Golden Band moves step closer to active mining operation

Rodney Orr, president and CEO of Golden Band Resources met in La Ronge with Chief Tammy Cook- Searson, chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) and Bill Hutchinson, minister of First Nations and Metis Relations (FNMR) and the minister responsible for Northern Affairs, a division of FNMR, in La Ronge; Orr announced the signing of the La Ronge Gold Project Surface Lease Agreement 2009 by the provincial government. The province was represented at the signing by the ministries of First Nations and Metis Relations and Environment, according to a joint news release from Golden Band Resources Inc., the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB), and the Band’s economic development arm, Kitsaki Management Limited Partnership.

The signing of the agreement brings potential employment opportunities for LLRIB, both for members and for the companies within Kitsaki, Cook- Searson said, adding the Band has been working closely with Golden Band because their potential mining operations are within the LLRIB traditional territory.

There are potential opportunities for Kitsaki, particularly through Kitsaki’s trucking company, Northern Resource Trucking, along with its environmental company, Canada North Environmental Services Limited Partnership, she said.

“All the different companies that we have will be able to service this mine once it opens up,” she said, adding Golden Band will Golden Band moves step closer to active mining operation potentially have about 100 employees once the mining operation opens and Cook-Searson hopes many of those jobs will go to LLRIB members.

“It’s one more of many steps that Golden Band, as a gold mining company, has to go through in terms of the regulatory process. It’s a very important part because it pulls together not only the province and the company, but the local, traditional users of the land as well. We’ve tried to bring this an all inclusive event to announce the signing Golden Band has had with the province,” Orr said.

The agreement signed involves covers surface lease, which covers the areas of Jolu Mill, the Bingo Mine, which will be an underground mine, and the Komis and EP mine, which will be open pit mining operations. The agreement signing brings these entities under a single lease, which allows Golden Band to proceed with the next steps to complete the process.

Although Orr said, Golden Band originally expected to have the mining operation up and running by the end of this year, he now thinks it will be the summer of 2010 before that happens.

The Bingo Mine is close to Grandmother’s Bay, while the Komis and EP mines are northwest of Brabant.

The company still needs to fundraise for some of the capital, approximately $30 million to make that happen, he said.

Once the operation is up and running, the ore will be trucked from the mining operations to the Jolu Mill for processing, Orr said, adding, Golden Band will pour gold bars at the mill and the three mines will produce about 70,000 oz per year.

Valerie G. Barnes-Connell

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