Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Nov 16/05) - The Sakku Investment Corp. has made significant progress since Hamish Tatty took over as board chair 18 months ago.

Sakku presented the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) with a dividend cheque this past month, marking the first time in history the investment firm paid a yearly dividend to its parent company.

Tatty attributes the turnaround to the hard work of company staff, and the determination of executive board members to trim away unnecessary expenses.

"Among my priorities when I took over this position was to make sure Sakku cleaned up a number of its previous investments and started making better decisions in the future," said Tatty.

"We've seen a major turnaround with Sakku Arctic Technologies and Sakku Drugs during the past year.

"The Sakku Investment Corp., itself, has cut away unnecessary expenditures and trimmed investments down to 15 from 22.

"These combined to allow Sakku to pay KIA a dividend for the first time."

Tatty said Sakku will now turn its attention to new investment possibilities which may emerge in the near future, especially in the exploration industry.

He said recent developments within the exploration and mining industries are cause for guarded optimism.

"There have been ongoing talks between the KIA and Cumberland Resources Ltd. that have been positive enough to make it a little easier to sleep at night.

"Most of the discussions are focused on the Meadowbank gold project, and we're going to see some significant movement there within the next 18 months.

"We're also talking to a number of other investors, but I can't go into detail on those discussions at this time.

"We're, basically, keeping our options open."

Tatty took the time to mention the job being done by Sakku Investment Corp. president and chief executive officer Brock Junkin, who was hired earlier this year.

Tatty said the board made a positive decision in hiring Junkin, who he said is doing an excellent job and proving himself a valuable asset to the company.

"These are the first few steps in a positive new direction for Sakku.

"The current board and staff members at Sakku are proud to be changing the company around from the ways of the past.

"Hopefully, we'll continue to progress and be able to benefit the people of Kivalliq more in the future."