Page 56 By Frank Giorno Magino Gold Project Receives Federal Environmental Approval Signs Agreement with Batchewan First Nations The Magino Gold Project got a major boost this past spring when Environment Canada gave envi ronmental approval to proceed de veloping an open pit gold mine 14 km southeast of Dubreuilville near W awa Ontario The Magino Gold Project is pro posed by Prodigy Gold Inc a whol lyowned subsidiary of Argonaut Gold Incorporated The approval of the EA is the com pletion of a major milestone for the Magino Project a process that in cluded cooperation of the Compa ny Indigenous and nonIndigenous communities and the Canadian government to the benef t of all stakeholders said Pete Dough erty President CEO of Argonaut Gold Our plans in 2019 are to continue our work to secure other key autho rizations required for the Project as well as continue our detailed design and engineering ef orts Dougherty added The Magino Mine Project still re quires environmental assessment approval by the Ontario govern ment and various provincial per mits a construction permit and ap proval for its mine closure plan The Company anticipates the con clusion of the Provincial EA l in the f rst half of 2019 and subsequent permitting and authorizations dur ing 2020 Minister of Environment and Cli mate Change Catherine McKenna granted approval to the Magino Project in a letter in which she said the project is not likely to cause signif cant adverse environmental ef ects when mitigation measures are taken into account The Government is working to pro tect the environment while creating good jobs and growing the econo my Minister MacKinnon said My decision is based on rigorous scientif c evidence extensive public and Indigenous consultations and conditions to protect the land wa ter wildlife and Indigenous rights MacKinnon added The successful environmental assessment of this project could lead to hundreds of short and long term jobs in the min ing sector all while doing right by the environment The Minister s Decision Statement establishes 120 conditions to pro tect f sh and f sh habitat migratory birds human health the current use of lands and resources for tra ditional purposes and species at risk and includes mitigation mea sures and requirements for a fol lowup program that the proponent must fulf ll The project proposed by Prodigy Gold Incorporated consists of the construction operation decommis sioning and abandonment of an open pit gold mine and onsite metal mill located near Dubreuilville On tario Prodigy Gold is proposing the re development of the Magino Gold mine The proposed project in volves the construction operation decommissioning and reclamation of an openpit mine and metal mill Mining will occur over seven to eight years with an ore production capacity of 30000 tonnes per day The onsite metal mill would have an ore input capacity of 15000 tonnes per day and will operate for approximately 15 years The project valued at 427 million could create up to 550 jobs during construction and 350 during opera tions over the life of the project The project proponent has committed to hiring locally providing competitive wages and salaries and working with regional and local educational institutions to coordinate training and maximize employment oppor tunities for local residents and In digenous groups The proponent also committed to maximizing local purchasing throughout all phases of the project In making her decision MacKenna considered the company s Envi ronmental Assessment Report and Magino Gold Project EA Approved Major milestone for Magino Project