Ya, no sweat.

In Quebec the land owners have surface rights which is something that goes down like 3 metres. However, mining claims give their owners the rights to the land for everything beneath that. The mining claims are of a higher priority and the landowner must forego their rights in respect of the mineral rights as long as fair and equitable compensation is given.

That is one of the reasons why Quebec is known as the best region in the world to mine. The property owner has no rights above these mining claims.

However, there is due process and as with anything - a property owner who does not comply can cause things to drag out.

For example, GNH is wanting to do some work on one area and the land owner has been avoiding them. The next steps for GNH will be some sort of letter notifying the owner the work they will be conducting on their property.

On the large table in the GNH office they have 2 massive maps with all of the lot lines of this areas claims. A bunch of lots are coloured in green, some in yellow, red and 1 or 2 other colours. The green represents that they have received permission from the property owner to do work, the red that they have not. It looks like at least 9 to 1 in favour of green to red.

I wouldn't worry about this issue in the slightest. There are more than enough targets to be drilled and this area is, well, let's just say a bit behind the times. Dany knows most people by name and there are a few holdouts who do not understand what is happening, or are skeptical by nature but that is to be expected. At the end of the day, it's a few letters here and there but there is technically nothing that can stand in the way of progressing here.

The general vibe for this area is very positive as the local economy is based on forestry and it has been killed throughout the recession. It was not always like this, and people like myself have swooped in at the 11th hour as Candido's team has held many town hall meetings, and personally visited with dozens of residents over the past several years. It was not always like this and there has been a lot of politicizing that Candido has done - with Dany and Sylvan being the faces of the company in Ste Justine. This is where the personal touch comes in. The old management would never return phone calls to the locals - that is not the case anymore.

And for those who don't know this. Osisko literally rebuilt an entire village as the Malartic deposit was under an existing one. It cost them a lot of dough but it just goes to show you that there was nothing to stop them. An entire village. A school, church, homes, shops...an entire village. Welcome to Quebec!