SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Ice Road Truckers star Alex Debogorski is proposing to sell his Drybones Bay claim to the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, should it yield any diamonds.

Alex Debogorski is considering optioning his Drybones Bay claim to the Yellowknives Dene First Nation if he finds mineable kimberlite, which would mean they would develop the mine while giving him a percentage of profits. - Ian Vaydik/NNSL photo

He said he likes the idea because it would allow the Yellowknives to develop the area, about 60 km southeast of Yellowknife, in a culturally sensitive way while providing economic benefits to the First Nation.

"I would rather see it optioned to the Akaitcho Dene and let them develop it. I would rather see the money spent with the native people here for a big reason," he said. "So if they stay here and they get the money, there's a chance that I get a piece of it later on."

Debogorski said if the Yellowknives develop the land it can be done in a way that is culturally sensitive and be "pleasing to their forefathers."

"I'm very serious about optioning it. Anybody who stakes land wants to option it. I don't have a lot of funding. I don't have a lot of money. It's my job as a prospector to go find a prospect and then find somebody that's interested in developing it.

"I think the important point is that area is of significant meaning to the Akaitcho people so it has to be addressed in a way that it's looked after," said Debogorski.

Optioning is quite common when a prospector doesn't have the resources to develop a claim themselves, according to Tom Hoefer, executive director of the NWT Chamber of Mines.

"Often what will happen is prospectors will go out and stake the ground ... but they don't have enough financial horsepower to take it any further," said Hoefer.

"So they will often say 'well I want to have one per cent net smelter return.'"

That would mean the prospector would receive one per cent of profits from the sale of the minerals.

"So they would retain the right to benefit from the claim in some fashion, but the other party really has got all the work to do," said Hoefer.

Debogorski said he hasn't spoken to the Yellowknives about the possibility of optioning the claim, but if he does find mineable kimberlite, he would ask to receive a one per cent smelting fee, "or perhaps a little less."

Neither chief Ed Sangris or Ted Tsetta were available to comment as of press time.

Debogorski also spoke about his frustration with the environmental assessment process.

He pointed to a few requests from the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board that didn't make sense to him, such as asking him to supply a new plain language summary and needing to submit everything in both hard copy and electronic form.

He said the review board already has most of the information "electronically at their fingertips."

He also said, given the language used in some of the letters he's received from the Yellowknives, writing a summary using simple language is "insulting" to them.

Renita Jenkins is the head of communications for the review board and said it needs a good project description for the process.

"It's important to have that information for a complete and legal process, and the review board can't take on the job of creating evidence on behalf of the developer," she said.

"In terms of the plain language summary, in general, plain language is something that the board values a lot and it's a standard to encourage public participation in general."

Debogorski said what they are requesting is going to cost him hundreds of man-hours, and that he feels he is being treated the same way as a major corporation, though he is only looking to drill two exploratory holes on his Drybones Bay claim; if those holes look promising, he may drill up to 10, if he can afford it at $20,000 each.

Jenkins, however, said that the process was in fact tailored to him.

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