Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishnaabek, Aroland First Nation and Gonoogaming First Nation

Greenstone Goldmine Hardrock Project

The SVS team worked alongside Chiefs and Councils and community leadership of these three First Nations, with their legal counsel through a multi-year process of environmental and socio-economic planning, a federal and provincial environmental assessment, and Impact Benefit Agreement negotiations for what is likely to become one of the largest gold mining operations in Canada.

Through the preliminary stages of Traditional Knowledge interviews with community Elders, SVS documented the historical and ongoing use of the land in the project region. SVS provided the evidence and research to substantiate First Nation legal claims for treaty rights and stewardship. This necessitated the initiation of a formal Impact Benefit Agreement negotiation process for which SVS was asked to continue providing strategic support. SVS facilitated a dynamic community consultation process by providing plain language technical details of the scope and design of the project and explaining the implications it would have for Nations’ present and future way of life.

Our consultants also carried out a socio-economic due diligence assessment of the project’s economic value to give a clear sense of what rightful benefits should be derived by the First Nations over the decades the mine will operate. One of the most predominant results of this integrated process was the negotiation of a precedent setting long term relationship agreement (LTRA) between the Mine’s operators and owners and the three First Nations. This included the development of the Indigenous owned and operated Minodahmun Development Corporation – an entity responsible for overseeing and ensuring the First Nations’ direct economic benefits from the mine during construction and operations related procurement, contracting, employment and training.