Name: Meadowbank mine.

Location: The Meadowbank mine is located in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, about 2 600 km north-west of Toronto, in Canada.

Controlling Company: Agnico Eagle Mines.

Brief History: Mine commissioning and first gold production from Meadowbank’s Portage openpit began in early 2010. The life-of-mine plan of January 27, 2012, envisions having three pits in operation – Portage, Goose and Vault.

Brief Description: The Meadowbank openpit gold mine has been in commercial operation since March 1, 2010. The mine is Agnico’s first low Arctic mine and the company’s largest gold producer.

Geology/Mineralisation: The Meadowbank property is underlain by Archean-age volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The Goose and Portage deposits are hosted by magnetite-rich iron formation, while intermediate volcanic rocks host most of the mineralisation at the Vault deposit farther north. The rock units and the gold deposits are tightly folded and structurally complex, sandwiched between granite plutons.

Gold deposits are found along two main structural features that cross the property – the Meadowbank trend and the Pipedream Lake (north-east) trend. The Meadowbank trend hosts the Goose, Portage and Vault deposits, which are the sites of initial mining. These shallow deposits are situated within 7 km of each other. In all deposits, gold mineralisation is commonly associated with intense quartz flooding, and the presence of sulphide minerals (pyrite and/or pyrrhotite).

Products: Gold.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2014, were estimated at 11.8-million tonnes grading 3.08 g/t of gold.

Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at December 31, 2014, were estimated at 7.52-million tonnes grading 3.3 g/t of gold. Total inferred resources were estimated at 3.32-million tonnes grading 3.96 g/t of gold.

Mining Method: Meadowbank conducts surface mining from a series of three pits, all within 7 km of the processing plant. Water-retention dykes have been built to allow for mining beneath shallow lakes using a unique in-water dyke construction method.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The 11 000 t/d gold processing plant at Meadowbank uses conventional technology adjusted to the Arctic climate.

To prevent freezing, the crushed ore is stored in a dome and brought into the plant on a covered conveyor. About 25% to 30% of the gold is “free gold” (not combined with other minerals), and is removed from the ground ore by a gravity circuit. The rest of the gold is leached from the ground ore using cyanide, with the gold captured using carbon-in-pulp technology and electrowinning cells. The gold-plated cathodes and gravity concentrate are smelted in an induction furnace and poured as doré bars.

The plant includes a cyanide-recycling thickener and an air-sulphur dioxide cyanide destruction circuit to ensure that no cyanide escapes into the environment. After leaching, the ground ore is barren of gold, so it is pumped to the nearby tailings pond for disposal. Site water that is contaminated is prevented from coming into contact with fresh water by diversion ditches, and is collected in the tailings pond. All water from the tailings pond is pumped back to the plant for reuse, making this a zero-discharge system and reducing the need for fresh water.

Prospects: Agnico is evaluating a potential expansion of the Vault pit, which could result in about 150 000 oz to 200 000 oz being added to the mine plan, starting in 2017. A positive decision on the Vault expansion could affect the distribution of ounces produced from 2016 to 2018. A decision on this expansion is expected to be made by the second half of 2015. In addition, a major drill programme is planned at its sister mine, Amaruq, in 2015 to expand the initial 1.5-million-ounce inferred resource base to potentially develop the deposit as a satellite operation to Meadowbank.

Contact: Corporate communications.

Contact Details:
Agnico Eagle,
tel +1 416 847 8669,
fax +1 416 367 4681, and
email media@agnicoeagle.com.