Noront 
Innovative Practice/Initiative: Aboriginal Community Engagement Using Social Media - www.mikawaa.com
Organisation Profile
Noront Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture: NOT) is focused on its significant and multiple, high-grade nickel-copper-platinum-palladium, chromite, gold and vanadium discoveries in an area known as the "Ring of Fire", an emerging multi-metals district located in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario, Canada. Noront is the largest land holder at the Ring of Fire and continues to delineate and prove up its discoveries with NI 43-101 technical and economic reports and an aggressive and well financed drill plan for 2011.
Noront's transition from junior explorer to producer has three key focus points:
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Exploration, to increase its nickel, copper, platinum and palladium resource;
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Engineering and Development, to verify that existing resources can be profitably mined, processed, transported and sold; and
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Corporate Responsibility, to work with local First Nations Communities and all levels of government for the benefit of all Ontarians.
The Organisation's Initiative
Noront Resources' head office is located in Toronto, Ontario while the company's mineral exploration camp is located over 1,500km away in a remote fly-in area north of Thunder Bay, in what has become known as the Ring of Fire. Noront's exploration camp and deposits are located within the traditional lands of two First Nation communities, Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation. Noront was interested in creating a more involved and comprehensive way to communicate and consult with the Aboriginal communities that surround our project. Noront created www.mikawaa.com, a Consultation Portal, developed for engagement of First Nation communities and Noront Resources. The goal of this portal is to open a respectful, responsible, and knowledgeable dialogue with the communities surrounding our project.
Our objective is to understand the communities' concerns, issues, and goals. While learning from the surrounding communities, we also want to share information on our activities and plans. We believe that through open dialogue, effective communication and mutual understanding, we will take the first steps to maintaining our relationships in good faith and together reaping the benefits of our work.
Noront is committed to being an aboriginally inclusive company. Noront believes that the local aboriginal communities should benefit economically from resource development opportunities not only with jobs in mining camp but to build capacity in the community for professional education, development and business opportunities. Noront Resources hopes to inspire and educate the young people in the communities on the importance of staying in school and getting an education to hopefully work in the mining industry.
Noront partnered with Engage Learning Systems and created the website Mikawaa.com, our community consultation portal based on a social networking platform. Mikawaa is an Oji-Cree word meaning Discovery. Discovery has many meanings for the Ring of Fire. Discovery can mean exploration success, discovery can mean improving our mutual understanding, discovery can mean a better more effective way for us to work together, discovery can mean creating new opportunities for all stakeholders. Mikawaa includes online videos, discussion boards and interactivities. Currently Mikawaa has 100 videos posted on their website, included in these are videos on First Nation individuals and employees from camp. The focus of these videos are on young people in communities, elders sharing their stories of traditional practices, community leaders, community investment activities, professionals working in mining industry, captive conversations about the environment, teamwork, and the amazing women of the Ring of Fire.
Evidence of Impacts
Mikawaa.com was launched on October 1, 2010, and within the first 6 months of the site going public the videos alone had been viewed over 60,000 times. The site brought in interest from visitors coming from a vast range of places such as India, China, Australia, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. Over 250 members are registered on the Mikawaa social network community, making new friends, connecting to dialogue of shared goals for development, inclusion and the creation of a sustainable economy in the Ring of Fire.
Noront also hosted community information sessions to educate on how to use Mikawaa.com portal and showed them how to create online profiles. Noront worked with the teachers and students to create an online profile that show cases and celebrate the school in each community. The teachers were provided with sample lesson plans and resources on how to incorporate creative and meaningful activities to upload to the site in the future.
Not only have the youth in these communities, who use this website similar to Facebook, been interested in becoming a part of Mikawaa.com but people of all ages have been creating online profiles and participating in discussion. These people have been using it as a community resource to discuss mining information, community goals, as well as promote community tourism or their personal craft businesses.
There are an abundance of new members who have been joining the site from outside the aboriginal communities. These people are executives and managers, not only within the Mining Industry but also in the banking, technology, education, nutrition, food and retail industries. These people have been making profiles to present themselves as online mentors for the communities.
As a result it has been found that Mikawaa.com is encouraging dialogue between First Nation community members, elders, youth, mineral development companies, Federal government departments and officials, Provincial ministers, resource industry members and environmental organizations. As a result for the expanding interest in this website the site is continuously evolving as new information is gathered on the Noront Mining project and the company's community partners.
Please find below a variety of quoted feedback from many industry individuals:
| "Very interesting; Good luck with this concept."
Jacques Perron ing, P. Eng, President & CEO St. Andrew Goldfields Ltd. | "This is so exciting! I did a quick tour already. Your portal is at the leading edge ushering in new ways to encourage collaboration, dialogue, development and employment among communities. Outstanding!"
Craig Hall, Aboriginal Human Resource Council |
| "Well done Leanne… this is very impressive!"
Ryan Montpellier, MiHR Council | "I've registered! What a cool site."
Melanie Sturk Director, Attraction, Retention, & Transition, MiHR Council |
| "This initiative is amazing!"
Angela Bishop, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business | "This is great. Thanks for the heads up on this. This site is absolutely BRILLIANT!!!!!!"
Clint Davis, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business |
| "The new site is amazing. The video content throughout is terrific. I'm hoping to spend some additional time on the site again today."
Laura Clinton, Manager, Financial Affairs and Fun Development PDAC, Mining Matters | "The videos are excellent for a variety of reasons but in particular because they will interest community members. People like to see themselves and hear the stories of others they know on the screen. The stories that are there now are well done and the more images of identifiable people on the site the better."
- Brenda Dalglish, PDAC Mining Matters |
| "This is fantastic! I have now had a chance to review the site in some detail and am most impressed. Congrats to a leading edge, impactful initiative. Loved your comments especially "I am very passionate about the work I do…." I travel by place, float place, helicopter…" Reminded me of some trips I have taken across the north from Yellowknife to Pond Inlet!"
- Charles Coffey, O.C. | "Incredible work, doing things the right way is rarely the easiest. An excellent example for others!"
- Don Barraclough, Nation Talk |
| "Hats off… What an amazing tool this is!... Congratulations - this is truly world class"
- Rachel Pineault, Detour Gold | "A great site. It's easy to navigate, visually appealing and full of useful information."
- Jason Prno, Trailhead Consulting |
| "I am just looking around the site - it is fabulous!! Great work! Two things that I find to be especially foundational are the forum (conversations) area and the videos. The forum really provides an opportunity for dialogue and feedback, which is central to engagement. The videos are very well done!"
- Lesley Williams, PDAC | "I watched the messages from Wes Hanson and Leanne Hall - I like the focus on training FN people for jobs - and the large variety of jobs available, as well as the focus on environmental stewardship."
- Bryan Hendry, AFN |
| "I am really impressed with the level of work that went into and the treatment of each Aboriginal community as a unique entity - just goes to show what a great, diverse team can do! From a community engagement point-of-view I think this is a great step."
- Mary Kelly, AMEC Earth & Environmental |
Additional Comments and/or Information
The Mikawaa website has become the first steps in effectively maintaining new relationships with individual aboriginal community members. In the future Noront Resources is looking to expand Mikawaa to include videos, community specific walls, career awareness tools, a registry for Aboriginal businesses and new members from all 9 Matawa First Nation communities, not just the communities of Marten Falls and Webequie. This will allow Noront to continuously update all community members on their projects and post specific jobs, training and business opportunities in real time.
Noront believes the most important resource this consultation portal has created will be the information and open dialogue they can receive which will create a more effective way to help understand the realities and views of their community partners.
Video Gallery
