Gold production in Ontario in Q2 2020 declined by 17% over Q2 2019 due to suspensions related to COVID-19 crisis. Detour Lake was the largest gold mine in Ontario.
Ontario is the largest gold-producing Canadian province or territory. According to the Ontario Mining Association, the region produced 73,733 kilograms of gold in 2019, which equates to 2,371 thousand troy ounces of gold, or 42% of total gold produced in Canada.
Based on available quarterly corporate reports, Ontario produced 528 kozt of gold in Q2 2020 from primary gold mines and as a by-product of base metals and platinum group metals operations. This significant 17% decline over the corresponding period of 2019 (638 kozt) was primarily caused by suspensions related to COVID-19 crisis.
Production at Ontario’s biggest Detour Lake gold mine in Q2 2020 totalled 132 thousand troy ounces (kozt), which involved processing 5,655,992 tonnes at an average grade of 0.79 g/t at average recoveries of 91.7%. Production in Q2 2020 was 12% lower than in Q2 2019 mainly due to feeding lower grade stockpiled material to the mill during reduced operations. Kirkland Lake completed acquisition of Detour Lake on January 31, 2020.
Gold production at second biggest Newmont’s Porcupine gold mine increased by 64%, from 53 kozt in Q2 2019 (results have been included from the date of Porcupine acquisition by Newmont on April 18, 2019) to 87 kozt in Q2 2020. Gold output growth was primarily driven by higher ore grade mined from Borden, which achieved commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2019, and higher mill recovery from the lead nitrate circuit.
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