Name of the Project
Magino gold project.

Location
The project is located 40 km north-east of Wawa, Ontario, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Canada-based mining company Argonaut Gold.

Project Description
Magino is a past-producing underground gold mine.

The project has total proven and probable reserves of 59-million ounces grading 1.13 g/t gold. A feasibility study on the project has determined that the Magino project is a strategic, long-life asset.

Envisaged is a 115 700 oz/y gold operation with a 17-year mine life.

Openpit mining operations will use a fleet comprising 16 m3 front shovels, a 13 m3 front-end loader and 140 t haul trucks. 

This fleet will be supplemented by drills, graders, and track and rubber-tyre dozers.

A 10 000 t/d processing facility has been selected for the feasibility study, compared with the 30 000 t/d plant presented in the January 2016 prefeasibility study.

The adopted flowsheet includes primary crushing, single-stage semiautogenous grinding, (?) a gravity recovery circuit, a cyanide leach and carbon-in-pulp gold adsorption circuit with cyanide recovery and detoxification, as well as thickening, before tailings are discharged to a tailings facility.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $408-million and an internal rate of return of 22.6%, with a payback of 3.8 years.

Capital Expenditure
Total capital costs have been estimated at $405-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The project is expected to be completed over 24 months.

Latest Developments
Argonaut Gold has cleared a “pivotal” permitting milestone at its Magino project.

The company has concluded the Canadian federal government Schedule 2 processing process, which has significantly derisked the project and made it “much more attractive” to potential joint venture partners and project financing lenders.

Argonaut expects to have project approvals and development financing options organised to enable the company to decide on the advancement of the Magino project during the second half of 2020.

Argonaut will continue its deep drilling exploration programme uninterrupted and has been encouraged with the results to date.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Argonaut Gold, tel +1 775 284 4422, fax +1 775 284 4426 or email info@argonautgold.com.