Agnico Eagle

Last updated
Agnico Eagle Mines Limited
Company type Public
TSX:  AEM
NYSE:  AEM
S&P/TSX 60 component
Industry Mining & Gold Producers & Products Manufacturing
Founded1953;71 years ago (1953) (as Cobalt Consolidated Mining Company)
FounderPaul Penna
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Key people
James D. Nasso (chairman of the board)
Sean Boyd (CEO)
RevenueIncrease2.svg $ 2.875 billion (2016) [1]
Increase2.svg $ 327 million (2016) [1]
Increase2.svg $ 512 million (2020)
Total assets Increase2.svg $ 9.556 billion (2016) [1]
Total equity Increase2.svg $ 6.040 billion (2016) [1]
Number of employees
8400 (Jan 2018) [2]
Subsidiaries Agnico-Eagle USA
Agnico-Eagle Mexico
Agnico-Eagle Sweden
Agnico-Eagle Finland
Riddarhyttan Resources
Website www.agnicoeagle.com

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited is a Canadian-based gold producer with operations in Canada, Finland, Australia and Mexico and exploration and development activities extending to the United States. Agnico Eagle has full exposure to higher gold prices consistent with its policy of no-forward gold sales. It has paid a cash dividend every year since 1983.

Contents

History

In 1953, five struggling mining companies joined together to become Cobalt Consolidated Mining, which would last until 1957, when the company changed its name to Agnico Mines. "Agnico" is derived from the periodic table of elements using the symbols for silver (Ag), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co). [3] In 1963, Paul Penna became the president of Agnico Mines, and he eventually oversaw the merger of Agnico Mines with Eagle Mines Ltd, a successful gold exploration company, enabling the development of Eagle's Joutel mining complex. The newly formed company became Agnico Eagle Mines Limited. [3]

In 1974, the Joutel mine went into production and would eventually produce approximately 1.1 million ounces of gold until its closure in 1993. During this period, Agnico Eagle also acquired the property and assets of Dumagami Mines Limited in north-western Quebec, which had recently gone into production a year earlier in 1988. The Dumagami mine would eventually be renamed the LaRonde mine, which is now considered the flagship mining operation for Agnico Eagle, and one of the largest gold deposits in Canada. With LaRonde producing steadily, Agnico Eagle acquired more assets over the following years. [3]

In 1993, they completed the purchase of the Goldex mine, becoming the 100% owner of the largest unexploited gold deposit in Quebec. This was followed by the purchase of the Lapa gold deposit in 2000, Riddarhyttan Resources AB (the 100% owner of the Suurikuusikko gold deposit in northern Finland, which would become the Kittilä mine) in 2005, the Pinos Altos project in Mexico in 2006, and the purchase of Cumberland Resources in 2007, giving Agnico Eagle 100% control of the Meadowbank gold project in Nunavut, Canada. [3]

As a result of these purchases, the following years would see Agnico Eagle grow from a single-operation gold producer (LaRonde) to a much larger company consisting of 6 mines in total, with Goldex going into production in 2008, Kittila, Lapa and Pinos Altos in 2009, and Meadowbank in 2010. [3] In 2010, Agnico Eagle completed the purchase of the Meliadine property, located southeast of Meadowbank near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. In 2011, the company also announced a $70 million (CAD) investment in Rubicon Minerals, representing a 9.2% ownership stake and access to the Phoenix gold project located in the heart of Red Lake, Ontario. [3]

In 2016, Agnico Eagle was ranked as the 14th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights in Arctic resource extraction. [4]

In 2018, CEO Sean Boyd received The Northern Miner's "Mining Person of the Year Award" at the annual Pacific Mine Forum (PMF). [5]

In the 2021 Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI) Agnico Eagle Mines Limited was ranked no. 35 among 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle. [6]

In 2021, a $13.5 billion merger between Kirkland Lake Gold and Agnico consolidated the largest gold mines in Canada's Abitibi gold belt. [7]

Company veteran Ammar Al-Joundi was appointed CEO of Agnico on 1 March 2022, after Tony Makuch, the holdover CEO from its merger with KL Gold, lasted only three weeks in the job and was fired by Sean Boyd who had progressed by then to the Chair the amalamgated company, [7] [8] which at the time had a market capitalization of $29 billion. [8]

Operations

LaRonde gold mine

The LaRonde mine, formerly Dumagami Mine, is located alongside the Trans-Canada highway in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region between Cadillac and Val-d’or, Quebec.

