b'CROSS-COUNTRY SNAPSHOTONTARIOFRONTIER LITHIUM PAK LITHIUM PROJECTPAKEAGAMA LAKE, ONTARIOSpearheaded by Frontier Lithium in Northwestern Ontario, the PAK Lithium Project is a critical lithium mineral development being carried out in close partnerships with several First Nations in Treaty 5 territory, including Deer Lake, Sandy Lake and North Spirit Lake First Nations. It is being built at Pakeagama Lake, which is said to be home to the highest quality of spodumenethe mineral carrying lithiumin North America. Construction on the mine and mill is scheduled for mid-2028, with opera-tions starting in 2030. GEORGIA LAKE PROJECTAerial image of Brucejack gold mine and Brucejack Lake, near Stewart in Northwest B.C. THUNDER BAY MINING DISTRICT, ONTARIONISGAA NATIONS WORLD-FIRST Rock Tech Lithium\'s Georgia Lake Project is a lithium mining initia-MINING PARTNERSHIP tive located near Lake Nipigon in Northwestern Ontario. It includes The Nisgaa Nation in British Columbia made history by becoming the topplans to install a lithium hydroxide shareholder of Nations Royalty Corp, the only mining royalty company inconverter facility in Red Rock, Ontario, the world to be majority owned by Indigenous partners. The company wasfor processing spodumenethe launched by mining financier Frank Giustra in June 2025 and is currentlymineral containing lithiuminto 77 per cent owned by Nisgaa Nation, a self-governing First Nation locatedbattery-grade lithium hydroxide. Rock primarily in the provinces northwestern Nass River Valley.Tech Lithium owns the project but has entered an Exploration Agreement "One of the goals of our Nation is financial independence," Nisga\'awith the following local First Nations secretary-treasurer Charles Morven told CBC News. "We still haven\'tcommunities: Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek, Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging broken away from the Indian Act, like we would like to We want to beAnishinaabek, Red Rock Indian accountable to ourselves. [Nations Royalty] will allow us to manage ourBand and Animbiigoo Zaagi\'igan own wealth, instead of relying on government funding." Anishinaabek. The agreement includes equity sharing, training and By bringing multiple royalties under one publicly-traded entity, Nationsemployment support, and ensures Royalty aims to create more economic opportunities for its IndigenousFirst Nations are included in decision-owners and shareholders while providing industry investors with moremaking on land use, environmental options in the Canadian mining sector. Currently, the company\'s portfoliomonitoring, and cultural values. Lake includes Nisga\'a-held royalty interests in five distinct mining projectsNipigon Forest Management group, a across B.C.\'s Golden Triangle, a remote region with vast deposits of gold,First Nations-led cooperative, has also silver and copper. come on board to build access roads for the operation."We do have a vision to build a top-five royalty company, and the pathWATAYNIKANEYAP POWER PROJECTis therebecause the number and scale of Indigenous royalties acrossNORTHWEST ONTARIOCanada are very impressive," said Nations Royalty CEO Rob McLeod.The $1.9-billion Wataynikaneyap Power Project includes the installation of 1,800 McLeod noted that the Nisga\'a are encouraging other royalty-holding Firstkilometres of transmission lines across Nations to partner with them as shareholders in the venture. Northwestern Ontario, connecting 17 remote Indigenous communities that Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nations-royalty-mining- are currently reliant on diesel genera-company-nisga-a-nation-bc-canada-1.7386290#:~:text=Nations%20Royalty%20 tors. Construction of the backbone line Corp.%20has%20hit,majority%2Downed%20by%20Indigenous%20people. was completed in late 2024, and the final communities, including Muskrat Dam 32A CCIB PUBLICATIONFall 2025'