Island Gold Mine Canada

Home Operations Producing Mines Island Gold, Canada

Quick Facts

Ownership

100%

Location

Ontario, Canada

Status

Operating

Operation

Underground

Commodity

Gold

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.

2024 Guidance

Production

oz Au (thousands)

145-160

Total cash cost1

US$/oz

$550-600

Mine-Site All-in Sustaining Costs1,2

US$/oz

$875-925

1 Please refer to Cautionary Notes on non-GAAP Measures and Additional GAAP Measures.
2 For the purposes of calculating mine-site all-in sustaining costs at individual mine sites, the Company does not include an allocation of corporate and administrative and share based compensation expenses to the mine sites.
3 Please see press release issued on January 10, 2024, for three-year guidance

Mineral Reserves and Resources

as of December 31, 20231

Proven and Probable
Mineral Reserves

000 oz Au

1,725

Measured and Indicated
Mineral Resources

000 oz Au

716

Inferred
Mineral Resources

000 oz Au

3,682

1 M&I Mineral Resources exclusive of Mineral Reserves. Please see 2023 year end Mineral Reserves and Resources statement for additional detail.

Island Gold Mine Map Larger

Island Gold mine is located just east 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. The property is currently comprised of 55,277 hectares. 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 to 2,000 tpd was announced in July 2020. Given, the 37% increase in combined Mineral Reserves and Resources since the completion of the study in 2020, a Phase 3+ expansion to 2,400 tpd was announced in June 2022, outlining a larger, more profitable and valuable operation.

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 1,000,000 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 currently 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.

The Phase 3+ expansion of the operation to 2,400 tpd is expected to be completed in 2026. Long-hole open stoping will continue to be utilized as the primary mining method with increased underground development and infrastructure changes including the installation of a shaft, paste plant, and an expansion of the mill. The shaft will be sunk to an initial depth of 1,373 metres. The hoisting plant is designed for an ultimate depth of 2,000 metres providing flexibility to accommodate future exploration success. Following the completion of the shaft construction in 2026, the operation will transition from trucking ore and waste to skipping ore and waste to surface through the new shaft infrastructure, driving production higher and costs significantly lower.

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.

With the Phase 3+ expansion, the mill capacity will be further expanded to 2,400 tpd. The expanded mill will contain a number of changes including a new two-stage crushing plant, the addition of a second ball mill, a new packaged five tonne ADR and the conversion of the existing CIP circuit to CIL while adding three new tanks.

Island Gold Mine – Toxics Reduction Act Public Summary Reports

Island Gold Phase 3+ Expansion