As consultations on the renewal of the Montagne d’Or company concessions are being held from November 18 to December 14, 2018, the Or de question collective invites the government to draw conclusions from the public debate around the mine and refuse to prolong the controversy around this unacceptable project any further.
The collective invites the public to take part en masse in the consultation on the request for an extension of the concessions granted to the “Montagne d’Or” company, by sending a negative opinion to the government through our online form.
During the public debate, the Guianese population expressed its opposition to the mine with great clarity. The national public debate commission pinpointed the failings of the package. Following the public debate, Mr de Rugy, minister of ecological transition, declared that “this project must be thoroughly redesigned.” In response, on November 16, the mining company announced a number of changes to the initial project — which turned out to be only superficial adjustments.
The Or de question collective would like to remind the government that, in order to justify an extension of the concessions, the Montagne d’or company must prove that it has the technical competence to exploit the site. But nothing shows that it has the ability to meet its commitments. Another two years would be necessary to study the feasibility of the proposed changes. The report submitted to public consultation on the renewal of the concessions is therefore already out of date, since it is based on the old project that the Montagne d’or company said it would revise.
In these circumstances, it is unthinkable that the concessions of the Montagne d’Or mining company should be renewed, thus handing over an entire section of the Guianese rainforest to a Russian-Canadian consortium for 25 years, i.e. a quarter of a century.
The Or de question collective points out that Mr Macron announced a decision would be reached in the autumn. We call upon the government to take a final and courageous decision, by refusing to renew the concessions of the Montagne d’Or company, and thus put an end to this unacceptable project.
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