Name of the Project
Detour Lake underground mine.

Location
Ontario, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Agnico Eagle Mines.

Project Description
An updated life-of-mine (LoM) plan has updated the openpit mine production profile of Detour Lake and incorporates updated costing.

Agnico has also completed a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), which proposes the concurrent operation of the openpit and a proposed underground mining project, combined with mill throughput optimisation to 29-million tonnes a year.

The 2024 PEA demonstrates strong returns, combined with significant exploration upside and growth potential. 

The assessment demonstrates that the underground project and mill optimisation have the potential to increase the Detour Lake mine’s overall production to an average of about one-million ounces of gold a year over a 14-year period, starting in 2030.

The 2024 PEA envisages an underground mining rate of about four-million tonnes a year starting in 2030, combined with a mill expansion to an annualised 29-million tonnes a year starting in 2028. Production is expected to increase by about 43% – or 300 000 oz/y of gold – from 2030 to 2043 to about one-million ounces a year, compared with average yearly production from 2024 to 2029. The 2024 PEA extends Detour Lake’s mine life by two years to 2054.

Agnico believes there is a good upside potential for additional exploration to add ounces to the mine plan in future years, which could result in an increase in production in the period from 2044 to 2054 or an extension in the LoM.

Agnico approved the next phase of work to further study and derisk the underground project in June 2024, including a $100-million investment from 2024 to 2026 to develop a 2 km exploration ramp to a depth of about 270 m, and collecting a bulk sample from the shallow mineralised zone west of the pit.

A deeper zone will be tested through a high-intensity drilling programme in 2025. The analyses of the bulk sample and of the drilling programme will help validate the continuity of the mineralisation and the geological block model.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Using a gold price assumption of $1 900/oz, the 2024 PEA estimates a net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $890-million and an internal rate of return of 18.3%.

Capital Expenditure
Development capital expenditures for the underground project and mill optimisation to 29-million tonnes a year are forecast to be about $731-million. Of the $100-million, about $11-million are forecast to be spent in 2024 pertaining to the construction of the surface facilities and site preparation.

Planned Start/End Date
The excavation of the ramp is expected to start in early 2025 and extend to 2 km by 2026.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Agnico Eagle Mines, tel +1 416 947 1212 or email info@agnicoeagle.com.