Thats only 7 tons of gold a year... not a lot considering South Africa does 1000 tons a year. Probably the copper is the real value here, buts lots of jobs anyways so thats good.

Amen to that Eagleone!
Great news!

Funny. CBC had a native representative from the Fort St James band who was positive that they did not want this mine on their land. Seems to me that the government right down to the posters on here are ignoring this fact. Here we go again with industry trying to do something on NATIVE LAND. Is there not any where else for God sake? This is a big province with lots of land. I just can not understand why this is a constant issue. STAY OFF OF NATIVE LAND!!! Why even try if they do not want you there?

Caringsoul - yes its a big province. The problem is it is ALL "native land" according to them... so where do you propose a mine should go?

Yeah, caring soul. At any given time, someone does not like something.

What you want us to eat. hay?

native land? excuse me, everything is native land! So how do we define ownership of land? The logical way is deeded, and the rest belongs to the government.

Eagleone, it is actually close to 11 tons a year. Gold is measured in troy ounces.

Bottom line! They do not want the mine on THEIR LAND. Dont get mad at me ...I did not give them ALL THE LAND. Your grandfathers did that. I am not saying I agree with it all but, it is what it is.

No, I am speaking on behalf of all the people that rely on working in those mines to feed their families. It is new hope to get away from logging.

A lot of people want electrical power, they want a vibrant economy in which a working person can be successful. They want it all, as long as it is not in our back yard.

We have an opportunity, lets grasp it.

"Our grandfathers gave them
all the the land"{
How do you figure that?
I thought it was the smart assed lawyers who fomented the discontent that has led to the very lucrative "Indian Industry"
(with apologie And the successive governments that have allowed the situation to be perpetuated, rather than get tough and forge settlements with all so that we may move forward as ONE PEOPLE, with ONE LAW, united against the forces of evil. There is one band that I have heard have stated that they will not allow this mine to become a reality, I think, rather cynically I admit, that their price has not been met, yet.
metalman.

Even though the government gave Terrane the mineral rights, they do not have the rights to the environment. If the Nakazdli First Nation don't want their environment disturbed, then there will be no mining. Terrane will have to walk away. Just because Terrane is a natural resource exploiting corporation with friends in the government doesn't mean they can get whatever they want. Too bad, but nobody said running a business was going to be easy. It's time that every level of government and business came to terms with the fact that the land was stolen from the First Nations when the continent was colonized and it is way past due to respect their claims to the stewardship of the land.

If I remember correctly, the proposed Mt. Milligan site is on McLeod Lake Band land, (according to the McLeod Lake band). About a year or so ago, the Nakazdli claimed that the land was in fact theirs, and they are opposed to the mine being developed.

Can anyone out there verify this?

The fact is that Canadians already are ONE PEOPLE with ONE LAW. We are the Canadian People with the Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms and aboriginal rights are an integral and fundamental part of that law. Just because some Canadians don't like the law as it now exists does not mean the law can be ignored. Regardless of their motives, First Nations have as much right to benefit from the use of their property as any of the rest of us Canadians do to the use of our property.

when isn't a band oppossed to any development. They just want to be paid off again and again and again and then when the money is gone the Band will be back for another pay off. Its a said day when a Native band with 300 0r 400 people can stop a project that will benifit 2or 3 million. ONE LAND ONE PEOPLE stop the seperation we are all equals. Its not their land its all of our land.

From what I understand, the band in FT St James would like to see it. However the cheif has his own agendas. Thus, the band is not all united.

McLeod Lake Band, i do believe is on board.

Hey, how about the different bands, define their traditional territorial areas first. Then we can talk to the correct chiefs.

Finally! Fort St James will be celebrating in the streets today.

Kidder, not all bands are looking for money. Sometimes they are good, to be the public alarm bell. I think stopping Kemess North, to destroy a lake, because they were too cheap to design it properly was a good thing.

All in all, the bands are trying to do the right thing. It is all of the rest of the do gooders out there, thinking that they should oppose every development is where most of the problems lie. all these do gooders give nothing more than lip service, then they go home and be consumers. With out having any idea where and how it comes to them.

Was the land stolen? because if it was stolen then why are they claiming that it is still theirs? At some point all this "its yours its mine" has to stop. How about we are The Province of British Columbia and we decide what happens when we vote for a specific government. If you dont want mines vote Green Party

"Resource Exploiting Corporation" that's a big Word , does this mean you don't like Copper,Gold,Iron if so give up your House Wiring, your TV your Car and don't forget your Wood Stove and be miserable and Cold living the old Ways.

I would rather the natives looking after our land than the government we have now. All they are doing is selling us off bit by bit. The worst thing we could do is give the government control. WE the PEOPLE as a whole should have the FINAL SAY.

The idea that native people were content until they were stirred up by lawyers is ridiculous. Native protests at the usurpation of their land go back to the 19th century. Native people proposed treaty negotiations to resolve the conflicts way back then but the province and Canada refused. In 1927 provisions were added to the Indian Act that made it a crime to raise money or hire a lawyer for the purpose of advancing land claims! That is proof positive that the government was aware of the issue. Instead of dealing with it, they just tried to prevent Indians from raising it.

Thank you to billposer and ammonra for your EDUCATED comments.

So, whose right, whose wrong.

