Raglan Agreement  The Raglan Agreement, signed in 1995, was the first Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) in Canada to be negotiated and signed directly between a mining company and the Aboriginal group that would be ultimately effected by the mining operation. The Raglan mine is located in “Nunavik”, Quebec’s northernmost region. There has been exploration of the Nunavik Region’s mineral resources since the early 1930s. It was not until the 1990s, with an upswing in the global mineral market, that a real and concerted effort to explore arctic Quebec’s resources began. In 1992 a feasibility study of the future Raglan mine was conducted with positive results. Between 1992 and 1995 negotiations between the interested Inuit parties of Nunavik and the Mining company (Falconbridge Ltd) Canadian representatives began. The Raglan Agreement was signed in January 1995. On signing, construction began on the facilities of the Raglan Mine. The actual mining operations began at the end of 1997. While it was originally estimated that the Raglan mine would operate for 15 years, with expansions over the years and potential future expansions, it is now estimated that Raglan Mine could operate for an additional 15 years (a potential total of 30+ years). Currently Raglan’s operations are massive. The entire mine spans 70 km from one end to the other. There are three underground mines in operation with the construction and beginnings of operations of two open pit mines. Each year Raglan extracts and treats about 1.3 million tonnes of ore, or about 3.6 tonnes per day. Raglan Mine’s main mineral productions are nickel and copper. Some cobalt, palladium, and platinum are also present but in insufficient quantities for commercial mining purposes. After the mineral ore is extracted from the mines, the on site processing facility crushes, grinds, and treats it. The result is a “nickel-copper concentrate”, which is then transported by truck north of the Raglan site to coast at Deception Bay. From Deception Bay the concentrate is shipped by water to Sudbury Ontario for smelting. Finally the smelted material is shipped to Norway for refining into usable product metal product. The Raglan exploration and mine is in Northern Quebec. The negotiations and signing of the agreement was done in the context of the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA). The JBNQA has an aspect of land claims and requirements of negotiations with aboriginal groups.