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DeBeers Arrives In Canada!
National Jeweler today reports that De Beers Canada Inc. announced it has reached an agreement with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation on the terms of an Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) for the Snap Lake project, set to be the company's first operating Canadian-based diamond mine.
The mine is expected to employ 500 people during full production and to produce 1.5 million carats annually. Scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2007, the mine is projected to reach full production in 2008, according to a joint media release from De Beers Canada and Yellowknives Dene.
The IBA follows a community meeting where members of the Yellowknives Dene voted in favor of provisions in the proposed agreement, and made a resolution authorizing Chief Peter Liske and Chief Fred Sangris to execute the agreement. The IBA establishes the specific benefits that the Yellowknives Dene will receive as a result of the project, including: employment, business opportunities, training and development and financial compensation for loss of the use of the land while it is being mined.
"As the Snap Lake Project has advanced, and during the IBA negotiations, we have managed our business to ensure that the Yellowknives Dene experience tangible benefits from the Snap Lake Project," said John McConnell, vice president of NWT projects, in the statement. "Concluding this agreement builds on our success in this area and provides a more formal mechanism to define a positive, long-term relationship with the community."
"Our negotiation team has worked very hard over the past three years and we are now satisfied that we have reached a final agreement that will benefit the Yellowknives Dene First Nation through employment, training and business opportunities for the life of this mine at Snap Lake," Liske said in the release.
Sangris, chief of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation Ndilo, said the benefit agreement would still allow for the traditional way of life in the Drygeese Territory, even while providing opportunity.
"We know De Beers will respect the land, water, animals, environment and the spirit of intent in this agreement," he said.
De Beers Canada CEO Richard Molyneux said the company recognizes the importance of good relationships with Aboriginal communities.
"This IBA with the Yellowknives Dene reflects our commitment to ensure that the Aboriginal groups impacted by the Snap Lake Project benefit from the project through participation," he said, adding that the agreement follows closely on the heels of a similar one signed by De Beers and the Attawapiskat First Nation earlier this month for the Victor Project in Northern Ontario.
While the IBI was signed on Monday, a formal signing ceremony to involve the community will be held on Jan. 1.
