The Montagne d’Or joint venture (JV), comprising Columbus Gold and Nordgold, has declared its official decision to French authorities to move forward with permitting and development of its gold mine, in French Guiana.

The official declaration is considered a key milestone in the permitting process for the mine, which will produce an average of 237 000 oz/y over the first ten years of operations at an average grade of 1.73 g/t gold.

Columbus Gold reported this week that the decision took into account the recommendations of the French National Commission of Public Debate to make certain modifications to the project.

The JV earlier this month published its decision to move forward with the Montagne d’Or gold mine and committed to a number of project modifications, including the production of energy on-site to eliminate the environmental impacts of connecting to the local power grid with construction of a 106-km aerial power line, and to remove the risk of power supply disruptions to the Guyanese population. Priority is given to renewable energy, particularly solar panels on already deforested land.

The JV also committed to the International Cyanide Management Code and contributed to research for alternative gold extraction methods.

It is also studying the possibility of increasing the surface area of the tailings storage facility and lowering the retainment dams. The JV further committed to maximise the in-pit material for construction of mine infrastructures to reduce the size of the waste dumps and to reduce the amount of materials sourced from quarries outside the mine site.

Other commitments deal with the transportation of explosives on public roads, the optimisation of mine infrastructure to take into consideration Amerindian heritage sites and the creation of a seed bank of local and endemic species and development of nurseries for re-vegetation, among others.

In July, the French government formed an inter-Ministerial mission to assess the social and economic benefits, and the impacts, of the development of the gold mining industry in French Guiana, taking into consideration in particular Montagne d'Or, which is the most advanced large gold project in French Guiana.

The task-force should deliver its conclusions in a report to the relevant Ministers before the end of the year. Based on the conclusions and recommendations of the mission’s report, the French government will make a decision regarding the development of the gold mining industry in French Guiana.