OSISKO MINING’S WINDFALL FEASIBILITY BRINGS GOLD PROJECT TO A ‘NEW LEVEL’ / 2 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM
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Will Indigenous-led impact assessments help or hinder mine project approvals?
Agnico Eagle banks on Canadian production upside CMS
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| Abitibi is ‘not Nevada, but it’s bigger,’ says CEO Sean Boyd
BY HENRY LAZENBY
he largest producer of Canadian gold, Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM), is banking on its soon-to-be-consolidated in-country portfolio to underpin its near and long-term production growth profile, executive chair Sean Boyd told the recent Canadian Mining Symposium, organized by The Northern Miner in London, England. In an era where most gold majors have left the Abitibi Gold Belt, including Barrick Gold (TSX: BX; NYSE: GOLD) and Teck Resources (TSX: TECK-A, TECK-B; NYSE: TECK), the major is doubling down on the historically significant and emerging gold belts of Canada. The world’s third-largest gold producer, which expects nearly three-quarters of its 2022 output to come from its Canadian operations, is on the verge of gaining full control over one of its best gold assets in the country. Under a proposed deal unveiled in early November, Agnico and Pan American Silver (TSX: PAAS; NASDAQ: PAAS) plan to buy fellow Canadian miner Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI; NYSE: AUY; LSE: AUY) in a US$4.8-billion cash-and-shares transaction. South Africa’s Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI; JSE: GFI), which had been after Yamana since May in a transaction poorly supported by the market, has waived its right to match the rival bid. Upon closing late in the first quarter of 2023, the deal will have split Yamana’s assets in Latin America and Canada between Agnico and Pan American. Pan American will strengthen its position as a top precious metals producer in Latin America, while Agnico will consolidate its ownership of one of the world’s biggest gold mines, Canadian Malartic in Quebec. According to Boyd, Agnico expects production to grow from 240,000 oz. per year in 2005, to a
| Cooperation with communities key to project certainty
COMMENTARY
I Agnico Eagle Mines’ CEO Sean Boyd, left, speaks during a fireside chat with Northern Miner Group president Anthony Vaccaro at the Canadian Mining Symposium in London, U.K. on Nov. 28. THE NOTHERN MINER
forecast 3.3 million oz. in 2022. “This translates into value creation,” said Boyd, adding the company has built per share value comparable to 7.3 oz. gold per 1,000 shares today, from 2.7 oz. gold for every 1,000 shares held in 2005. Of its 50 million oz. in reserves, 54% are in Ontario, 19% in Nunavut and 13% in Quebec. Canada will account for 74% or 2.4 million oz. of Agnico’s 2022 production guidance, rising to more than 3.1 million oz. in 2023. Boyd described the Detour mine in Ontario — which was acquired through Agnico’s acquisition of Kirkland Lake Gold last year — and Malartic as key anchors to its growth strategy. “As we sort of move through the next few months and roll in the other half of Canadian Malartic and Detour, we are confident we’ll be able to tap more value from the assets,” said Boyd. “We have concepts where we can see the Detour mine producing over a million ounces a year; we bring a lot of Agnico in-house technical expertise to look at it a little bit differently,” he said.
Company builder Agnico’s homegrown value strategy started in 1988 with the LaRonde complex in Quebec, which remains the company’s oldest operating asset. LaRonde’s 2.2-km deep Penna Shaft is now the deepest single-lift shaft in the Western Hemisphere. The LaRonde mine extension, the portion of the mine below level 245, achieved commercial production in December 2011 and is expected to be mined through 2030. Boyd described how the fledgling gold producer’s management team cut its teeth at the operation and laid the foundation for its future senior management team’s success. “With a single asset, we weren’t turning a profit. We thought to give ourselves exposure to other quality deposits, take our LaRonde experience, and apply it to these assets. So, we started to expand in the region by acquiring Goldex and Lapa, and we expanded into Mexico and Finland,” he recounted. “But we did so in small bites, small increments where we could See AGNICO / 7
OUR FUTURE
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BY HANS MATTHEWS
n Ontario, Anishnawbek peoples have been mining copper for more than 4,000 years. They practiced sustainable mining methods by limiting their disturbance to the land, mining what they needed to sustain their communities and shared the benefits through trade of their metals and minerals with other Indigenous communities throughout North America. They practiced sustainable mining while protecting their environment and peoples. With Indigenous leadership in impact assessments, sustainability in both mining and the Indigenous community can continue today. However, in more recent times, Indigenous people’s decision-making in mining and their role in environmental stewardship has diminished. These once vibrant Indigenous mining communities now play a minor role in mineral exploration, development and operations happening in their own backyard. At the same time, industry is facing growing uncertainty around mineral projects that have the potential to impact Indigenous communities. To reach more certainty of investment, for not only the mining companies, but for impacted Indigenous communities, both groups must work together on the ground. One solution to this uncertainty is to embrace the community’s leading role in the impact assessment (IA) process to create a more sustainable future for generations to come, to minimize permitting delays and to provide potential cost savings to project proponents. I have participated in the IA process and in mining from all
RUPERT RESOURCES PEA OUTLINES 22-YEAR MINE LIFE FOR FINNISH GOLD ASSET / 6
Hans Matthews. MELANIE LAQUERRE
angles — government, industry and Indigenous over the past 30 years. Much of this experience was gained through the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association See INDIGENOUS / 6
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