Mining executive under fire for email to Indigenous leader – Canada’s National Observer

May 7th 2025

An email from the CEO of a mining company to an Ontario First Nation chief is causing an uproar over how resource companies engage with Indigenous communities.

In the email, shared with Canada’s National Observer, Golden Rapture Mining CEO and president Richard Rivet called Chief Jeffrey Copenace of the Ojibways of Onigaming a “terrible leader” for opposing a proposed mineral exploration project near the First Nation’s territory. The company wants to start a small-scale drilling and surface rock sampling project in 2025.

The mining company hopes to explore a 10,000-acre gold property near Sioux Narrows and Nestor Falls in Ontario and upstream from lakes connecting Onigaming First Nation to Lake of the Woods.