Name: Meliadine mine.

Location: The Meliadine mine is located near the western shore of Hudson Bay in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut, in Canada.

Mine Owner/s: Agnico Eagle.

Brief Description: Meliadine includes seven gold deposits, six of which are part of the current mine plan. The 111 358 ha property covers an 80-km-long greenstone belt.

Agnico expects mining at Meliadine to be carried out through 12 openpits and underground mining operations. It is estimated that about 5.8-million tonnes of ore will be extracted from openpit methods and 20.6-million tonnes of ore from underground mining over a 15-year mine life.

Brief History: Agnico acquired its 100% interest in the Meliadine project through its acquisition of Comaplex in July 2010.

Agnico approved the construction of the Meliadine mine in February 2017. The plant poured its first gold bar in February 21, 2019. The paste plant, which is used to backfill underground stopes, became operational in April 2019. Commercial production started at Meliadine in mid-May 2019.

Primary Metals: Gold, silver, lead and zinc.

Secondary Metals: Not stated.

Geology/Mineralisation: Archean volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Meliadine greenstone belt underlie the property, which is predominantly covered by glacial overburden with deep-seated permafrost and is part of the Western Churchill supergroup in northern Canada.

The rock layers have been folded, sheared and metamorphosed, and have been truncated by the Pyke Fault, a regional structure that extends the entire 80 km length of the property.

The Pyke Fault appears to control gold mineralisation on the Meliadine property. At the southern edge of the fault is a series of oxide iron formations that host the seven Meliadine project deposits currently known. The deposits comprise multiple lodes of mesothermal quartz-vein stockworks, laminated veins and sulphidised iron formation mineralisation with strike lengths of up to 3 km. The Upper Oxide iron formation hosts the Tiriganiaq and Wolf North zones. The two Lower Lean iron formations contain the F Zone, Pump, Wolf Main and Wesmeg deposits. The Normeg zone was discovered in 2011 on the eastern end of the Wesmeg zone, near Tiriganiaq. The Wolf (Northand Main), F Zone, Pump and Wesmeg/Normeg deposits are all within 5 km of Tiriganiaq. The Discovery deposit is 17 km east-south-east of Tiriganiaq and is hosted by the Upper Oxide iron formation. Each of these deposits has mineralisation within 120 m of surface, making them potentially mineable by openpit methods. They also have deeper ore that could potentially be mined using underground methods, which are being considered in various studies.

Reserves: The current mineral reserves are mainly in the Tiriganiaq deposit at underground and openpit depths, and comprise proven and probable reserves of 16.74-million tonnes at 6.97 g/t as of December 31, 2018.

Resources: Total indicated mineral resources as at December 31, 2018, were estimated at 26-million tonnes grading 3.81 g/t gold. Inferred resources were estimated at 13.5-million tonnes grading 6 g/t gold.

Mining Method: In Phase 1 of the mine, the ore is being sourced entirely from underground, with access by decline, using longhole mining methods.

In Phase 2 starting in 2023, the ore will be sourced from the underground and openpits. A conventional truck/shovel operation is anticipated for the openpits.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The 3 730 t/d Meliadine mine mill uses a conventional gold circuit, comprising crushing, grinding, gravity separation and cyanide leaching with a carbon-in-leach circuit, followed by cyanide destruction and filtration of the tailings for dry stacking. Metallurgical recoveries are expected to average 96%. Phase 1 mill capacity is expected to be about 3 750 t/d, increasing in Phase 2 to about 6 000 t/d starting in 2023.

Prospects: Agnico has approved staged implementation of the Meliadine Phase 2 expansion. Initial work will focus on openpit development at the Tiriganiaq zone. Additional drilling is planned to expand and upgrade the existing mineral resource base in the immediate mine area.

The original Meliadine mine plan envisioned a 3 750 t/d mill, with ore being sourced entirely from underground in years 1 to 4. The mill capacity for Phase 2 is expected to increase to about 6 000 t/d, with ore being sourced from underground and openpits starting in year five. The increased tonnage from the Phase 2 expansion is forecast to offset an expected decline in ore grade and keep production stable at about 400 000 oz/y of gold.

The Tiriganiaq openpits contain probable gold mineral reserves of 3.8 million tonnes grading 4.89 g/t gold. These pits are expected to be mined from 2020 to 2027, with production gradually ramping up over the eight-year reserve life.

Contact Details:
Agnico Eagle
Tel +1 416 947 1212
Email info@agnicoeagle.com
Website https://www.agnicoeagle.com