LaRonde's Penna shaft, also known as shaft 3, is believed to be the deepest single lift shaft in the Western Hemisphere, descending more than three kilometres (or 9800ft) below the surface. It is estimated to have the longest potential lifespan of Agnico Eagle's six operating mines, estimated to be approximately 35 years once completed, from 1988 to 2023. [9] The lifespan is now expected to run until 2032. [10] The operation currently mines gold, zinc, copper and silver ores and employs 1,042 workers. [10]

The mine was renamed to the LaRonde Mine by company founder Paul Penna, to honour its first project manager, mining engineer Donald J. "Don" LaRonde (c. 1931-1986). [11] [12]

Goldex

Pouring Gold into molds LaRonde Gold Pour.jpg
Pouring Gold into molds

Employing 213 people, with an estimated mine life of 10 years (2008-2018); Goldex is an underground mine located just outside Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada. Goldex is unique due to its partnership with the Quebec government in the restoration of the nearby abandoned Manitou mine tailings site. Through an innovative approach, the tailings from the Goldex mine are sent through a 25 km long pipeline to the Manitou site where they neutralize the acidic waters in the area, the result of years of poorly confined tailings generated between 1942 and 1979 by the mining companies operating the Manitou project at the time. Not only do the Goldex tailings neutralize and help rehabilitate the site, but the system also eliminates the need for a tailings pond at the Goldex site itself. [9]

The mine is expected to run until 2032 and currently produces roughly 134,000 oz of gold per year. [13]

Lapa

Lapa, located about 11 km away from the LaRonde mine (see above), in the Rivière-Héva municipality of the Abitibi region in Quebec, Canada, is one of Agnico Eagle's smaller operations employing 192 people, with a 6-year mine life expectancy (2009-2015). The main headframe that is used at the Lapa mine was constructed almost entirely from a pre-existing headframe at LaRonde. The original headframe was dismantled, sand blasted and painted before it was installed at Lapa. Although Lapa may be a smaller operation in comparison to our other mines, it is one of Agnico Eagle's highest-grade mines, with reserve grades twice as rich as the company average. [9]

Kittilä

Open Pit Mining in Kittila, Finland Kittila mine.jpg
Open Pit Mining in Kittilä, Finland

In the Lapland region of Northern Finland, Agnico Eagle's Kittilä operation has a life expectancy of 23 years (2009–2032). With 375 employees, this open pit and underground mine is one of the largest known gold deposits in all of Europe, [14] [15] containing almost 4.9 million ounces of gold in reserves. Aggressive exploration is also currently underway; with the Kittilä mine serving notice that gold-mining is again a booming industry in northern Finland. [9]

Pinos Altos

Agnico Eagle's largest employer, with 972 employees, is the Pinos Altos mine located in the state of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. Pinos Altos began operation in 2009 and is expected to continue until 2026, resulting in an estimated 17 years of production. The open-pit and underground mining operation is in the mountainous Sierra Madre gold and silver belt of northern Mexico. [9]

La India

La India is an open pit mine is located approximately 200 km east of Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico. It began production in February 2014 and has a mine life expectancy of 6 years.

