Long Lake #58 signs agreement Greenstone Gold Mines Inc.
By Rick Garrick
LONG LAKE #58—Long Lake #58 Chief Veronica Waboose is looking forward to healing and training opportunities for community members after signing a Definitive Agreement with Greenstone Gold Mines Inc.
“It means that we have hope—hope for our community,” Waboose says after the June 19 signing ceremony in Long Lake #58. “We’re going to get training, [but] first of all we are going to start with healing our people. That’s the most important thing that we have to do, and we’ve got to give them hope that there is something after their healing.”
Waboose says the signing ceremony was “awesome,” noting that the Young Crew drum group provided the drumming.
“And one of the gifts was a paddle that they made themselves at their camp out in the bush,” Waboose says. “One of the boys made mine and the other boys gave one to Eric [Lamontagne, general manager of Greenstone Gold]. That gift was awesome.”
Waboose says this is the first time in the history of Long Lake #58 that the community was properly consulted.
“And it was the first time we ever received resources from a mining company,” Waboose says. “It changes things to see there is a future for Long Lake #58, for our kids, our youth. There is a future for them. That is the future that we are working towards.”
Long Lake #58 signed the agreement with Greenstone Gold in relation to the development and operation of the Hardrock Project in the Geraldton-Beardmore Greenstone Belt near Geraldton. Greenstone Gold is a 50/50 venture between Premier Gold Mines Ltd. and Centerra Gold Inc.
“This agreement is the product of a relationship that was forged many years ago, a relationship that has and will continue to play an important role in the advancement of this project through permitting toward production,” says John Begeman, executive chairman of Premier Gold. “As the largest deposit within Premier’s portfolio, the Hardrock deposit remains a key asset in growing our production profile in the coming years.”
The agreement recognizes the rights and interests that Long Lake #58 has within its traditional territory, and the rights and interests Greenstone Gold has as owner and operator of the project. It also formalizes Greenstone Gold’s commitment toward protecting the environment and supporting First Nation social and cultural practices in the spirit of true and continued collaboration.
“We are proud to stand together with Long Lake #58 First Nation in celebration of this achievement,” Lamontagne says. “This is an agreement that will deliver sustainable, economic and social benefits to the community for decades to come.”
About 316 citizens voted for and 24 against the agreement during two ratification votes, one on June 12 in Thunder Bay and another on June 13 in Long Lake #58.
“We just had our signing ceremony yesterday and they seem very optimistic and anxious now to finally start getting this ball rolling — it is long overdue,” says Anisa O’Nabigon, Long Lake #58’s mine liaison – Economic Development. “There is going to be a lot of business opportunities for individuals, so that is a range from starting their own personal businesses, which they can finally do, and/or get into a partnership with a company.”
The agreement outlines provisions for environmental monitoring, employment, training, business and contracting opportunities and a framework for regulatory permitting extending not only to the Hardrock open pit but to all properties within Greenstone Gold’s regional portfolio that lie within the traditional territory of Long Lake #58. Long Lake #58 is located on Hwy. 11 next to Longlac.