Vancouver’s Orla Mining said it’s finalized its US$850-million acquisition of Musselwhite Mine from Newmont, first announced last November.
In a news release last week, Orla said the process of integrating the northwestern Ontario mine into the company fold has started.
Located 500 kilometres by air north of Thunder Bay, Musselwhite has been operating for more than 25 years, producing close to 6 million ounces of gold in that span. Average annual gold production is 202,000 ounces.
Orla said last week that an “aggressive” exploration program is being queued to test areas on the property where there’s been historic exploration activity. The company believes there could be gold extending two to three kilometres out from the main mining area that could grow Musselwhite’s current reserves. Musselwhite mine operating life runs until 2030.
For acquisition-minded Orla, Musselwhite is its second mine.
The company runs the Camino Rojo gold and silver open-pit mine in Mexico and is developing an open-pit gold mine in Nevada, known as South Railroad, which is at the feasibility stage.
Adding Musselwhite to the mix will more than double Orla’s annual gold production, the company said last week.
“This important Canadian gold mine also offers growth potential through optimization and mine life extension, something we intend to aggressively pursue,” said Orla president-CEO Jason Simpson in a news release.
Orla said last November that there would no job cuts at Musselwhite and there are no plans to shakeup the operating team there.
“We are committed to investing in you and the operation for many years to come and we’re excited to hit the ground running,” said Simpson to its workforce.
All previous agreements with area First Nations and suppliers will be honoured.
“Orla intends to place a strong emphasis on local stakeholders in Northern Ontario. We will maintain all existing relationships and honour all existing contracts with First Nations partners, businesses, suppliers, contractors, and vendors,” said Simpson.