Meadowbank

Meadowbank is an open-pit mine in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut with an 8-year life expectancy (2010 – 2017). Meadowbank is one of Agnico Eagle's most recent mine to begin operation, and has about 650 employees. In 2010 the first gold brick was poured at Meadowbank, which was also the first ever gold brick to be poured in the history of Nunavut. Meadowbank is also Agnico Eagle's largest producer, estimated to produce 430,000 ounces of gold in 2014. [9]

Exploration

The 2011 exploration program is expected to include more than 410 km of planned drilling to expand resources and convert our large gold resource to reserves. [16] Major programs are planned at the following locations:

Meliadine – 90,000 meters of diamond drilling, an underground bulk sample, new permanent accommodations at the exploration camp, permitting infrastructure upgrades. [16]

Kittilä – 56,200 meters of exploration and conversion drilling, and construction of an exploration ramp to accelerate the definition of resources and facilitate additional exploration at depth. [16]

Goldex Mining Headquarters Goldex mine.jpg
Goldex Mining Headquarters

Goldex – 58,200 meters of diamond drilling will principally target resource expansion for the D zone. Pending the results of a planned mining study in 2011, a reserve conversion program will also be considered. [16]

LaRonde/Bousquet/Ellison – 42,050 meters of drilling, which includes a follow-up exploration program for Ellison. [16]

Pinos Altos – 33,800 meters of drilling including minesite (reserve conversion) and regional (resource expansion) drilling, and an underground exploration program and scoping study for the Cubiro zone. [16]

Meadowbank – 32,000 meters of conversion and exploration drilling targeting extensions of the Vault deposit and underground potential beneath Goose South. [16]

Gilt Edge – In 2018, a former gold mine in South Dakota was acquired in an exploration-environmental partnership with the EPA.

In December 2016 Agnico invested CA$4.5 million into Canadian junior mining company Cartier Resources to conduct exploration on the Chimo, Benoist, Wilson, Fenton and Cadillac Extension projects in Quebec. [17]

Carbon footprint

Agnico-Eagle Mines Group reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 578 Kt (+57/+11% y-o-y). [18] The growth accelerated compared to the long-term upward trend (CAGR of +7.6% since 4Q'16).

Agnico-Eagle Mines Group's Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) (in kilotonnes)
Dec 2015Dec 2016Dec 2017Dec 2018Dec 2019Dec 2020
407 [19] 400 [20] 415 [21] 411 [22] 521 [23] 578 [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underground hard-rock mining</span> Mining techniques used to excavate hard minerals and gems

Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals, such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the same techniques used to excavate ores of gems, such as diamonds and rubies. Soft-rock mining refers to the excavation of softer minerals, such as salt, coal, and oil sands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kittilä</span> Municipality in Lapland, Finland

Kittilä is a municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort.

Anglo American plc is a British multinational mining company with headquarters in London, England. It is the world's largest producer of platinum, with around 40% of world output, as well as being a major producer of diamonds, copper, nickel, iron ore, polyhalite and steelmaking coal. The company has operations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker Lake, Nunavut</span> Hamlet in Nunavut, Canada

Baker Lake is a hamlet in the Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut on mainland Canada. Located 320 km (200 mi) inland from Hudson Bay, it is near the nation's geographical centre, and is notable for being Nunavut's sole inland community. The hamlet is located at the mouth of the Thelon River on the shore of Baker Lake. The community was given its English name in 1761 from Captain William Christopher who named it after Sir William Baker, the 11th Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Boliden AB is a Swedish multinational metals, mining, and smelting company headquartered in Stockholm. The company produces zinc, copper, lead, nickel, silver, and gold, with operations in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Ireland.

Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. is a mining, exploration and development company based in Toronto, Ontario, focused primarily on gold.

AngloGold Ashanti Limited is an independent and global gold mining company with a diverse high-quality portfolio of cooperation, projects and exploration activities formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation. As of 2022, it was a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents, listed on the New York, Johannesburg, Accra, London and Australian stock exchanges, as well as the Paris and Brussels bourses, but left the Johannesburg exchange in 2023. As of May 2023, it was the world’s fourth-largest gold miner with assets in Ghana, Australia, the US and Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malartic, Quebec</span> City in Quebec, Canada

Malartic is a town on the Malartic River in northwestern Quebec, Canada, in the La Vallée-de-l'Or Regional County Municipality. It is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of the centre of Rouyn-Noranda along Quebec Route 117 and the Canadian National Railway.

