Mineral Exploration

Winter 2013

Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.

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(clockwise from top right) Analyzing core from the Coffee project; Aerial view of Sabina's Goose property, Back River project in Nunavut; John Kaiyogana of Sabina greeting people at an open house in Taloyoak, Nunavut; Rakai management and artisanal miners in Uganda; A traditional day's work; Panning for gold samples for Rakai Resources. Trans North 10/27/04 11:19 AM Page 1 TRANS NORTH HELICOPTERS CHARTER SERVICES rush is opening up prospective regions. Precision Geosurveys.indd 1 "The country is overwhelmed by prospectors now," Burega says. "People are picking up pans to try their hand at mining gold P.O. BOX 8, 115 RANGE RD. in streams and rivers. We're not seeing a lot of mercury yet, but ALASKA HIGHWAY, MI. 918 we're afraid that may soon be the case." WHITEHORSE Rakai's focus is artisanal gold-mining operations that will act YUKON Y1A 5X9 as a pathfinder for both resource and social development. Many TEL: (867) 668-2177 companies use small-scale artisanal mines as guides for large-scale www.tntaheli.com exploration programs, often with the unintended consequence of FAX: (867) 668-3420 creating social conflicts between local and outside parties. "It's a huge mistake to forget about artisanal mining comServing northwestern Canada since 1967 munities," Burega says. "We have conversations with indigenous people near our projects early, because we need to see what they want to see, and build relationships from there." In this case, artisanal miners want to move away from panning and breaking rock to mechanized methods, Burega says, but the problem is lack of capital and training. Rakai is involved in initiatives to provide training to artisanal miners and help them avoid environmental pitfalls often associated with smallscale mining practices. Burega says Rakai's strategy is to deploy capital to projects that ensure social and environmental progress as well as a return on investment. "These things are rarely thought about until the end of the [mine] cycle, or until a snag comes and leads to a slowdown. That style of CSR had to change, and that's what we're trying to do." Rakai is relatively new, with less than two years in Uganda, but Burega says the response to its partnership model and early engagement policy has been positive. "There's a true ROI [return on investment] in building relationships up front." ■ p104-107_CSR.indd 107 w i n t e r 2 0 1 3    13-11-15 11:08 AM   107 13-11-27 2:35 PM

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