Photo by: Argonaut Gold
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 identified it as a strategic, long-life asset.
Envisaged is a 115 700 oz/y gold operation with a 17-year mine life. Average gold production of 150 000 oz/y is expected over the first five years.
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 and graders, as well as 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, a single-stage semiautogenous grinding mill, 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
During construction, about 500 to 600 jobs will be created and about 350 employees will be engaged as part of ongoing operations.
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
In June 2022, Argonaut announced that the project costs had risen by another C$120-million from the December 2021 estimate of C$800-million
Planned Start/End Date
Argonaut envisions a two-year construction period, with first gold production at Magino expected to start during the first half of 2023.
Latest Developments
Argonaut Gold has completed the financing for its over-budget Magino gold project, having closed the previously announced $250-million loan facilities.
The company has also drawn down the first $80-million tranche of the loan to repay the balance outstanding on the former revolving credit facility.
It has also closed the sale of a 2% net smelter return royalty on the Magino project and surrounding land package to Franco-Nevada for $52.5-million, and a $10-million equity private placement by issuing 34 693 462 common shares to Franco-Nevada at C$0.3931 a common share.
"In completing this financing, Argonaut expects to meet all future financial obligations related to Magino construction and banking covenants while . . . maintaining a high level of financial flexibility," Argonaut president and CEO Larry Radford has said.
“We are confident we have the financial resources to complete the construction of the Magino project and achieve the milestone of first gold and beyond.”
Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Ausenco Engineering Canada (engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning).
Contact Details for Project Information
Argonaut Gold, tel +1 775 284 4422, fax +1 775 284 4426 or email info@argonautgold.com.