Yamana Gold Inc. is a Canadian company that owns and operates gold, silver and copper mines in Canada, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Headquartered in Toronto, the company was founded in 1994 and became listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1995, the New York Stock Exchange in 2007, and the London Stock Exchange in 2020. The company became a gold producer after its 2003 re-restructuring in which Peter Marrone took over as chief executive officer and it merged with Brazilian company Santa Elina Mines Corporation. The combined company was able to use Yamana's access to capital with Santa Elina development properties to bring the Chapada mine into production. From there the company combined with other TSX-listed companies RNC Gold, Desert Sun Mining, Viceroy Exploration, Northern Orion Resources, Meridian Gold, Osisko Mining and Extorre Gold Mines which each contributed either a producing mine or a development project that was able to come into commercial production. The company was acquired by Pan American Silver in March 2023.

The Meadowbank Gold Mine is an open pit gold mine operated by Agnico-Eagle Mines in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut, Canada approximately 300 km west of Hudson Bay. Meadowbank was Agnico Eagle’s first Low Arctic mine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kittilä mine</span>

Kittilä mine, also known as Suurikuusikko mine, is a gold mine in Kittilä, in the Lapland County of Finland. The mine is owned and operated by Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited and is located 36 kilometres (22 mi) north-east of Kittilä. It is the largest gold mine in Europe.

The Canadian Malartic Corporation is a mining company that operates the Malartic mine near Malartic, Quebec. Prior to 2014 the company was a public company named Osisko Mining Corporation with shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. In 2014, Osisko Mining was subject to a hostile takeover bid by Goldcorp but an alternative bid by white knights Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited was accepted that, in addition to offering a higher price, created the spin-off Osisko Gold Royalties and turned Osisko Mining Corporation into the subsidiary company Canadian Malartic Corporation jointly owned by Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle. From its founding in 1982 until 2006, Osisko Mining bought and sold mineral exploration rights in Quebec, conducting exploration work. The company acquired an interest in the Canadian Malartic property in 2004 and after promising feasibility studies the mine was constructed with commercial production achieved in May 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abitibi gold belt</span> Region of Canada that extends from Wawa, Ontario to Val-dOr, Quebec

The Abitibi gold belt is a region of Canada that extends from Wawa, Ontario to Val-d'Or, Quebec. Located within the mineral-rich Abitibi greenstone belt, the gold belt is an established gold mining district having produced over 100 mines, and 170 million ounces of gold since 1901. Timmins, a town founded in 1912 following the Porcupine Gold Rush and subsequent creation of the Hollinger Mines, McIntyre Mines and Dome Mine, which was one area in the region that experienced a gold rush, beginning in 1909. The Kerr Addison Mine in Virginiatown was at one time Canada's largest gold producing mine. Many of the towns readily acknowledge gold mining as part of their history, some being named after gold. One of Canada's 'large roadside attractions' is a 12-foot replica of a 1908 gold sovereign built to commemorate Canada's first gold coin which was made using gold from the Kerr Addison owned Kerr-Addison mine.

