Nunavut org set to benefit from lease, royalties agreements with Agnico Eagle – Nunatsiaq News
April 10, 2014
NTI signs first-ever production lease deal for its sub-surface Inuit-owned lands
Nunavut Tunngavik has signed its first-ever mineral production lease, allowing Agnico Eagle Mines to extract gold from Inuit-owned land near the Meadowbank mine in exchange for annual fees and royalties paid to NTI.
The production lease will cover AEM’s 144-hectare Vault deposit, an open-pit operation about nine kilometres northeast of Meadowbank’s processing plant which is roughly 110 kms north of Baker Lake.
“The production lease, which allows for commercial production, is the first that NTI has entered into with any company,” an NTI release said April 9
NTI president Cathy Towtongie said in the release that the agreement reflects a “clear commitment” set out in the organization’s December 1997 mining policy: “to support the development of mineral resources in Nunavut if there are significant long-term social and economic benefits for Inuit, and if it is consistent with protecting the eco-systemic integrity of Nunavut.”
According to an NTI mining policy brochure, a company must pay $100 per hectare for a production lease, at a minimum of $10,000. The lease has an initial term of 10 years that may be renewed for two additional five-year terms.
