By Jack A. Caldwell
Posted 15 May 2008 @ 10:04 am EST
The Whitefish First Nation of Ontario, Canada has just instituted a
claim for $550 billion against the Ontario and Canadian governments -
about $1 billion per tribe member. The basis of the claim is that the
1850 treaty between the tribe and the Crown promised more land for the
tribe than was actually set aside in 1885. Apparently "new historical
information" has come to light to substantiate the tribe's claim to the
land. Hence they claim billions as their share of the mining profits
since 1850.
The area of Ontario primarily involved is Sudbury where Inco mines.
Recall that Vale - Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, a Brazilian mining
company, previously called CVRD, now owns Inco. No indication if the
mining company is or will be affected by a successful claim.
The point of this new claim relative to the interests and concerns of
the average investor, is that this new First Nation's claim is but a
harbinger of a more aggressive attack by the aboriginal communities of
Ontario and Canada on the right to the mining resources of the country.
Hopefully these claims will have no impact on investment in exploration
and progress to successful mining in Ontario.
But the Cassandra in me prompts me to advise you to consider very
carefully before putting your retirement funds into any exploration or
mining venture in Ontario - at least until the dust of this new fracas
has cleared and we see the implication or absence thereof.
Keep in mind that Ontario is being pushed hard to change the laws
regarding the right of exploration companies to go on land claimed by
the aboriginals. The most vicious manifestation of the problem is the
incarceration of Bob Lovelace an Ardoch Algonquin co-chief. He
protested the activities of a Vancouver exploration company seeking
minerals (uranium) on lands claimed by the tribe. He fell foul of a
judge who ordered him to desist, and when he did not, the judge threw
him in jail for six months, reminding him that the law of Canada
prevailed, not the so-called law of the Algonquin which Lovelace
describes as the "Law of Creation."
As investors, these arcane disputes between judges and professors
(Lovelace is a professor at a local university) need not concern us
from a jurisprudential perspective. But they do affect the potential
profit we can make from mining-related investments. And as I said
above, personally I am pessimistic: I believe these moves to change the
laws of Canada, the distribution of rights to its minerals, the people
who can say yes or no to a new mine, and the people who will have to be
paid the royalties, will have a profound affect on the progress and
success of mining in places like Ontario and Brazil for a while to
come.
Read the full aticle of:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080515/sudbury-mine-investing.htm