Queenston Mining, Inc. was a Canadian resource company focused on the exploration and development of gold deposits on “Proven Mine Trends” in geopolitically stable areas. The objectives of the Company were to expand upon its exploration areas to enlarge existing deposits and to target new discoveries, and to return to producer status through the development of its 100% owned properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guyana Goldfields</span> Canadian mining company

Guyana Goldfields was a Canadian company that owned and operated the Aurora gold mine in Guyana. Before being acquired by Zijin Mining in 2020, Guyana Goldfields was a publicly traded company with shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and previously TSX Venture Exchange. Beginning in 1996 the company acquired exploration rights to the former Peters and Aurora mines with the objective of utilizing modern exploration technology to re-evaluate the potential gold reserves. Following positive exploratory results, the company received financing from the International Finance Corporation and other investors and conducted economic and technical feasibility studies. The Aurora gold mine began commercial production in 2015 and has produced approximately 125,000 to 160,000 ounces of gold per year from the mine since then. These lower than expected results and a revised technical study that significantly lowered the recoverable reserves estimates, led to the removal of the CEO and directors involved in making the investment decision and a class action lawsuit alleging misrepresentations in public disclosures.

Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. was a Canadian gold mining company, based in Toronto, that owned and operated several gold mines in Canada and Australia.

The Meliadine Gold Mine is a gold mine near Rankin Inlet in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut, Canada. It is expected that the mine will have two underground components and ten open pits. The mine is operated by Agnico-Eagle Mines and is projected to be in operation until 2032.

The Canadian Malartic Mine is a gold mine 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Val-d'Or in Quebec, Canada.

The LaRonde Mine is a gold mine in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region 62 kilometres (39 mi) west of Val-d'Or in Quebec, Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Financials for Agnico Eagle Mines Limited". TMX Money. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd 2008 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Agnico-Eagle Our Company - History". Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Overland, Indra (2016). "Ranking Oil, Gas and Mining Companies on Indigenous Rights in the Arctic". ResearchGate. Arran. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  5. ↑ Cumming, John "Agnico Eagle’s Sean Boyd is TNM’s Mining Person of the Year (Northern Miner – February 27, 2018)", Republic of Mining , February 28, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  6. ↑ Overland, I., Bourmistrov, A., Dale, B., Irlbacher‐Fox, S., Juraev, J., Podgaiskii, E., Stammler, F., Tsani, S., Vakulchuk, R. and Wilson, E.C. 2021. The Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index: A method to rank heterogenous extractive industry companies for governance purposes. Business Strategy and the Environment. 30, 1623–1643. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bse.2698
  7. 1 2 Friedman, Gabriel (3 January 2023). "Riding a 44% gain in its share price, Agnico's first new CEO in 25 years is bullish on 2023". Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
  8. 1 2 Lazenby, Henry (1 March 2022). "New Agnico Eagle positioned for growth, says chairman Sean Boyd". THE NORTHERN MINER.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Operating Mines". Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  10. 1 2 "Agnico Eagle Mines Limited - Operations - Operations - LaRonde Complex". www.agnicoeagle.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  11. ↑ Northern Miner "Dumagami sheds image as a `marginal’ producer", Northern Miner, April 4, 1988. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  12. ↑ Niles, Tim Archived 2018-10-27 at the Wayback Machine "Grayd VP Exploration Hans Smit on $275M acquisition by Agnico-Eagle", Resource Clips, September 20, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2018,
  13. ↑ "Agnico Eagle Mines Limited - Operations - Operations - Goldex". www.agnicoeagle.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  14. ↑ "Supplying more than 100 valves to the largest gold mine in Europe". AVK International. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Chen, Jackson (27 October 2023). "Agnico operating permit restored for Kittila mine in Finland". Mining.com. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Financial Reports". Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  17. ↑ "Cartier Resources Closes CA$4.5 Million Strategic Investment with Agnico Eagle Mines". Junior Mining Network. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Agnico-Eagle Mines Group's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2021. Alt URL
  19. ↑ "Agnico-Eagle Mines Group's Sustainability Report for 2019Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2020. Alt URL
  20. ↑ "Agnico-Eagle Mines Group's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2021. Alt URL
  21. ↑ "Agnico-Eagle Mines Group's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2021. Alt URL
  22. ↑ "Agnico-Eagle Mines Group's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2021. Alt URL
  23. ↑ "Agnico-Eagle Mines Group's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2021. Alt URL

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.