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Name of the Project
Magino gold project.
Location
About 40 km north-east of Wawa, in 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
The ramp-up of the project is under way, putting the mine on track to achieve commercial production during the current quarter.
Magino achieved its first gold pour in mid-June – about 30 days behind schedule. During June, the mine produced an initial 3 295 oz and sold 72 oz, resulting in revenue of $100 000.
“We continue to ramp up the mill at Magino to steady state and are expecting to achieve commercial production in the third quarter of this year. The plant has been running at or above nameplate throughput capacity when operating," COO Marc Leduc has said.
Magino is expected to produce between 72 000 oz and 81 000 oz of gold in 2023 at cash costs of between $850/oz and $950/oz, and about 148 000 oz of gold at a cash cost of $868/oz in 2024, its first full year of production.
Argonaut believes that Magino could be one of the biggest and lowest-cost mines in Canada.
During the third quarter, while commissioning the Magino mill, the company will start a reserve development drilling programme intended to increase reserves, in combination with engineering studies to increase mill throughput.
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.