Quadra inks MOU with First Nation

Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. has inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation that will serve as a foundation for a working relationship to advance the miners' Victoria project in Sudbury.

The MOU will remain in effect until an Impacts and Benefits Agreement is concluded. The agreement process is being pursued in conjunction with environmental permitting for the Victoria project, the company stated in a press release.

The MOU with Sagamok was signed by Chief Paul Eshkakogan and Michael Winship, Chief Operating Officer of Quadra FNX, on Dec. 23, 2011.

"This Memorandum of Understanding will facilitate open and timely dialogue between Quadra FNX and our First Nation as it relates to the company's activities to develop the Victoria Advanced Exploration Project,” Eshkakogan stated in the release. “We look forward to negotiating an IBA that will provide benefits for our members and ensure the environment and our traditional territories are protected.”

Quadra FNX president and CEO Paul Blythe said his company is also “very pleased” to have signed an MOU with Sagamok.

“As a company, we believe in having a strong relationship with all First Nations communities and other stakeholders in the Sudbury area, and this MOU is an important step in establishing a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership.”

Sagamok Anishnawbek, a signatory to the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850, is a First Nation located on the north shore of Lake Huron, approximately 80 km west of Sudbury and 43 km east of Blind River. Sagamok has a total land base of 11,331 hectares and a total registered population of 2,636, of which approximately 58 per cent live on reserve.

The community is situated within one of the most active mineral resource areas in Canada. In recent years mineral exploration activity in Sagamok's traditional territory has increased significantly with the staking of mining claims by several companies. www.sagamok.ca

Quadra FNX is a mid-tier copper mining company with corporate offices in Vancouver, B.C. and Toronto, Ont. It produces copper, nickel and precious metals from its operating mines: Robinson in Nevada, Carlota in Arizona, Franke in northern Chile, and Levack, which includes the Morrison Deposit, Podolsky and McCreedy West in Sudbury.

Quadra has two key development projects: the Sierra Gorda project, a copper-molybdenum project in Chile, and the Victoria project in Sudbury. The company employs about 2,500 people.

Posted by Arron Pickard