Osisko Mining Corporation will begin next year digging the streets of the town of Malartic in Quebec, which holds what is considered the largest gold deposit in North America. Previous drillings made by the mining firm in 2005 placed the volume of gold deposits at 6.28 million ounces, plus another 3.65 million ounces on a nearby property.

To be affected by the digging are about 200 homes, a church, schools and a daycare and senior facility which are being relocated to a new community two kilometers to the north. Some of the affected residents protested against the digging, considered Canada's largest open-pit gold mine.

Osisko Mining, however, managed to get an approval from the Quebec Environmental Assessment Board last week. While there are protesters against the venture, many residents are in favor of it because of the promises of jobs for residents. The project is expected to establish 465 permanent jobs and almost 800 construction jobs.

Malartic Mayor Andre Vezeau said the project gave the town a new lease on life since older mines and a sawmill shuttered their plants causing Malartic to be on a downhill since 1997 and its population to shrink to 3,800 from 8,000.

Early this year Osisko Mining and the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources inked a framework agreement in which they will split the cost in half of rehabilitating the East Malartic mine site to the tune of $23 million.

The unused tailing pond will be used for tailings from the Canadian Malartic mine which will dig for the gold.

Osisko president and chief executive officer Sean Roosen, in a statement issued in January said, "We are pleased to contribute to the creation of a healthier environment for our fellow citizens in Malartic, and to remedy the negative impact left from decade of mining by past generations."