Name of the Project
Côté gold project.

Location
Northern Ontario, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Côté is a 70:30 joint venture (JV) between Iamgold and Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMM).

Project Description
The Côté gold project is one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in Canada.

A feasibility study completed on the project in November 2018 showed an economically viable, long-life project that is expected to be a low-cost producing mine.

The project includes a base case and an extended mine plan.

The base case mine plan envisages an openpit mining operation with a 16-year life-of-mine (LoM), with a mining capacity of 62-million tonnes a year and a milling capacity of 13.1-million tonnes a year.

LoM average production is estimated at 367 000 oz/y.

For the extended mine plan, two years have been added to the base case mine life, with no expansion of the infrastructure footprint other than a larger pit.

For the extended mine plan, openpit mining includes 46-million tonnes extracted during the two-year preproduction period, followed by 16 years of production mining. Stockpile reclaim extends the milling operation into Year 18.

LoM average production is estimated 372 000 oz/y

Potential Job Creation
The project is expected to create more than 1 000 jobs during construction, 450 jobs during operations, C$5-billion in wages and more than C$10-billion in gross domestic product over its life span.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
In the feasibility study base case, the project has a pretax net present value (NPV), at a 5% discount rate, of $1.24-billion and an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 18.7%, with a payback of 4.4 years.

In the extended case, the project has an after-tax NPV, at a 5% discount rate, of $1.40-billion and an IRR of 18.7%, with a payback of 4.4 years.

Capital Expenditure
Iamgold has lowered its full-year production guidance and increased the cost estimate for the new Côté gold mine.

The company has stated that its 70% of the updated project cost estimate for Côté has increased to between C$1.13-billion and C$1.18-billion, from the previous estimate of between $875-million and $925-million. Iamgold has already spent $193-million.

The cost hike is primarily driven by increased structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and concrete estimates for the process facility; increases in mine facilities costs, earthworks materials and manpower estimates; certain scope changes; inflation, changes in the currency exchange rate; and costs related to Covid-19.

Planned Start/End Date
The project broke ground in September 2020 and has a targeted completion date of mid-2023.

Latest Developments
Construction is continuing, with the earthworks contractors advancing road widening and overburden stripping, as well as the start of work on water management infrastructure and the tailings management facility.

Plant site concrete works have started, including the commissioning of the concrete batch plant and the raft foundations for the ball mill. Construction of the permanent camp is progressing well, with about 50% of the planned rooms complete. 

The project is currently about 27% complete and remains on schedule for commercial production in the second half of 2023.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Iamgold, email info@iamgold.com.
SMM, tel +81 3 3436 7705.