The administrative tribunal of Guyana ordered the state on Thursday “To extend” , “Within six months” the concessions, keystones of the controversial mining project known as the Montagne d’Or.
He thus “Canceled” the implicit refusal of the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire to extend mining concessions of the Compagnie Montagne d’Or in Guyana.
Relying on the overrun of the regulatory two-year instruction period, the Minister of the Economy implicitly rejected on January 21, 2019 the 25-year renewal of the mining concessions of the Montagne d’Or company (CMO), thus bringing legally a halt to the largest primary gold mining project ever proposed in France, led by the Russian-Canadian consortium Nordgold-Columbus Gold.
The administrative court considered that CMO “Presents sufficient elements justifying its technical and financial capacities to exploit the concessions”.
Justice also underlined the “Lack of serious dispute” by Bruno Le Maire, to justify his implicit rejection.
A deposit of 85 tonnes of gold in the middle of the forest
The concessions (with an area of 40 km2) are located in the municipalities of Saint-Laurent du Maroni and Apatou, in the middle of the forest, between two reserves with high biodiversity value.
In the coming years, the company plans to mine and process an 85-tonne gold deposit using closed-circuit cyanidation.
During the hearing on December 3, the public rapporteur pointed out, in this dispute, the ” weakness “ and the absence of “Relevance” State arguments to justify its refusal. It’s a “Difficult point of the file” who is not “Not for the benefit of the administration” added the public rapporteur.
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