Financial Benefits
WHAT ARE THE SEPA FINANCIAL BENEFITS TO KASKA?
The SEPA provides large financial benefits to Kaska. Payments to Kaska are guaranteed throughout the life of the Project. Once the cost of building the mine has been paid back, Kaska will receive payments based on the profits of the Project. The amounts of these payments are confidential and can be shared with Kaska members only. The details on payment amounts can be found at your Band Office where there is a full copy of the SEPA. Please read Schedule “F” of the SEPA to find out
more about the financial benefits.
THE FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS IN THE SEPA INCLUDE:
- Funds provided to Kaska will be made to Trust Accounts, which will be managed separately from the Band Councils. The Trust Accounts will be overseen by a corporate trustee (like a bank or credit union) and community-appointed trustees. The communities will decide how to use the funds once the Trust Accounts are set up.
- All Payments under the SEPA are subject to the Kaska Collaboration Agreement which sets out the sharing among Kaska Communities for all projects within Kaska Traditional Territory. For the Selwyn Project, the following distributions apply:
- 40% to Ross River Dena Council
- 30% to Liard First Nation
- 10% to Kwadacha
- 10% to Dease River First Nation
- 10% to Daylu Dena Council
- The SEPA provides Kaska with access to Selwyn Chihong company information through which Kaska can verify that the amounts being provided to Kaska are correct.
- The financial benefits will be provided in the following seven categories (each is further explained below):
- Bonus Payments
- Development Payments
- Before Payback Revenue Sharing Payments
- Monthly After Payback Revenue Sharing Payments
- Temporary Suspension Payments
- Environmental Trust Payments
- Lands & Resource Department Payments
Bonus Payments are fixed payments that will be provided at various milestones during the permitting process for the Project, prior to the start of construction.
Development Payments are fixed payments that will be provided during the construction period and will continue until the mine is in full production.
Before Payback Revenue Sharing Payments are fixed payments that will be made each year when the mine is in full production until Selwyn Chihong can repay the capital costs of building the mine.
Monthly After Payback Revenue Sharing Payments are payments based on a percentage of profits that the mine makes each month after Selwyn Chihong has repaid the capital costs of building the mine. There are different percentages applied, depending on where the ore is mined – on the R-Block, off the R-Block but in Yukon, and in NWT.
Temporary Suspension Payments are fixed payments that will be made if the mine is forced to shut down for a period of time.
Environmental Trust Payments are fixed payments that will be made to the Environmental Trust which can be used for environmental studies by the Kaska over the life of the Project.
Lands and Resources Department Payments are payments that will be made to enable the Kaska to review permits and other permissions that the mine will need to operate. The amount provided will reflect the level of work required from the Lands and Resources Department.
