President of French Guiana Speaks in Favor of Mine Development at the Rainforest Conference GlobeNewswire•October 3, 2019
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Columbus Gold Corp. (CGT: TSX, CGTFF: OTCQX) (“Columbus”) is pleased to report on the recent statements on the development of the gold mining sector in French Guiana, France, including comments by the President of French Guiana, whom continues to be a strong and vocal proponent for the development of the Montagne d’Or gold project of the Columbus and Nordgold joint-venture.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, attended the Alliance for Rainforests conference in New York (the “Conference”) with a delegation from French Guiana, including the President of French Guiana, Rodolphe Alexandre. The conference was held in coordination with the United Nations Climate Action Summit held on September 23
rd.
In his speech at the Conference, President Rodolphe Alexandre supported France’s international call to action on the “preservation of the Amazon as a true natural heritage of humanity” and emphasized that the international community remain open to the prospect of economic development, in parallel with environmental responsibility. He also highlighted the dangers of illegal gold mining in French Guiana, stating: “
Our territory is diseased by illegal gold mining. We must roll back those that use mercury, which attacks indigenous peoples and violate the sovereignty of the territory”. He also acknowledged President Emmanuel Macron's adverse mention of the Montagne d'Or gold project, while calling for the forthcoming revision and debate of the French Mining Code to be “
genuinely open”, saying that mining could be “
responsible, transposable, transparent” and respectful of the environment and as well as of European standards.
Rodolphe Alexandre was interviewed the next day by radio station “Guyane La 1re” and was asked to clarify his statement at the Conference in respect of the Montagne d’Or gold project, which could have been construed as critical towards the project. Rodolphe Alexandre unequivocally commented:
- “I would say that, as usual, people are taking advantage of one sentence in order to dismiss an entire speech that was given before 18 heads of state, including the most important heads of state of Europe and Africa”…
- ...“Now, it will be the responsibility of Montagne d’Or [Columbus and Nordgold] or others to submit proposals and, in that case, to promote a real, coherent, transparent and public debate.”
- “… I am in support of respectful mining, mining that touches the environment. What was the aim of this speech? Its aim was to tell the people of French Guiana that there must be a balance, that there must be cohesion between sustainable development and protection of the forest and of biodiversity.”
Click the link below to view the complete radio interview in English:
www.columbusgold.com/i/nr/2019-10-03-interview.mp4
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