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Enbridge, Borealis GeoPower team up with First Nation on project

Enbridge, Borealis GeoPower team up with First Nation on project Near Terrace, BC, Canada (source: flickr/ Dave Bezaire & Susi Havens-Bezaire, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 12 Mar 2014

A consortium of a First Nation, Enbridge and Borealis GeoPower are working on a geothermal project near Mount Layton, in British Columbia Canada, having secured a geothermal permit earlier this year.

In the news in Canada this morning, it is reported that Kitselas First Nation, Enbridge and Borealis GeoPower have signed a deal for a geothermal project in the Mount Layton hot springs area in British Columbia, Canada.

Earlier the year, the LL Geothermal Inc. consortium paid $100,000 in a tender for the exclusive subsurface rights to 2,865 hectares of land south of Lakelse Lake, on traditional Kitselas territory.

Should a geothermal resource be discovered in the exploration the consortium can then apply for the conversion of the permit to an operating lease.

“The project, and its site, must meet a number of conditions during its approval process,” reads an article in a recent issue of a Kitselas First Nation newsletter. “One important condition is whether other First Nations have an interest in the area.” There are talks between different First Nations that also have claims in the region, e.g. with Lax Kw’alaams and Metlakatla, Tsimshian First Nations on the North Coast.

According to the application filed with the provincial government, the site also overlaps an area identified by the Haisla of Kitamaat Village as being traditional territory.

The regional district of Kitimat-Stikine and the City of Terrace also want to be included in discussions surrounding exploration and development.

In 2009, the province of British Columbia put up several geothermal sites up for permits, including the area now being explored by LL Geothermal. That area though only received interst in 2012 and was put up for new “pre-tenure referral in May 2013.”

According to Tim Thompson, CEO of Borealis GeoPower, the hot springs in the area of Mount Layton are considered to have the highest temperatures of hot springs in Canada. Borealis, according to Mr. Thompson has had a keen interest in the area since 2007.

For Enbridge this is the first geothermal project in Canada that the company is getting involved in after successful investments in geothermal development in the United States.

Representatives of the Kitselas First Nation were invited to the opening of the Neal Hot Springs geothermal plant in Oregon, which Enbridge has been a cornerstone investor in.

Source: Terrace Standard