http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2014/07/26/Tsilhqotin-With-Gloves/
What happens when a indigenous population sitting on a heap of gold crosses a multinational organization that attempts to do whatever it takes to extract it? The result is what happens in Canada in the Nemiah valley in the region known as the Tsilhoqt’in region. The indigenous populations that live there have been known for its protection of the natural environment in which it depends on for the sake of survival resulting in multiple conflicts. An example would be in the late 1800s where the construction of a road leading to the Cariboo Goldfields was stopped by the murder of several road workers. The level of social unrest eventually led to the road not being developed in the end.
A deal was set when a declaration was signed in 1989 which basically said that no form of construction or extraction of minerals can take place on any major lakes in the area. This rule was reinforced later on when huge deposits of copper and gold were discovered near a fish lake, it was also announced that companies want to completely destroy the lake in order to obtain the minerals. After aggressive protests, the Canadian high court decided that from that point on, if any organization wants to perform any construction of any kind on their land they will need legal consent from the Tsilhoqt’in people.
The fact that the copper and gold can’t be mined has no negative impact on the current market for both those metals; however what they lose are the potential benefits they may receive if that wasn’t the case. The firms that are heavily impacted the most by this may be jewelry and metal work firms where suppliers may have difficulties in providing demanded quantity of resources. This can potentially affects a firm’s output hence its ability to compete with other competitions.
Both gold hand copper are highly valued in the global market for function and other criteria. Gold in particular is pretty rare in terms of being to excavate in large quantities including the processes required to obtain it. Many organizations need gold leading to its high demand. From an economics point of view, the decrease in supply will lead to an increase in price and costs. There may be a sudden increase in supply of gold if the fish lake were to be exploited which may have the effect of alleviating pressures on prices which multiple firms can benefit from.
Overall, the restriction on both these metals may have the most significant impact on the local industry which do not rely on foreign imports as heavily. In the assumption that the gold were to be obtained and passed onto them, it will lead to increased output which can be vital in terms of their ability to compete with foreign competition.