Minutes of the second Task Force meeting

At its June 21 meeting, the Neighbourhood and Community Task Force for the Wasamac underground mining project validated the minutes of the previous meeting, which was held on May 19, 2021(External link).

Here is our recap:

A summary update on Yamana Gold's Wasamac underground mining project was presented to the members and will be presented to the entire community at the next neighbourhood meeting scheduled for June 16. That meeting will also be an opportunity to discuss in greater depth the exploration program, drilling operations and noise mitigation measures. An invitation will be sent out to the neighbourhood with the next issue of the Wasamac newsletter, which will also contain an update on the project’s progress.

The Task Force meeting was also an occasion for members to plan their meetings until the filing of the environmental impact assessment, the first version of which has been postponed until April 2022. The Task Force will receive a presentation of the impact assessment process by WSP before the summer, as well as a presentation of the follow-up mechanism for reports. The latter will also be widely distributed before the summer so that the neighbourhood will know how to report observations or complaints related to Yamana's activities, both with regard to the exploration program and the field activities around the environmental impact assessment.

The Task Force is planning a field visit at the end of August, which will also be an opportunity to receive a more detailed presentation of the project following Yamana's update of the feasibility study. In the fall, the group will then use its time to review various analyses and inventories, work in sub-groups and organize thematic weekends for the neighbourhood and the community. The winter months will then be devoted to preliminary sectoral impact studies, the social assessment of the impacts, and discussions on the avoidance, mitigation or compensation measures to be recommended. A follow-up on the development of the work timetable until spring 2022 will be done at upcoming Task Force meetings.