Osisko Mining Corporation has deposited $22.1 million with the Quebec Government, representing 50 percent of its financial guarantee to cover the entire future cost of rehabilitating its new Canadian Malartic mine site in the Abitibi region of Quebec.
The balance of the guarantee will be remitted as two subsequent payments of $11.05 million each, to be made on or around September 1, 2012 and September 1, 2013.
For the first time in the history of Quebec mining, and even though it is not yet required by law, the financial guarantee will cover 100 percent of the estimated costs of rehabilitating the future mine site, instead of the 70 percent currently required by law. Osisko originally announced its commitment to provide the entire amount back in 2009.
“Since the beginning of our project, we understood and accepted that such a commitment would constitute a moral obligation, even though it is not yet a legal obligation,” commented Jean-Sébastien David, vice-president sustainable development of Osisko. “Not only does this new way of doing things reflect our socially responsible attitude as a corporate citizen, we also feel it is quite simply the most sensible thing to do.”
The guarantee will be re-assessed every three years, or more often if necessary, in case adjustments to the mining operations justify changes to the rehabilitation plan.
“This new approach ensures that, regardless of the scenario, the entire cost of rehabilitating the site will be assumed by Osisko and never by Quebec taxpayers,” added David. “No matter what happens, neither the government of Quebec nor its taxpayers will be required to foot the bill for rehabilitating our site”.
