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We also have a socio-economic monitoring agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories, which was signed by Indigenous partners.
Aimed at serving and strengthening the communities of the Northwest Territories and West Kitkimeot, we provide support through our community contribution programme. The key priority areas of the programme are:
The projects funded by our Community Contribution fund focus on improving the quality of life for residents of the NWT and West Kitikmeot regions.
If you have a project you would like our Community Contribution Committee to consider for funding, please download the application and submit to DiavikCommunities@riotinto.com.
We also contribute to local communities through in-kind volunteering and participating in the communities, including our five local participation agreement groups.
We provide financial assistance for northerners pursuing their education goals through a variety of scholarship programs.
We support a scholarship fund (with three annual scholarships) at the Yellowknife Community Foundation and, in 2018, funded a new scholarship for women in the NWT and Kitikmeot region to pursue post-secondary education in science, technology, engineering and math programs.
Applications will be available in May each year.
We also support scholarships for students nominated by P.W Kaeser, Diamond Jenness Secondary School, St. Patrick High School, and Ecole Sir John Franklin High School who are entering post-secondary studies. Two Diavik scholarships are available at Aurora College, with a focus on the Environment and Natural Resources Technology Program.
Applications for our two Diavik-administered scholarship programs, Children of Diavik Employees and Post-secondary Scholarships, are accepted annually in August. Application forms can be accessed here.
Additionally, through our Participation Agreements, we are providing scholarship funds to our community partners to administer for their members.
In 2019, we continued to focus on partnering with Northern businesses and, in so doing, ensured major benefits flowed to local firms, many of which are Indigenous. For example, 74% of our spending, or C$370.6 million, was with Northern businesses – an increase over the C$321.9 million spent with northern companies in 2018. Of this 2019 northern spend, C$166.7 million was with northern Indigenous businesses – an increase over the C$158.4 million spent in 2018.
Diavik operates in one of the world’s most untouched and ecologically sensitive environments. Vast tundra surrounds the mine and it is home to bears, wolverine, and migrating caribou. The waters of Lac de Gras are pure and teeming with fish and bird life. Over one-third of the Northwest Territories is covered by lakes and rivers and in spite of its apparent abundance water is considered a precious resource, especially by Indigenous peoples. It provides habitat for much of the wildlife that is critical to the traditional lifestyles of local communities. For example, caribou play a key role in Indigenous culture and spirituality and it remains a staple in the diets of many Indigenous people. These and other environmental factors were carefully taken into account to ensure Diavik has minimal environmental effects and the operation meets the needs of local communities.
Diavik engages with local Indigenous communities and its environmental monitoring programmes include incorporating traditional knowledge from local communities. For example, the mine’s aquatic effects monitoring programme was designed by community members to evaluate fish health and water quality using traditional indicators. As part of this programme, which is based from a seasonal camp near the mine site, fish are caught, cleaned, inspected, cooked, and tasted. Water is inspected, sampled, boiled, and tasted. Participants share traditional knowledge of the Lac de Gras area and record their observations of the fish and the water. The initiative was documented and a video, titled We Fish Today, For Fish Tomorrow, has been produced. Results from both scientific and traditional knowledge observations indicate the present status of fish and water in Lac de Gras is good.
We are committed to ensuring local communities benefit from the sustainable development of its mine and these commitments are formalized through individual participation agreements with the: Tlicho Government, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the North Slave Metis Alliance, the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, and the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation. We have entered into an Environmental Agreement with local Indigenous groups, and federal and territorial governments. Concluded in March 2000, the agreement formalizes Diavik’s environmental protection commitments, establishes reclamation security requirements, and provides transparency and oversight to local communities. Through this agreement, we established an Environmental Monitoring Advisory Board to provide advice and oversee environmental issues with representatives from our Indigenous communities. As part of Diavik’s local commitments under the Socio-Economic Monitoring Agreement, Indigenous people and northern residents receive hiring priority. We are committed to achieving at least 40% Indigenous employment at Diavik, and at least 66% Northern employment including our contractors. This commitment is formalised in the socio-economic monitoring agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories and Indigenous signatories.
We are committed to Canada and ensuring that the work we do creates value and opportunity that reaches far beyond our operations
How we process personal data provided or obtained through this website.
With the exception of the use of cookies, Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of our Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
With the exception of the use of cookies (explained below), Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
Part 1 of this Privacy Policy contains the Rio Tinto Data Privacy Standard, which provides an overview of Rio Tinto’s approach to personal data processing. There is additional information in the appendices to the Data Privacy Standard, including information about disclosures, trans-border data transfers, the exercise of data subject rights and how to make complaints or obtain further information relating to Rio Tinto’s processing of your personal data.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us at digital.comms@riotinto.com).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of this Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
These Cookies are used to provide a better user experience on the site, such as by measuring interactions with particular content or remembering your settings such as language or video playback preferences.
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