process

and commitment to mitigate

adverse environmental im-

pacts caused by the mine. .
' {ll Establishment of mea-

sures and procedures that -

will fully engage the Tahltan
in all aspects of environmen-

tal protection.
Ml Maximize training

and employment of Tahltan
members throughout the
mine -life and create pro-
cesses for ongoing dialogue
regarding advancement.

M@ Ensure access for
Tahltan businesses. to maxi-
‘mize business opportuni-
ties for the supply of goods

and services throughout the —
mine life and during mine

closure. « .-:

_ Mi Financial contributions _
by NovaGold to the Tahltan
Heritage Trust Fund, which,

will be used to mitigate any

adverse social and cultural
impacts. of mine develop =

“ment.
During mine operations,
‘trust fund payments are

. guaranteed to be no less than

$1,000,000 annually.
‘Upon reaching certain

agreed financial targets, and |
subject to positive mine op-

erating cash flow, ‘the trust
will receive the greater of

$1,000,000 or a 0.5 to 1.0° -
per cent net smelter royalty
_ each year.

Mi Tahltan assurances to
investors and support for the
project as NovaGold arrang-

es financing during the year .

ahead.

Thief

jailed

-AFORMER Terraceresident

with an extensive criminal

‘history has been. convicted
for breaking into the Happy —

Gang Centre here last year.

Richard William Wil-

son, 45, was sentenced to 15

months in prison in Victoria

Provincial Court Feb. 9.
Const. Rochelle.

called the sentence “quite

* significant” and said it is

longer than most sentences
for break-ins.

- On May 14, 2005, Wilson
smashed a window to gain
entry to the centre and stole
some money but was appre-

hended by police on his way

out of the building.

AGREEMENT -

- Pat-
enaude of Terrace RCMP. :

_ the social and other impacts

coming from the mine.
’ The payments to
. Tahltan Heritage Trust Fund
_ are to be based. on the profit-

' ability of the mine. °:

So far, NovaGold is fore-

20 years with estimates ‘of
an after-tax annual cash flow
ranging from $200 million to.

$350 million in its first years |

_ of operation.

- The development still has ’

to go through the provin-
cial environmental approval
process but the company

is anticipating a mid-2007 |
construction start with com-..
mercial production 1 to begin .

in 2010..

AS many as 1 000 people
will be needed to construct
the mine and it could require
a workforce of jist over 500

the ©

litical analysts, ” said Curtis,

people during its operating
life.

The ratification ‘means
the Tahltan will now support
NovaGold’s environmental

“approval - application | pro-
“cess, which the company in-
casting a mine life.of at least

tends on starting by spring:

Rattray said the detailed |.

work on ‘the ratified agree-
ment will now begin.
And he wouldn’t directly

ratification is a vindication
for himself and for the cen-

_tral council; which has been

criticized over the past year
by other Tahltan factions.
Those factions have said

comment when asked if the '

nr

the central council shouldn’t-

be making development de-
cisions without consullirig
the elders.

“I'll leave that to the po-

. . ? . *

Canada’s Gas Station,

_ strike revenue sharing deal —

although he did say he was
personally pleased with how
things turned out. ,
NovaGold officials earlier
said they were pleased with

_ the way the vote worked out

and looked forward to build-
ing on their relationship with
the Tahltan. : -

_ The relationship between
the Tahltan and NovaGold
; stands

in contrast to the
situation with two other’ re-
source companies, Shell and
Fortune Minerals.

In the face of opposition
from some Tahltan,

for coalbed methane gas in

the Klappan while Fortune —

went (o court to get an in-

“junction to havea blockade

. into the area lifted. Fortune -
has anthracite coal deposits _
_in the Klappan. - :

: * Marque de commerce de Petro- Canada — Trademark.

Utilisée sous licence — used under license. ; .
* Offer valid on the purchase total of eligible products after discounts and redemptions and before t taxes. Excludes oresctiptions, products with codeine, tobacco products (vere ,

applicable), stamps, lottery tickets, event tickets, transit tickets and passes, electronic gift cards, Life Experiences packages and prepaid phone cards, Due to location restrictions .- - ~
we reserve the right to substitute an item of equivalent value. Offer valid Saturday, February.25 and Sunday, February 26, 2006 only. Gift. cards will only be accepted at participating
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Shell,
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- Receive a FREE $10 oe
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when you spend $50 or more at Shoppers Drug Mart”

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - AQ

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