Touted as one of Canada’s “most profitable mines,” Alamos Gold hosted a groundbreaking party on April 11 to celebrate a third wave of expansion at its Island Gold Mine outside Dubreuilville.
The mine expansion plans were announced by the company two years ago. Yesterday was the sod-turning ceremony for mining executives and local, regional and provincial politicians.
In a news release, Alamos said when the expansion, which includes the sinking of a new shaft, is finished in 2025 it'll boost the mining rate from 1,200 tonnes of material a day to 2,000 tonnes. Gold production will increase 70 per cent to average about 236,000 ounces a year.
The life of mine is now tabbed at 16 years, but the operation's longevity is likely to lengthen with the ongoing gold discoveries being made.
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Alamos acquired Island Gold from Richmont Mines in 2017 and since then have poured millions of dollars into exploration, resulting in new discoveries and this third phase of extending the mine. At the acquistion stage five years ago, Island Gold recorded 1.8 million ounces of reserves and resources. Today, it’s 5.1 million ounces, with exploration continuing and discoveries still being made.
Since the company published this expansion plan in July 2020, more gold has been found and gold reserves and resources have increased 37 per cent. A new mine plan is due by the middle of this year, taking into account all the high-grade additions they've made.
“By further investing in the Phase III expansion,” said Alamos president-CEO John A. McCluskey in a statement, “we will more than double the mine life. This mine will be an economic engine for this region for years to come, and positively impact the closest town of Dubreuilville and surrounding communities.”
Alamos calls Island Gold an "economic engine" for the Algoma district with mine employing 600 and spinoffs in the nearby community of Dubreuilville. That on-site workforce is expected to double during the construction phase.
The company is proud to say six per cent of its workforce come from Indigenous communities, twice the mining industry average of 2.4 per cent in Ontario.
"The Island Gold expansion will help to strengthen the Algoma economy and is the latest in a series of recent success stories in Ontario's mining sector,” said Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford, “successes that our government is proud to support. The project will bring good-paying jobs and prosperity throughout the region including northern and Indigenous communities.
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Great geology aside, Energy Minister Todd Smith remarked the government is doing its part to help with the operation’s bottomline.
“Our government has reduced electricity prices for large industrial customers like Alamos Gold by 15 per cent through our Comprehensive Electricity Plan. We are pleased to support expansions like today’s at Alamos Gold that will support good-paying jobs for communities in the North.”
Beside adding a new shaft to support higher mine rates, Alamos said it’s going with a smaller mobile fleet of haul trucks that will lower it diesel consumption, expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 per cent.
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