Mining at the mothballed Island Gold Mine will resume in early May as activity at the Wawa-area site will return to normal after a shutdown in late March.
Two weeks after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Alamos Gold suspended mining operations at Island Gold and its Mulatos Mine in Mexico on March 25.
The Toronto-based mid-tier miner released its first quarter results on April 29, reporting net earnings of $29.4 million and cash flow of $56.6 million. Its three mines in northeastern Ontario and Mexico produced 110,800 ounces during the quarter.
Even though one week of mining and processing was lost at the tail end of the first quarter, Island Gold produced 38,800 ounces in the first quarter, up 9 per cent from the same time last year. Underground mining rates were 14 per cent better and mill throughput was higher than a year prior.
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Island Gold was mothballed due toa large portion of the workforce that flies in and out. They are housed in a camp directed located within a nearby community.
However, its Young-Davidson Mine, outside Matachewan, continued to operate under tight health and safety restrictions.
Young-Davidson produced 28,700 ounces of gold during the quarter, a decrease from the same period in 2019, but understandably considering the Northgate Shaft was shut down in February due to construction in the lower mine.
Alamos president-CEO John McCluskey was encouraged by the solid start to the year despite the challenges associated with the pandemic.
"With strong operational performances at Island Gold and Mulatos (in Mexico), we exceeded the top end of our first quarter production guidance while completing several critical path items on the lower mine expansion at Young-Davidson."
McCluskey expects a strong second half of 2020 with "solid progress" being made with the third wave of expansion at Island Gold and the lower mine expansion at Young-Davidson. Both development projects are tabbed to be finished by the middle of this year.
"We expect both will be significant catalysts for the company. Combined with a robust balance sheet and strong free cash flow growth starting in the second half of this year, the outlook for Alamos has never been stronger."
To date, Alamos reports that they are COVID-19-free at all of its operations.
Given the downtown at Island Gold and Mulatos, the company decided to trash its production, cost and capital targets for 2020 in early April. New guidance targets will issued once things return to normal.
The surface and underground exploration at Island Gold continued through most of the first quarter but was temporarily suspended. The program is focused on building resources by focusing on a two-kilometre long zone which runs laterally and down-plunge across multiple fronts.
