HIGH-GRADE NI-CU-PT-PD-ZN-CR-AU-V-TI DISCOVERIES IN THE "RING OF FIRE"
NI 43-101 Update (September 2012): 11.1 Mt @ 1.68% Ni, 0.87% Cu, 0.89 gpt Pt and 3.09 gpt Pd and 0.18 gpt Au (Proven & Probable Reserves) / 8.9 Mt @ 1.10% Ni, 1.14% Cu, 1.16 gpt Pt and 3.49 gpt Pd and 0.30 gpt Au (Inferred Resource)
Message: Power to the "Remote People"
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This is an older article dated December of last year...and again, may have been posted already, so I do apologize it this is the case; possibly by Luker. The topic discussed seems to fit perfectly with a post Luker submitted a few months back. In his post he attached a video with text showing how a riverside corkscrew design of hydro electric power generator could effectively be installed next to a fast flowing river. A most ingenius innovation, which is also eco-friendly. Well.... It appears the Matawa Nation also agrees with this type of approach. For it appears they have no intention of following in the footsteps of those First Nations onboard with the Watay Power initiative. An initiative whose focus is on being connected to the main power grid. Instead, they appear to be looking at much "Greener Alternatives".
Now, it just so happens that their assessment process to look at these "Greener Alternatives" is sheduled to come to an end very soon; spring of 2018. So......If they can manage to get this particular item on their wishlist decided upon then perhaps they will urge the Liberals to make another power project announcememt on their behalf. The only issue is that there is a very short window of opportunity available to make such an announcement; before June 7 election. If you think about though, Matawa deserves the same opportunities as their Watay Power counterparts. Even more so with the Ring of Fire attached. So an announcement such as this is not out of the question. In fact, one could say it would coincide quite nicely with a road announcement .....Fingers crossed.
First Nations exploring renewable energy
- By Heather Peden | The Chronicle-Journal
- Dec 19, 2017
- 3
The nine member communities of Matawa First Nations are taking the first step towards developing renewable energy plans.
The federal government is providing $240,000 to Matawa First Nations to fund a renewable energy readiness assessment project.
Jonathan Neegan, project co-ordinator with Matawa First Nation Management, said the funding will go towards the development of educational tools that will help community members understand different types of renewable energies and make decisions about which might work best for individual communities.
“We’re more of a visual people, so we’ve developed videos and toolkits and diagrams and we’re translating those to Ojibwe, Cree and Oji-Cree so it will help the education process,” said Neegan. “If you don’t understand something you’re going to fear it, so that’s one thing we’re trying to help alleviate is that fear through the process of education.”
The renewable energy assessment for the First Nation communities of Aroland, Constance Lake, Eabametoong, Ginoogaming, Long Lake No. 58, Marten Falls, Neskantaga, Nibinamik, and Webequie, is projected to be complete by the spring of 2018.
The way communities currently rely on diesel to power their lives is not sustainable, explained Jason Rasevych, economic development advisor with Matawa First Nations Management, with the rising costs of fuel and the environmental impact.
“Our communities don’t want to wait seven to 10 years for a transmission line,” said Rasevych. “They want to explore opportunities to reduce that diesel now and see what they can do with the renewables as an option.”
As part of the assessment, Rasevych said they will be looking at the strengths and weaknesses of each community to make decisions about what types of power options will work best.
“Without a project like this our communities are in an idle position to not be able to make an informed decision,” said Rasevych. “This will narrow down the focus and move into the action plans we’re looking to create for the communities.”
Besides costs of fuel, remote communities also have to deal with unreliable energy at the moment, explained Neegan.
“Nibinamik First Nation had both their generators go down and they had a power outage and had to be evacuated to Kapuskasing,” said Neegan. “If you can imagine how that affected their lives, all their refrigerator food was destroyed, their water system had to be reset because there was not water due to the power.”
One of the most important things Neegan said will come out of doing the assessment is finding a balance for the people between traditional activities and industrial development.
Neegan said they are looking around the world for technologies that could be used in the First Nations communities, citing, as an example, a corkscrew turbine available in Europe.
“It’s very fish friendly, the fish can go through it, it has very positive results with fish habitat and it doesn’t change the aspect of the river,” said Neegan. “That’s one of our main concerns is if you create a dam it changes the aspect of the river so the fish and wildlife will change but with the corkscrew technology we’ll be able to maintain that flow.”
Besides providing their own energy, Rasevych said they are also looking ahead to being able to supply energy to other communities as well as to the industrial developments that are happening within the Matawa territory.
Patty Hajdu, MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, who made the funding announcement on behalf of Navdeep Bains, Minister responsible for FedNor, said it’s important that each individual community come up with a solution that is right for them.
“Communities really know what their strengths are… and they need the time and opportunity to explore what’s going to work for their community,” said Hajdu. “We know that the economy and the environment do go hand-in-hand. We’re looking forward to the plans and then we will be able to support communities as they have a clear direction of where they want to go.”
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