The Island Gold operation in Ontario
Canadian miner Alamos Gold has been given the green light to ramp up construction activities on the Island Gold Phase 3 expansion, including the pre-sink of the shaft which will begin by mid-year.
This comes as the Ontario government filed a closure plan amendment for Island Gold, which, according to a July 2020 expansion plan, can increase production by 70% to 236 000 oz/y at an all-in sustaining cost of $534/oz.
Since the expansion study was completed, Alamos has increased the mineral reserves and resources by 37% to 5.1-million ounces at the end of 2021. This growth will be incorporated into an updated mine plan, which will be released in mid-2022.
Alamos says the optimised mine plan will incorporate higher-grade additions in proximity to the planned shaft bottom earlier in the mine life, further increasing the value of the operation.