It is absolutely imperative that we, all of us, look after our land and environment. That does not mean that we cannot extract the resources that form the foundation of our economy. Is there some reason why the copper and gold should be left in the earth? And as long as replanting is diligently continued, we should be able to continue logging, although I am not convinced we are logging and replanting properly, to mimic natural growth. It is the way we go about removing those minerals and trees that is the problem. I am all for progress and jobs for the people, including mining and logging and the industries that follow, but also very concerned about any irreversable damage done. Take Kemess North, the only reason they wanted to use the lake for tailings was to save money. They already have an entire box valley dammed off for tailings collection from Kemess South, I don't know if there would have been space for the 'North tailings, but one of the reasons cited for not building tailings pipelines and additional pumping capacity was the exhorbitant cost. I am glad that the lake did not get sacrificed in the name of profit. I am sad that they could not have found a way to make Kemess North a reality. Hopefully all parties can come to an understanding and Mt. Milligan can proceed.
metalman.

Metalman, your right. There is no reason why we should leave all that gold and copper in the ground if it can be extracted in a manner which complies with the requirements set by the enviromental assessment process.

We can not rely on the quacks from the enviromentalist, nor can we rely on the money grubbing capitalist to do it right. That is why we have the environmental assessment process.

A lot of the quacks from the bleeding heart club will say that the environmental assessment is wrong to let the mt milligan to go ahead. But I did not hear them say it was wrong when they shot down kemess north.

I think the environmental assessment people are doing a good job. They did the right thing shooting down Kemess north. We just need the Federal and Provincial environmental process to work together, so it is not such a long process.

Munica, the natives look out for the land. They also live in the capitalistic world. Did you know that two years ago, a family of first nations, shot, trapped and sold every thing that was on four legs on the south bank of Tremblay Lake, because they had the right too.

So don't tell me that the First Nation is looking after the land. They are a part of this community also. They will play both side of the fence when it is convenient for them, as anyone else would also. it is the responsibility of the the experts to see past this, and see if there is merit in the statements made.

The McLeod Lake band does in fact claim the territory that the Mt.Milligan mine is to be built on.
There does appear to be an ongoing dispute between the Mcleod Lake band and the Nakazdli band over who is right.
There is no doubt, that issue must be settled before anything else comes into play, or it just goes on forever.
The McLeod Lake band has an agreement with Terrane, while the Nakazli band opted out of the process by choice, and does not.
I am also told that the Sam family who claim the land as their own keyoh, was already provided with funds by Terrane Metals, supposedly for research,when they were attempting to work out a deal with them during the environmental process.
I have spoken to people from Nakazli who were unaware of this until recently which I find odd.
The Sam family members involved include the chief and several members of band council, and there are many band members who feel that they are looking after their own interests, ahead of that of the band.
That is called a serious conflict of interest in most circles.
Nothing is ever as simple as it may seem.
Anyone with half a brain knows this is about money,and not just for the band as a whole.
It is always about money in the end.
This whole mess paints the band as all being against the mine and that is simply NOT true, because they are not.
It would seem there is trouble brewing and perhaps the Sam family needs to clarify their own interests and how it will affect the entire band?
There are a lot of rumours and speculation on what is really going on and that really needs to be cleared up.
I agree completely that all first nations bands should take part in the benefits of this or any other mine on traditional lands,but I fail to understand why everything has to be a war?
There is a problem here because everything is considered by them to be traditional land.
Reasonable people will make reasonable decisions that will benefit all.
This mine IS coming, and it has every legal right to do so.
It would benefit all to sit down and work it out,or someone is going to find themselves left out in the cold.
Above all else,the laws of Canada and the legal processes that those laws generate, will in fact win out in the end.
That is what democracy is all about.

""""Its a said day when a Native band with 300 0r 400 people can stop a project that will benifit 2or 3 million. """"""""

I bet you believed that the Owelympics were going to benefit the 2-3 million people in this province to. Give your head a shake and then give your numbers a shake. Let's take your figure and use the low end shall we. 2 million divided by 400 direct jobs means that for every direct job this mine creates, there will be benefits to 5000 people. Wow, those are Reganomics on steroids.

I suppose you also believe that the money businesses save on HST will be passed on to the customers.

Kemess Mine will close in about two or three years, and we will lose approx 300/400 jobs. If Terrane comes on stream we will get these jobs back. If not we will have a net loss. If so, we will maintain the status quo.

So in essence Terrane is about saving jobs,rather than creating new ones. If it doesnt go through then it will be another nail in Mackenzie's coffin.

With the downturn in logging, lumber, etc; there is very little on the drawing board for the future of the North Central Interior. If the Northern Interior implodes you can rest assured that everyone will be effected, including First Nations.

The biggest income generating groups in this area now are,

(A) Pensioners
(B) Welfare Recipients
(C) Government Workers
(D) UNBC, CNC Teachers and Workers
(E) Norhern Healthcare Workers
(F) School District 57.

Most of these groups draw their money from taxpayers, and if taxpayers stop earning these groups will suffer.

Anyone who thinks that this area will grow and prosper on the basis of the above listed groups are just kidding themselves.

We need good, high paying jobs, to support these groups, and without the jobs its game over.

Finally got around the native concerns. They cannot ruin the economy and jobs like the Chinese like to do to their employees.

The long and short of it is that the Sam family want to get PAID!! They are not like the McLeod band who see an opportunity to nail down lucrative contracts and jobs for their community.
The Sam family have a little dictatorship going on here right now. The general population on the Necoslie reserve want a referendum on the what the band wants in regards to Mt. Milligan, but the Chief and counsell ( who are Sam's by majority) won't do it because of the obvious conflict of interest that is going on.
Terrane Metals have given the band in the neighbourhood of $400,000 to be part of the process and to date they have just taken the money and not participated voluntarilly .
I reiterate " THEY DONT WANT JOBS. JUST MONEY!!"

By the way " Caring soul" The last time anyone trapped that area was in 1975. A white guy who leased the trapline.