Tl'azt'en Nation Termination of Mineral Exploration MOU with FPX Nickel Corp.

TACHIE, TL'AZT'EN NATION, BC, Oct. 4, 2023 /CNW/ - Media releases issued recently (September 6 and 22, 2023) by FPX Nickel Corp. as part of the ongoing efforts to promote investment and mineral exploration for a potential future mine at Mount Sydney Williams in the territory of Tl'azt'en Nation fail to indicate that Tl'azt'en Nation terminated an MOU with the company on July 20, 2023.  

Tl'azt'en Nation and its members do not support or consent to the exploratory work FPX Nickel Corp. is conducting in its territory and are opposed to any sort of mining operation on or near Tselk'un (Mount Sydney Williams).

Tl'azt'en Nation is very concerned about the continued well-being of its people, the present state of its territory, and the lands and waters that it and its members are responsible for stewarding and protecting for future generations. Just this week the BC Supreme Court described the initial exploratory activities connected to a mineral claim as creating an "adverse impact" on First Nations' territories. A fully developed mine on or near Tselk'un would be a devastating and irreversible environmental trauma to Tl'azt'en Nation members' lands and waters. It would also significantly and negatively impact Tl'azt'en Nation members' relationships with those lands and waters and all that they contain, and their cultural security as a distinct people. Tl'azt'en Nation and its members remain opposed to any mineral exploration or mining development.

Quick Facts

• Tl'azt'en Nation is a vibrant Carrier, or Dakelh, First Nation of approximately 1565 members whose lands and waters cover a vast area along Nak'al Bun (or Stuart Lake) running up the Tache River almost to Takla Lake to the north in what is now commonly referred to as northern British Columbia, Canada.
• Tl'azt'en Nation is comprised of several communities including Tachie, Dzitl'ainli, and K'uzche. Members live and contribute to the rich cultural, social, educational, and economic aspects of those communities and many others.
• The largest of the Tl'azt'en Nation communities, Tachie, is approximately 65 km north of Fort St. James.
• Tl'azt'en Nation and several of its traditional groups (keyohs) entered a Mineral Exploration Memorandum of Understanding with FPX Nickel Corp. in 2012 and, increasingly concerned about the fate of Tl'azt'en Nation territory, lands and waters, and the continued survival of its people and society, terminated the MOU on July 20, 2023.  

SOURCE Tl'azt'en Nation