TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Auditing and consulting firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton on Thursday said an investigation into the effectiveness of the Osisko Mining monitoring committee had found the committee could not be deployed effectively in its current form, owing to it lacking the required expertise and authority.

Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton partner in consulting Johanne Gélinas on Thursday tabled a report ‘Osisko Mining Corporation Monitoring Committee - Diagnosis of the current situation and avenues of interventions’, which had found an accumulation of events had led to the deterioration of relations between the monitoring committee, Osisko and stakeholders, which had prevented the monitoring committee from fulfilling its role.

The report proposed a number of avenues of interventions to realise the monitoring committee's mandate, including pointing to Osisko's need to develop greater attentiveness, increased sensitivity and empathy. The company should also structure the roles and responsibilities internally to improve and formalise the dialogue with the monitoring committee and contribute to its success through holding a statutory seat on the committee.

Gélinas said the monitoring committee should review its composition and functioning to better fulfil its mandate. “The monitoring committee should be given the means to become a place of exchange and dialogue on issues related to the Canadian Malartic mine, but also a place where solutions are suggested. It is the link between the company and the population. In this respect, its role is well-defined,” she said.

Gélinas added that the committee would likely not achieve its full potential unless other key players, such as the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks, as well as the Town of Malartic agree to serve on the committee.

“The current situation is an opportunity to make the necessary adjustments to revise the composition of the monitoring committee, to strengthen the role of key actors and to renew the way the monitoring committee operates. This exercise, particularly the interviews, demonstrated the desire for the monitoring committee to succeed," said Gélinas.

Osisko and the monitoring committee accepted the suggested courses of interventions proposed by Gélinas and would work together to strengthen the foundation. A first step was to call for nominations, launched on Thursday, to recruit new members for the committee.

Montreal-based Osisko earlier this month received a modified set of mining parameters from the Quebec government, allowing it increased access at its flagship Canadian Malartic mine and to improve the framework for the execution of its blasting operations.

Osisko at the end of November said the provincial environment authority raided its Canadian Malartic gold mine for documents as a result of environmental concerns. The company at the time said representatives of the authority requested and obtained documents relating to drilling, loading and blasting activities for certain dates between April 2011 and October of that year.

The environmental authority in October had asked the company to increase safety measures at the mine when it performed unplanned blasting.