Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Disenfranchisement of Rural Communities

Management of natural resources has disproportionately fallen into the hands of experts (the civil servants) that have no direct connection the land or the natural resources. They do not need to consider the implications to the communities in which the decisions play out.

When one compares this to someone that operates a small one town mill operation, they have a social license with the community “I can not screw up because everyone can find me and lynch me” There is a stronger interest/incentive to keep the jobs going because the investment the small owner has in the town.

No one is saying to MoF or MoE “Oh don’t make the decision because you are going to have a negative impact on the small town”

Where is the social license of the government to be allowed to extract the tax value form the land?

To have engagement of the community in a meaningful manner in how the decisions are made in relation to natural resources you have to get the people that have the real decision making power – forest industry and mining industry executives in downtown Vancouver and the civil servants to engage with the communities. You need to have them live in the small rural towns, they have to engage with the First Nations – get out the board rooms, get onto the land. Given our technology today, there is no earthly reason to base any of the resource companies in Vancouver (if you think capital markets are the reason, then you have to remember the money people are in Calgary now as part of that flight of big money and investors during the NDP era)

There is no relevant reason for a company like Alcan not to be based out of Kitimat In the case of Lillooet, there is no earthly reason what Ainsworth could not be based in Lillooet instead of downtown Vancouver. Ainsworth did start off with a couple of Ainsworth brother’s being gypo loggers in the Cariboo, but they became West Vancouverites.

Most people see First Nations as having had significant input into land use decisions over the last years and yes it has improved, but it is not because industry or government wanted to do First Nations any favours - it is because the First Nations have fought tooth and nail to get something, anything. This has meant going to the courts to get the decisions that give them the rights to make government pay attention

Every small town across this province should be sending letters of thanks and letters to support to the First Nations leaders that have taken the risk and pushed the issue against all the government and corporate might. These decisions on consultation with First Nations will also apply to the rest to the rural residents. The First Nations decisions set the stage for a new era in consultation with all rural residents and all people out there

Consultation is more than just letting people know what you are doing, it is process to get your information out in manner that is understandable with those that you are consulting with and then taking the comments that come back in making use of them or justifying why you would not use them. It is an iterative process that promotes an interest based approach and not a positional one.

Unfortunately government has rarely had any interest in consultation because it will not give people the information that they need, will not show how input is used and comes from a purely positional basis. That classic We have out statuary decision maker – we can not fetter the minister and bullshit like that. If it is wrong, it is wrong, it is wrong. Moving us into this feudal model is utterly wrong where we the residents of rural communities, aboriginal and non aboriginal have no ability to have any proper say or input into our land is fundamentally wrong. We have become feudal like serfs on our own land and this is message the First Nations have been trying to tell people for 100 years. And I think in the last few years rural communities are beginning to learn the harsh truth themselves.

The plight of First Nations is the same plight of rural communities – there is a common cause of disempowerment and disenfranchisement from any meaningful input into land use planning

We need to have the rural communities and First Nations go out and reclaim the land.

There has to be a fundamentally respectful and two way process.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Good News for the Port of Stewart

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Western Keltic Signs MOU with Stewart Bulk Terminals Ltd.
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Vancouver, Canada, April 30, 2007. Western Keltic Mines Inc. ("Western
Keltic" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the signing of a
memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with Stewart Bulk Terminals Ltd.
("SBTL") in Stewart, BC. The MOU commits both parties to start
discussions leading to an agreement for the provision of concentrates
storage and loading facility in the port of Stewart for the Kutcho
project.

"In our experience, Stewart Bulk Terminals is a very progressive
business that is planning for the future," said John McConnell,
President and CEO, "We look forward to finalizing this agreement and to
a long term working relationship with the SBTL management team".

Western Keltic foresees producing approximately 118,000 tonnes of
copper concentrate and 89,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate annually for
shipment, beginning in late 2009. The concentrates will be hauled by
truck from the mine site to Stewart for storage before being loaded for
shipment to various destinations on the Pacific Rim. By signing this
MOU, SBTL will ensure that it has the ability and capacity to handle
Western Keltic concentrates during the Kutcho Project's operational
phrase. SBTL will immediately place the storage and loading of Western
Keltic concentrates in its development plans so any required personnel
and/or infrastructure changes can be completed by the fourth quarter of
2009.

The Port of Stewart & Stewart Bulk Terminals Ltd.

Located on the BC-Alaska border, the port of Stewart is the
northernmost deep-water, ice-free port in British Columbia, capable of
handling deep-sea traffic.

Stewart Bulk Terminals Ltd. is a privately-owned company operating a
bulk product storage and loading facility in Stewart. The facility has
modern upgraded dock that permits the loading of concentrates for
shipment around the Pacific Rim. SBTL has been serving the shipping
needs of the Northwestern BC since 1993.

Western Keltic

Western Keltic is a mineral exploration and development company and is
the 100 per cent owner of the Kutcho Project, a proposed copper/zinc
mine located 100 km east of Dease Lake, BC. The Company is currently
completing a Pre-feasibility study and has entered into the BC
Environmental Assessment process seeking an Environmental Certificate
and related permits for the construction, operation, closure and
reclamation of the project.

The Kutcho property hosts three massive sulphide copper-zinc deposits:
Main, Esso and Sumac:



Deposit Tonnes Copper % Zinc % Silver Gold
g/t g/t
Main
(Measured & Indicated) 14,200,000 1.86 2.44 33 0.4
Esso (Indicated) 2,000,000 2.93 5.5 69 0.6
Sumac (Inferred) 4,200,000 1.35 1.85 21 0.2


Current planning foresees the construction of a 2.0 million tonne per
annum mine in 2008 with production beginning late in 2009. Annual
production is expected to approximate 36,000 tonnes of copper, 39,000
tonnes of zinc, and 42,000 kg of silver and 340 kg of gold in
concentrates. Metallurgical test work has demonstrated 90% copper
recovery and 75% Zn recovery, producing a 31% copper concentrate and a
54% zinc concentrate. It should be noted that the Company has not yet
completed its economic study with respect to the potential production
from the Kutcho Property. As a result the above production figures are
projections only, and as such are subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected.

Western Keltic is traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol
WKM.

For further information:

John McConnell
604-682-8414 or 1-800-501-1201
www.westernkeltic.com
On behalf of the Board of Directors
WESTERN KELTIC MINES INC.
"Signed"
John McConnell
President and CEO

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.

THIS PRESS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR
DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED
STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED
HEREIN. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED
STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES
LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S.
PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THERE FROM.

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Copyright (c) 2007 WESTERN KELTIC MINES INC. (TSX-V:WKM) All rights
reserved. For more information visit our website at
http://www.keltic.com/ or send mailto:invest@westernkeltic.com
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