The Kittila operation north of the Arctic Circle, in Finland.
Gold miner Agnico Eagle’s Kittilä mining operation, in Finland, has recently received the permit for expanding its processing facility to two-million tonnes a year and CEO Sean Boyd has said that the company is already starting to look at further growth opportunities.
The permit is a key component of the ongoing €160-million to €170-million expansion project at Kittilä, which includes the construction of a 1.04-km-deep shaft and a processing plant expansion of 25%.
The new shaft will have a hoisting capacity of 2.7-million tonnes a year (two-million tonnes of ore and 0.7-million tonnes of waste).
“Ultimately, we believe the future at Kittilä is beyond two-million tonnes a year and that is why we’re thinking about opportunities we may see to increase the mining rate there,” he said on July 30, noting that the company has had some good exploration success at the mine.
“I think the next level could be 2.4-million to 2.5-million tonnes a year. That will take a few years, but we are already in the initial stages of thinking about how that could be done.”
The mill expansion is progressing on schedule with the final tie-in activities scheduled to begin in late September and the mill expansion commissioning expected in the fourth quarter.
However, shaft sinking activities were on hold during the second quarter, owing to Covid-19 travel restrictions. Canadian shaft crews arrived back in Finland on July 1 and Agnico Eagle says remobilisation activities are ongoing.
With the shaft sinking delay, the miner says commissioning is expected to be in the third quarter of 2021 – about four months later than previously expected.
The Kittilä mine operated continuously through the Covid-19 pandemic and established a quarterly ore production record.
Located 150 km north of the Arctic Circle, Kittilä hosts Agnico Eagle’s largest mineral reserves. It has proven and probable reserves of 4.1-million ounces of gold, as well as measured and indicated resources of 1.5-million ounces.
Exploration at Kittilä has shown promising results. The company will spend $11-million on exploration at the mine this year, that will include 58 000 m of drilling focused on the Main zone in the Roura and Rimpi areas, as well as the Sisar zone.