VANCOUVER — Hawthorne Gold Corp. and the Kaska Dena Council have signed a resource funding agreement in connection with continuing exploration and development of Hawthorne's gold projects near Cassiar, BC. The agreement calls for Hawthorne to provide funding to the BC Kaska to contribute to the cost of negotiating a traditional knowledge (TK) protocol and a detailed socio-economic participation agreement (SEPA). Hawthorne will also donate $10,000 to the Kaska youth cultural preservation programs.
George Miller, chair of the Kaska Dena Council, said in a news release, "The Kaska Dena consider the signing of this agreement to not only be a constructive development for our relationship with the mining community, but it can be a catalyst towards further Aboriginal nation-building. We will be a stronger nation by acting together. We want to see healthy communities, environmental compliance and meaningful investment in Kaska territory, including infrastructure development, and not at the expense of our culture and social integrity. Such agreements are examples of substantive accommodation that can benefit citizens at the community level."
Hawthorne has two advanced exploration projects – Taurus and Table Mountain – in northern British Columbia. See CMJ Net News, Aug, 26, 2009.
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