Aboriginal Partnerships

Ontario Operations

Inco has long recognized that we share common interests with aboriginal peoples in the Sudbury area. Today, we are committed to developing and strengthening mutually beneficial relationships with our aboriginal neighbours by encouraging open dialogue, information sharing and inclusion.

  2004 PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

• Continued to work with Wahnapitae First Nation members of the joint Environmental Management Committee to oversee ongoing decommissioning of Whistle Mine.
• Continued to work collaboratively with Wahnapitae First Nation and Whitefish Lake First Nation representatives belonging to the Sudbury Soils Study Public Advisory Committee.

AN ONGOING PARTNERSHIP

In 1999, we formalized our relationship with the 330-member Wahnapitae First Nation through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU establishes a list of principles designed to promote closer relations between Inco and the aboriginal community. It also promotes the participation of Wahnapitae First Nation members as employees and contractors in our ongoing program to decommission the Whistle Mine, an open pit operation located 30 kilometres north of Sudbury and adjacent to the Wahnapitae reserve.

Since decommissioning began in 1999, we have met regularly with members of the community to discuss the program and participated in a joint Environmental Management Committee. As well, we have trained and hired a number of band members who are participating in the closure program.

Our collaborative efforts continued in 2004. "We continue to meet with members of the community to discuss the MOU and environmental issues on a regular basis," says Glen Watson, an Environmental Biologist with Inco's Environment, Health and Safety Department in Sudbury. "We also continue to employ two band members to monitor the wastewater from the mine."

According to Watson, it's anticipated that work to cover and regreen the Whistle Mine pit will be completed by 2006. Thereafter, environmental monitoring will continue for eight to ten years.