Indigenous-owned mining royalty company a first in Canada [Video]

In June of this year, a new company called Nations Royalty Corp. began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange.

With minimum fanfare, the new company quietly hit a milestone on the road to Indigenous economic reconciliation in this country, becoming the only mining royalty company in the world that is majority-owned by Indigenous people.

Backed by billionaire Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra, Nations Royalty aims to lure investors with the promise of exposure to Indigenous-owned royalties, which company executives say is the last untapped pool in Canada.

But for the Nisga’a Nation — the self-governing B.C.-based First Nation that owns 77 per cent of the company — Nations Royalty is also a key part of the path to economic independence.

“One of the goals of our Nation is financial independence,” said Charles Morven, secretary-treasurer for the Nisga’a Nation.

“We still haven’t broken away from the Indian Act, like we would …