QUEBEC — Montreal's Osisko Mining reported on Jan 27, 2009, that its environmental impact study (EIS) for the Canadian Malartic project was accepted by the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development and Parks. The study is to be available to the public in anticipation of a formal request for public hearings on the Canadian Malartic project.
Osisko acquired a 100% interest in the Canadian Malartic property in November 2004. This is the site of three former gold producers and may be amenable to open pit mining. Earlier the company said its 43-101-compliant resource estimates include nearly 10 million oz of gold in situ (see CMJ Net News, Jan 28, 2009).
One of the former producers is the East Malartic mine which was active from 1936 to 1983. Osisko and the Quebec Ministere des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune (MRNF), which is currently responsible for the East Malartic tailings site, have arrived at a framework deal whereby they will share equally the cost of rehabilitating the 500-ha site. A large portion of the material in the area is acid generating.
The agreement between Osisko and the MRNF calls for the use of tailings from the future Canadian Malartic mine to rehabilitate the East Malartic site. The tails will be non-acid generating and piped to East Malartic for use as a cover. The agreement also calls for oversight over the rehabilitation project by a management committee.
If the Canadian Malartic project becomes a mine, it will create about 400 direct permanent jobs, of which 350 will be in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region; it will indirectly support 500 other jobs in Quebec, says Osisko. The company plans to spend just over one-third of the $540 million required for mine construction and development in the Malartic and Abitibi-Temiscamingue region.
Learn more about the Canadian Malartic project at www.Osisko.com.
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