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6 Wednesday October 28 2015 EDUCATION ON THE LAND Course gives amateur NWT prospectors a new tool Destiny Rabesca glasses a sample as Ontario-based professional prospector Jessica Bjorkman who taught three prospecting workshops in the NWT recently looks on. PhotoBillBraden By CRAIG GILBERT For years Danny Yakeleya and his brother talked about digging into a story their grandmother told of gold on the Mackenzie Mountain. These people spent their lives on the mountain Yakeleya said from his Tulita office. My grandmother spent 60 years on the mountain and 20 in the community. So for one story to come out of 60 years thats not a lot. There must have been some- thing to it. The former mayor of Tulita has some time on his hands since rolling the heavy equip- ment business he shares with his brother and a friend into two others and downsiz- ing a bit so next summer he plans to fol- low the legend. He was on the mountain last summer doing some prospecting when he realized the reading he had done and the YouTube videos he had watched left some big holes in his understanding of the craft so he started looking around for courses offered in the Sahtu. Like the vast majority of gold expeditions he came up dry so when the chance to take a course offered by the government of the Northwest Territories GNWT and a host of other mining sector stakeholders came up this fall he jumped at the chance. At just 40 it was money well spent as Yakeleya one of 50 people who took part in the workshops in Yellowknife Beh- choko and Dettah feels more prepared to do a proper job of it the next time he hits the land. This was a good stepping stone into actu- ally doing prospecting he said. Its a lot of work there is a lot of carrying equip- ment and walking and it can be danger- ous. If youre working as a freelancer for a company they demand a lot. Dont just expect a nice time. Yakeleya paid close attention as guest speakers from the NWT Mining Record- ers Ofce and the NWT Geological Sur- vey provided introductions to the NWTs Mineral Claim Regulations and NWT Mineral Assessment Reports and Geologi- cal Resources. You dont want to go out and stake a piece of land and nd out you did it wrong he said. They taught us what laws and regulations to watch out for including the Mines and Minerals Act and where to look for things if youre not sure. The rst day was all classroom work day two was hands-on and spent out on the land. That was really great Yakeleya said. They showed us what to look for in the rock formations where minerals seep through that sort of thing. The course set you on the path you should go. It pointed you in the right direction. Prospecting may not be for everyone. It is a lot of hard work and risky both nan- cially and in terms of personal safety on the land Yakeleya said even the rough-going depicted on the variety of reality shows fo- cused on small-scale exploration and min- ing operations in the North has the glow of Hollywood about it. So the prospecting courses may not lead to a grassroots goldrush in the NWT but hav- ing that skill set could come in handy to the residents who already spend time on the land harvesting and trapping. Id like to see a lot more people around the area doing stuff he said. For people who are already out on the land hunting if you had that knowledge maybe youll see things that spark your interest. It gives people the chance to broaden what theyre doing. Northwest Territories UNEXPECTED. UNFORGETTABLE. WHATS NEW IN FORT SMITH WWW.FORTSMITH.CA For more information please contact TOWN OF FORT SMITH P.O. Box 147 Fort Smith NT X0E 0P0 Canada Phone 867 872-8400 Fax 867 872-8401 townoffortsmithfortsmith.ca MEET YOUR NEW MAYOR AND COUNCIL Mayor Lynn Napier-Buckley Councillor Erika Bell Councillor Al Dumont Councillor Ron Holtorf Councillor Anna Kikoak Councillor Bob McArthur Councillor Rashmi Patel Councillor Kevin Smith Councillor Brenda Tuckey Welcome to our new mayor and the new and returning councillors.