Construction starts on Lhtako Energy pellet plant

Oct. 18,
2010, Quesnel, BC – A site has been selected for a new wood pellet plant to be
built by Lhtako Energy Corp., a partnership of the Red Bluff Indian
Band and National Choice Bio Fuels. Scheduled to open in spring 2011, the
pellet plant will turn low-grade, mountain pine beetle-killed timber into wood
pellets.

The
province of British Columbia signed an Economic Development Agreement with the
Red Bluff Indian Band, also known as the Lhtako Dene Nation, in November 2009.
The agreement allows the Red Bluff to harvest 75,000 cubic metres/year of
mountain pine beetle-killed timber in the Quesnel Timber Supply Area for the
next 15 years. This timber has been dead for several years and consists
primarily of pulp-quality stands.

“We’re
excited to get started on the plant,” says Red Bluff Chief Geronimo Squinas.
“It is a major step in creating the new jobs and opportunities that will keep
our community strong and vibrant.”

“With
this groundbreaking, we’ll be able to make better use of wood residue that may
otherwise just lay on the forest floor,” says Denis Pelletier, president and
CEO of National Choice Bio Fuels Industries Ltd. “This plant will also give
other licensees a place to dispose of leftover timber that’s unsuitable for
sawlogs.”