Standard Uranium and Ya thi Nene Lands and Resources have signed an agreement over exploration in the Athabasca Basin. Courtesy Standard Uranium/Facebook  

By Doug Lett

Dene exploration agreement

Northern communities look for participation in exploration

Dec 20, 2022 | 8:00 AM

A group of seven Dene First Nations and communities in northern Saskatchewan have taken another step in participation and control over exploration activity.

Ya’ thi Nene’ Lands and Resources has signed an exploration agreement with Standard Uranium. Standard is one of a number of companies exploring uranium in the Athabasca Basin, which is the resource-rich region of northern Saskatchewan that is already home to a variety of mining projects.

“I would say exploration agreements are fairly new to the basin,” “said Garrett Schmidt, Executive Director with Ya’ thi Nene’ Lands and Resources. “They’re not new for a lot of other jurisdictions throughout Canada, but they’re fairly new to Saskatchewan,” he told northeastNOW.

He said the agreements are a way for the northern communities to have a formal working relationship with the companies doing exploration for valuable metals in the region, like uranium.

“Consents to their activities to happen, and in return for that exchange of consent in support, the communities receive increased participation and benefit,” said Schmidt.

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He said participation could take a variety of forms, such as business contracts, or environmental monitoring.

Schmidt said there are around 20 companies doing exploration in the region, and so far YNLR has exploration agreements with three of them.

“Standard Uranium is committed to responsible stewardship of the environment, and building meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships with project communities,” said Jon Bey, CEO of Standard Uranium in a news release.

The release said the agreement establishes provisions for information-sharing, permitting processes, and environmental protection and monitoring. YNLR will oversee the Agreement’s implementation, and its community land technicians will provide active site monitoring to protect the land and the water of their traditional territory.

And if an exploration project looks like it might become a mine, that would trigger a different type of agreement between the company and the Dene communities.

“If a resource became economic, and was potentially going to become a mine, we would then begin a different process of establishing an impact benefit agreement with that company for that particular project,” said Schmidt.

The hope is that agreements like these will benefit the communities, and the companies doing the exploration.

“We want to work with partners like Standard Uranium who acknowledge our rights and value our communities,” said Archie Disain, YNLR Board of Director for Black Lake Denesųłiné First Nation.

YNLR covers the communities of Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation, Black Lake Denesųłiné First Nation, Fond du Lac Denesųłiné First Nation, Stony Rapids, Uranium City, Wollaston Lake, and Camsell Portage.

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doug.lett@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @DougLettSK