Northern B.C. First Nation opposes mineral exploration in culturally sensitive area

A mineral exploration company with provincial permits to work in Tahltan territory in northwestern British Columbia is treading on sacred grounds, an elected leader in the nation's government says.

Vancouver-based Doubleview Gold Corp. is developing claims in the Sheslay areaarea north of Telegraph Creek that occupies an important place in Tahltan oral histories, said Chad Norman Day, president of the Tahltan Central Government.

There's "no way'' the Tahltan would ever support a mine there, he said.

"The Sheslay area was a major village site in pre-contact times and even nowadays we have many elders who were born in the Sheslay area. Many of our ancestors are buried out there,'' Day said in an interview.

"British Columbia, Doubleview, we should all just save ourselves a lot of time, energy and conflict and get Doubleview out of there,'' he said.

Doubleview has 10 mineral tenures covering about 63 square kilometres where "an aggressive 2021 exploration program is being planned,'' the company said in an update posted online in February.

It said it expected to give shareholders a more complete assessment of the deposit's value after verifying the results of metallurgical sample analysis.

Multi-year permit granted in 2012

The Tahltan Central Government accuses Doubleview of failing to act in a manner consistent with both Tahltan protocols for the mining sector and with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Tahltan made "many reasonable attempts to work with Doubleview in a respectful manner,'' the central government said in a statement in March.

But the company has a "track record of being disrespectful ... including unsuccessfully taking legal action against Tahltan leaders and elders in 2015,'' it said.

B.C. set to align with UN declaration

The B.C. government is now in the early stages of aligning its laws with the UN declaration after adopting it through legislation.

It requires governments to obtain free, prior and informed consent before taking actions that affect Indigenous Peoples and territories which would include decisions on proposed mines and future exploration work permits.

The statutory adoption of the UN declaration means industry and the B.C. government must start building "processes that seek a genuine consent from Indigenous governments, communities and people,'' Day said.

"And there's a huge difference between having a conversation and calling it consultation versus having a robust consultation process that is aiming to get consent from Indigenous people.''

The Tahltan Nation has "excellent relationships'' with the majority of mining and mineral exploration companies operating in its territory, Day noted.

There are three active mines Red Chris, Silvertip and Brucejack and the nation has impact benefit agreements with each of the companies.

"When you have Tahltan title and rights over 11 per cent of the province and you have jurisdiction over an area the size of Portugal, you don't need to be supportive of projects that are in really culturally sensitive areas,'' Day said.