[Indigsol] Barriere Lake press release

[ipsmo at riseup.net]

View/share this online: http://www.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/11416


-- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --


First Nation protests at annual meeting of Mining Company drawn to Quebec
by Plan Nord:

No Mineral Exploration On Our Territory Without Consultation and Community
Consent

Montreal - Tuesday, June 19th, 2012



At 10am today at 2000 McGill College avenue, representatives from Barriere
Lake and their supporters will be gathering outside the annual meeting of
shareholders of Copper One.

The Algonquins of Barriere Lake will be sending a clear message to Copper
One Inc. and its shareholders: no mineral exploration can take place on
Barriere Lake's territory without the community's free, prior and informed
consent.

The mineral exploration site - the Rivière Doré property located in the
southeast of Val d'Or, Quebec - is at the heart of the hunting and fishing
ground of several Barriere Lake families, amongst an extensive network of
lakes, streams, and rivers. Rivière Doré contains a large amount of copper
and nickel deposits, first claimed by Cartier Resources Inc., a junior
mining company based in Val d'Or. After length community opposition, on
December 15, 2011, Cartier sold its share of the Rivière Doré property to
Copper One for $150,000 in cash, 2 million common shares of Copper One,
and a royal fee of 1% of the net smelter return.

In May 2011, a letter by the Council of Elders, expressing the community's
opposition to natural resource exploitation within Trilateral Agreement
territory, was forwarded to the former President and Chief Executive
Officer of Copper One. According to Copper One's web site, its mining
exploration activities on this property have been put on hold, pending
negotiations with the First Nations community of Barriere Lake.

Norman Matchewan, a community spokesperson of Barriere Lake, stressed that
"there will be no discussions about mining on the territory until the
signed 1991 Trilateral Agreement with Quebec and Canada is honoured."

This is the message that will be relayed at Copper One's annual meeting of
shareholders, today.

The 1991 Trilateral Agreement is a resource co-management agreement
designed to protect the Algonquin community's way of life by ensuring they
have a decisive say over land use in their territory. This agreement, when
implemented, will also offer the community a modest share of revenues from
economic activities on their lands. The federal and provincial governments
have shirked their legal and political responsibility to honour this
agreement, stalling sustainable development in the territory from moving
peaceably forward.

The Algonquins of Barriere Lake are concerned that the provincial
government may have misled Copper One about the security of their proposed
project and may have hid the costs and liabilities the company could incur
should the community choose to challenge Copper One’s Rivière Doré
project. At this time, the continuation of the project would violate the
Trilateral Agreement and would be in contradiction to established Canadian
legal precedents and international agreements such as the UN Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

* Norman Matchewan - Community spokesperson (English): 514-550–8706

* Steve Baird - Liaison person (English and French): 514-607-838

* Ramsey Hart - MiningWatch Canada : phone 613-569-3439 / cell 613-298-4745

http://www.barrierelakesolidarity.org

barrierelakesolidarity at gmail.com