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Island Gold Mine Canada

Home — Operations — Producing Mines — Island Gold, Canada

Quick Facts

Ownership
100%
Location
Ontario, Canada
Status
Operating
Operation
Underground
Commodity
Gold
Contact
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Island Gold is one of Canada’s highest grade and lowest cost gold mines. Through ongoing exploration success, its Mineral Reserves and Resources have continued to grow in size and quality. This has supported a multi-phase expansion of the operation, driving production higher, costs lower, and strong free cash flow growth.

2019 Performance

Production

oz Au (thousands)

150

Total cash cost1

US$/oz

$495

Mine-Site All-in Sustaining Costs1

US$/oz

$656

1 Please refer to Cautionary Notes on non-GAAP Measures and Additional GAAP Measures.

Mineral Reserves and Resources

as of December 31, 20192

Proven and Probable
Mineral Reserves

000 oz Au

1,215

Measured and Indicated
Mineral Resources

000 oz Au

184

Inferred
Mineral Resources

000 oz Au

2,298

2 M&I Mineral Resources exclusive of Mineral Reserves. Please see 2019 year end Mineral Reserves and Resources statement for additional detail.

Island Gold Mine Map Larger

Island Gold mine is located just west of the town of Dubreuilville, 83 kilometres northeast of Wawa in Northern Ontario.

Austin Hemphill, General Manager, Island Gold mine Austin Hemphill
General Manager
Dubreuilville, Ontario Canada

Island Gold is a high-grade, low-cost underground gold mine in Northern Ontario. It is a long-life operation with a large Mineral Reserve and Resource base that has grown significantly since 2015 through ongoing exploration success. A Phase I expansion of the operation was completed in 2018 taking underground mining and milling rates to 1,100 tpd. This helped drive production to a new record of 150,400 ounces of gold in 2019, the fifth consecutive year of record production. The Phase II expansion to 1,200 tpd was permitted in 2019 and a Phase III expansion study is expected to be completed in mid 2020. The property is currently comprised of 217 patented, leased and staked claims covering 7,926 hectares.

In 1985, exploration drilling discovered gold mineralization approximately two kilometres south of the Kremzar Mine. Periodic exploration work continued over the years and in 2004, an exploration program was undertaken to complete a Mineral Resource estimate. Island Gold achieved commercial production in October 2007 and has since produced over 700,000 ounces of gold. In November 2017, Alamos Gold acquired Richmont Mines and the Island Gold mine.

The property lies within the Michipicoten greenstone belt, which is part of the Wawa sub-province and Superior province of Archean age. The property is stratigraphically positioned in the upper portion of the Wawa Assemblage, composed by intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks capped by pyrite-bearing iron formation outcropping in the Morrison and Pine zones.

A large north-easterly trending, structurally deformed zone, called the Goudreau Lake Deformation Zone (GLDZ), occurs between the two assemblages. The GLDZ is believed to be the main control on gold mineralization for the area. The GLDZ hosts the Island, Lochalsh, Goudreau, Shore, and north shear gold zones, all located within the Island Gold property.

East-northeast striking, steeply dipping, sub-parallel zones of gold mineralization are present within the quartz sericite-pyrite-carbonate alteration of the GLDZ. North trending diabase dikes crosscut all stratigraphy.

Island Gold’s underground operations are accessed via a ramp system. The primary mining method is longitudinal retreat long-hole stoping. Ore is hauled by truck to the Kremzar mill located approximately 0.8 kilometres from the portal of the ramp.

Ore is processed through a conventional gold mill using a carbon-in-pulp (CIP) process, with circuits for crushing, grinding, gold cyanidation and two electrowinning cells. The high-grade electrowinning concentrate is sent to a bullion furnace for smelting of doré bars on site. As part of the Phase I expansion of the operation, the capacity of the mill was upgraded to approximately 1,200 tpd in 2018.

Island Gold Mine – Toxics Reduction Act Public Summary Reports [2017, 2018]

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