The French Polynesian government has agreed to a further study of Makatea atoll in response to an application by a New Zealand company seeking to resume phosphate mining.
Between 1906 and 1966, Makatea was mined and millions of tonnes of phosphatic sand were removed.
Amid plans to restart mining, the government in Tahiti signed a deal with the French Geological Survey for the development and monitoring of sustainable development policies.
It said over the next four months it wanted the agency to develop a geological infrastructure for the sustainable and responsible management of primary and secondary mineral resources.
Plans are afoot to resume phosphate mining on Makatea atoll Photo: supplied French Polynesian presidency
The New Zealand company Chatham Rock Phosphate hopes to get a mining concession after taking over the exploitation project of the Australian-owned company Avenir Makatea last year.
The company said after four years of intensive consultation with landowners of Makatea and consultation with government since 2011, it looked forward to the granting of a mining concession in 2022.
Amid resistance by environmental groups, Avenir Makatea had been lobbying for years for the go-ahead to extract 6.5 million tonnes of phosphate over 27 years.
At the height of the mining boom in the first half of the 20th century Makatea had about 3,000 inhabitants but the number has since dwindled to below 100.
In 2017, the mining minister Heremoana Maamaatuaiahutapu told local television that Makatea could not be left as it was because something must be offered to its inhabitants.
Opponents said renewed mining opens the way to wholesale destruction and sells out French Polynesia's heritage.
In 2016, an online petition against the mining project was signed by more than 120,000 people.
The pro-independence opposition said France could be given control over the phosphate if Paris considered it to be a strategic resource.
A Guam-based human rights lawyer warned that France risked being taken to the International Court of Justice if it failed to honour its binding international obligations.
Julian Aguon referred to France being party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
He said a precedent was set by the International Court of Justice when it ruled in favour of Nauru which challenged Australia for breaching trusteeship obligations over phosphate mining.