The West Moberly First Nations group decision was handed down by...

The West Moberly First Nations group decision was handed down by the Provincial Supreme Court of BC in May 2014. Subsequently as I noted 28 Aug 2014, The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 26 Jun 14 in the Tsilqhot’in Nation’s Aboriginal title case. This was the first case decided by the SCC granting Aboriginal title to an Aboriginal group in Canada. The case is of particular importance to resource-rich British Columbia where much of the provincially-owned land is subject to asserted, and often competing, claims to Aboriginal title and where many First Nations have not entered into treaties resolving their land claims with Canada. Previous to this ruling, governments had a duty to “consult”,  The SCC decision now mandates that “consent” must be obtained from the affected aboriginal group. On the positive side, this decision provides certainty to all parties. On the negative side it creates some issues such as whether consent has been obtained from the right person or group, the significance of overlapping and competing claims to Aboriginal title over the same territory and the significance of internal disputes within the groups with respect to land use and development.
On receiving the SCC ruling 26 Jun 14, The Tahitan Central Council immediately announced its intention to prepare an Aboriginal title and rights claim against the Province of British Columbia and Fortune Minerals Ltd against the $800 million CAD Arctos Anthracite Coal project proposed for Mt. Klappan in the Klappan area of Tahltan territory. They are using the same law firm that argued the the Tsilqhot’in Nation’s Aboriginal title before the Supreme Court. The Arctos project is 80km north of the proposed Groundhog project. I would suggest that Fortune Mineral (FT.TSX) Arctos Anthracite project would be an accurate peer. As a result of these legal actions, B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett announced May 4 2015 that his government is taking back 61 coal licences held by Fortune Minerals Ltd. (TSX:FT) and a subsidiary of South Korea’s POSCO.
The B.C. government will pay the companies $18.3 million for the licences, with an option to buy them back within 10 years, provided the government and Tahltan First Nation can develop a “shared vision” for how mining should proceed in their territory.

So the million dollar question is how does ATU obtain consent? Not a peep from the company on what steps they have taken to obtain that consent. Some information can be gleaned from the Thaltan website: The tribal council has communicated to their band members that they are awaiting a budget from Atrum so they can complete their independent studies, In the meantime, until the process of obtaining consent from the Tahltan council is complete, the bulk sample sits in the "pending" file at the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
Lets say for arguments sake that Atrum provided the budget to the Tahltan first nation yesterday. Assuming that the Tahltans have all their ducks in a row and can commence work immediately, they will be able to commence their field work once the snow melts. Once the field work is complete, they can put the report together. Assuming the report is positive, there would be some sort of consultation with the band to form a consensus. Assuming this consensus is positive, the bulk permit process can start again with the appropriate ministry. So in a nutshell, don't have any confidence in ATU management predictions or communication skills.