Kirkland Lake Gold has lofty goals on gold production at its anchor operation in northeastern Ontario.
The Toronto-headquartered mining company said it “continue to invest aggressively in growth” in building a new development ramp at its Macassa Mine in Kirkland Lake as production is expected to grow dramatically over the next three years.
Kirkland Lake Gold’s two main assets are Macassa and the Fosterville Mine in the state of Victoria, Australia.
Total production for both mines in 2020 is pegged between 950,000 and 1,000,000 ounces.
At Macassa, production goals for 2020 and 2021 are expected to be similar to 2019 levels with guidance between 240,000 and 250,000 ounces.
But as the new No.4 Shaft comes into production by 2022, guidance jumps to between 320,000 and 340,000 ounces, and to more than 400,000 ounces by 2023.
Capital is being set aside to advance development at Fosterville, exploration on its Australian properties and on a near surface, high-grade zone at Macassa where plans are to drive a ramp to access this key exploration target for the company.
“Looking at growth,” said company president-CEO Tony Makuch in a statement, “we will continue to invest in organic growth in 2020 with the aim of advancing three new potential mining operations, Robbin’s Hill at Fosterville, previously identified high-grade zones near surface along the Amalgamated Break at Macassa, and our Northern Territory assets in Australia.”
The exploration budget for Macassa in 2020 is between US$40 million and $50 million. A total of 270,000 metres of underground and surface drilling is planned for select targets at the South Mine Complex, the Amalgamated Break and along the Main and ’04 breaks.
At the end of November, Kirkland Lake Gold announced it was acquiring its northeastern Ontario neighbour, Detour Gold, for $4.9 billion. Production numbers were not included in their guidance numbers since that deal won’t be final until late January.
Makuch said the acquisition has the potential to change their outlook for 2020 in a “very positive way.”
“For Kirkland Lake Gold, the transaction adds a third high-quality asset with substantial growth potential.
“The agreement is a good deal for the shareholders of both companies and we are looking forward to it closing at the end of January 2020, with our guidance to be revised following closing of the transaction.”
The company is still assessing the future of its Holt Mine near Matheson and will be extending its review of the operation into 2020.
