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NUNAVUT
Nunavut Tunngavik has adopted a resource revenue policy that will force mining and exploration companies to pay a $12 royalty for every $100 of net profits.

Two workers at Baffinland Iron Mines' Mary River iron ore deposit a charge into the ground to extract ore. NTI has passed a resource revenue policy that will force mining and exploration companies to pay a $12 royalty for every $100 of net profits. - NNSL file photo

The money will go into a newly-created Resource Revenue Trust established by NTI and will be used to fund projects, programs and activities in Nunavut's communities.

The resource revenue resolution was adopted unanimously on Nov. 23 during the land claim organization's annual general meeting in Cambridge Bay.

The policy states the new source of revenue should be allocated equally to both the operating and endowment funds. In turn, the money in the operating fund should be distributed 30 per cent to NTI, 10 per cent to each regional Inuit association while the remaining 40 per cent will be distributed to the regional Inuit associations on a per capita basis.

As for the money in the endowment fund, the policy states it should be distributed annually according to the existing formula, only after it exceeds a $100 million threshold.

Seven trustees – the presidents of NTI, the three regional Inuit associations and three independent trustees – will oversee the trust. Five of those seven trustees must approve any decision related to the trust.

The money is to be used for short- and long-term sustainable benefits but not in areas where government has primary responsibility as the money should "augment rather than duplicate or replace" government programs.

Clare Kines, economic development officer for Arctic Bay, said any royalty is better than nothing.

"If it generates some revenue for the region and for the beneficiaries up here … obviously, it's a good thing," he said. "Right now, the devil is in the details – what the money is going to be spent on, what kind of projects, how it's going to benefit."

Gjoa Haven Mayor Allen Aglukkaq simply said it "seems to be a good thing to have a policy put in place."

Colin Saunders, economic development officer in Pond Inlet, said such a policy is a "great idea." He added the royalty amount is decent, considering the size of some of the projects.

"I would like to see the money trickle down to the beneficiaries," he said. "Let's see some of it being used to improve the lives of Inuit people. Let's see more of it get down to the Inuit people versus getting bottle-necked up at the top of NTI."

Nunavut has seen and continues to see numerous mineral exploration projects.

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. is working through the regulatory process for its Mary River iron ore project near Pond Inlet. In the Kivalliq, Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. is extracting gold at its Meadowbank mine near Baker Lake. And Shear Minerals performed exploration work this past summer in anticipation of a potential re-opening of the Jericho diamond mine some 350 km southwest of Cambridge Bay.

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