Tahltan First Nation bans mining company in dispute over coal mine

DEASE LAKE, B.C. — The Globe and Mail/The Canadian Press, April 1, 2014

A northern B.C. First Nation has banned a mining company from its lands as a bitter fight over a proposed coal mine escalates, again.

Tahltan Central Council president Annita McPhee says Fortune Minerals must not enter Tahltan Nation communities without permission from the Iskut and Tahltan bands.

RCMP set up camp between Tahtlan and Fortune Minerals mine

By Josh Massey, Terrace Standard, August 23, 2013

Tahltan camp opposed to Fortune Minerals coal mine, 2013.

RCMP officers have set up a camp between one occupied by Tahltan members and one established by a company which wants to develop an open-pit anthracite coal mine in the Klappan area north of here.

The Tahltan, who view the Klappan as a hunting and food-gathering area, have been threatening a blockade of Fortune Minerals which is gathering information that will lead to asking for provincial environmental clearance to open a mine they say could provide $10 billion in revenue over its lifetime.

Tahltan First Nation tells Fortune Minerals to leave their traditional territory

Elders insist Klappan region be made a protected area

Allison Bench, CFTK-TV Terrace, Aug 15, 2013

Tahtlan rally in August, 2012, against Red Chris Mine, in northern ‘BC’.

Members of Tahltan First Nations have taken a stand against a proposed coal mining project by Fortune Minerals on Mount Klappan.  They’ve told company representatives to leave their traditional lands.

Although the Tahltan aren’t expecting that to happen by the 24-hour-deadline they gave the company yesterday, they say they aren’t backing down.