GRANDE CÔTE OPERATIONS SA
To maintain this smooth progress along the mine path requires a considerable amount of forward-planning and cooperation with local villages and hamlets affected by the mine path , an area of focus that is of paramount importance to the CEO .
“ It ’ s absolutely critical . With the leadership team , we ’ ve spent a lot of time going out into the local villages , into the local community and understanding what they need and how we impact on them ,” says Patarica .
“ There ’ s quite an active planning process that looks well ahead and it ’ s all interlinked with the social department in terms of what we need to do when relocating people , and what we need to do to allow people to cross the mine path once we ’ ve moved through .”
GCO has developed what it called its Project-Affected People village ( PAP ), a resettlement area for local people where it has built solar-powered concrete buildings supplied with a water system .
Around 98 % of the ore that is dredged is immediately returned back to the dune system which GCO restores via an innovative rehabilitation programme that ensures the rapid regrowth of vegetation . With a minimum mine life of 25 years , such initiatives are imperative if GCO is to reach its sustainability goals .
Antti Maentausta Production Support Manager
Bruno Delanoue GCO Chairman
Jacques Leclerc Head of Department – Safety
Michael Rose Area Manager Mining
42 December 2017