The Land

Inter-Citic's Dachang Gold Project is located in the Province of Qinghai, western China. Qinghai is the province to the north of the Tibet Autonomous Region. A succession of pastoral peoples have inhabited Qinghai over the past three millennia, including a wave of Tibetans in the seventh century followed by an influx of Mongols after the 13th century under the famous Kublai Khan, who established administrations to govern parts of Qinghai. Most of modern day Qinghai was incorporated into the Chinese Empire in 1724. Qinghai was under the administration of the Ming and Qing dynasties until the Qing dynasty fell in 1911. After 1912 it was under the government of the Northern Warlords. On January 1, 1929, Qinghai Province formally became part of modern China under the Nationalist Government of Chiang Kai-shek, and remains today a province of the People's Republic of China. The population of the Province of Qinghai today is a predominantly Chinese, with ethnic Muslim and Tibetan minorities.

Inter-Citic's Humanitarian Medical Project

To maintain and protect the health of its employees on the Dachang Plateau, Inter-Citic provides on-site medical personnel. In addition to regular occupational health and safety duties, Inter-Citic has adopted a program at the Dachang camp to provide a free medical outreach service to local villages and nomadic herders.

As part of Inter-Citic's humanitarian aid project at Dachang, in 2005 it retained the services of Dr. Tim Cook FRCPC, MPH, DTMH, CD, who undertook a visit to Dachang to perform a medical needs assessment. Dr. Cook is a specialist of General Internal Medicine and Tropical Medicine, holds Fellowship in the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC) as well as a Masters of Public Health and a Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTMH) from the University of London, England as well as from the American Society of Tropical Medicine. He retired from the Canadian Forces Health Service in 2003 as a Lieutenant Colonel after 20 years of service and numerous international deployments. At the time of his retirement he was the Surgeon General's senior advisor in internal and tropical medicine. He is also currently a lecturer at University of Toronto, Dept of Medicine and staff physician at Mt Sinai Hospital, Toronto. Dr. Cook directs a travel clinic, consults to the Canadian Forces Environmental Medicine Establishment at Defence R&D - Toronto and helps supervise internal medicine trainees.

Dr. Cook's findings included recommendations specifically to reduce high infant mortality rates and female deaths related to childbirth. He also made recommendations about basic medical needs related to infectious diseases, nutrition and access to health care issues related to a nomadic lifestyle. This humanitarian program was undertaken at very modest cost to the Company, but the effect on local lives can be enormous, particularly children. Inter-Citic's on-site medical personnel saw and treated both nomadic herding families as well as inhabitants of outlying local villages. More serious problems were diagnosed and referred to local hospitals for additional or longer term treatment.

Inter-Citic will again present an expanded humanitarian program in the Dachang area in 2007 to build on its work of making the lives of local inhabitants - particularly those of children and mothers - better.

Inter-Citic believes that our partnerships with all stakeholders at Dachang are of critical importance to the Company, and it is important that Inter-Citic take the lead and actively contribute to the well-being of local inhabitants at Dachang.

The Environment

Inter-Citic understands that mining is a temporary use of the land. Accordingly we are deploying The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's (PDAC) Environmental Excellence In Exploration (3E) guidelines for environmentally responsible mining and exploration best practices.

At Inter-Citic we are very sensitive to environmental and cultural issues, and committed to a policy of respect for both people and the land.

Wherever our exploration takes us, we are committed to using the most environmentally sound and least disruptive techniques available to do our work, whether it's in the tundra-like conditions of Qinghai or the desert of Mongolia. Modern technology allows us to explore more efficiently and with less effect on the environment than previously deployed in these regions. 

Inter-Citic also treats its Chinese partners - whether they are senior government officials or our front-line workers - with the respect and consideration they deserve. This not only includes a commitment to help the local economy whenever possible, it also is reflected in Inter-Citic's dedication to transfer valuable knowledge and skills to our local partners so that they can continue to better themselves. 

Inter-Citic's special relationship with our Chinese partners is the result of having spent the better part of a decade learning about the unique way business is conducted in China. We well understand the subtleties and the importance of these relationships.

Wherever we go, we are also mindful that we are more than partners, we are also guests. We respect the many differences we find and never fall into the Western arrogance that we know best how to deal with local issues and concerns. As we gain a further appreciation of the circumstances of the local people through ongoing dialogue and engagement we become better able to target locally the social benefit of our work.