Gold and Silver – Page 24 – Republic of Mining

Alamos prepped for Dubreuilville mine shaft sinking – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 26, 2023)

October 27, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Island Gold expansion will allow for an increase in production

The hoist is complete, the headframe is near completion, and the sinking of a new shaft at the Island Gold Mine, outside Dubreuilville, begins at year’s end. In delivering its third-quarter results, Alamos Gold updated progress on the third phase of expansion of the high-grade underground operation ,which will double production once construction is finished in 2026.

The infrastructure being installed also includes a paste plant and a processing mill expansion to support boosting the mining rate from 1,200 tonnes per day to 2,400. Instead of trucking ore and waste rock to surface, that material will be skipped through the new shaft infrastructure.

Wall Street analysts cautiously optimistic on gold, while retail investors remain firmly bullish – by Ernest Hoffman (Kitco News – October 27, 2023)

October 27, 2023

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold held onto its recent gains this week, supported by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, while high bond yields continue to deliver headwinds for the precious metal. The yellow metal also went on another run heading into the weekend, with spot gold once again trading above $2,000 per ounce as traders look to get into long positions in case the geopolitical situation deteriorates while markets are closed.

The latest Kitco News Weekly Gold Survey sees retail investors still bullish on the precious metal for the week ending Nov. 3 despite the recent price runup, while a majority of market analysts are also bullish but with a significant minority expecting either pullback or consolidation next week.

Doubling down: Alamos Gold is aiming to turn its Island Gold mine in Ontario into one of the lowest cost and most profitable gold mines in Canada by 2026 – by Ailbhe Goodbody (CIM Magazine – September 05, 2023)

October 26, 2023

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

With the latest expansion under way at Alamos Gold’s Island Gold mine in northern Ontario, which is slated for completion in 2026, its gold production is set to double. “Island Gold is quickly transforming into one of the best assets in all of Canada,” said Greg Fisher, chief financial officer at Alamos Gold. “I would argue it’s probably the best asset that’s not currently owned by a major mining company.”

The mine is located near Dubreuilville, within the historic gold producing area of the Michipicoten greenstone belt of the Archean Superior Province; Argonaut Gold’s Magino mine and Wesdome Gold Mines’ Eagle River complex are nearby.

Police say miners from a rival union are holding hundreds of colleagues underground in South Africa – by Gerald Imray and Mogomotsi Magome (Associated Press – October 24, 2023)

October 24, 2023

https://apnews.com/

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A group of miners from an unregistered, rival union are holding hundreds of their colleagues underground for a second day at a gold mine in South Africa over a union dispute, police and mine officials said Tuesday. Some 15 miners have been injured in scuffles, the head of the mine said.

Details were sketchy and there were conflicting statements over what happened, with the unregistered union asserting it represents the majority of employees at the mine and it wants to be formally recognized. It said the workers underground were staging a protest and there was no hostage situation.

Gogama gold mine construction at 90 per cent completion mark – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 23, 2023)

October 24, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Côté Gold open pit to start production in early 2024

Toronto’s IAMGOLD said construction progress of its Côté mine project near Gogama is at the 92 per cent mark. In a news release, the company said activity is at a point where construction is largely wrapping up and pre-production teams are moving in to begin commissioning various elements of the open-pit operation.

Côté is expected to start gold production sometime during the first quarter of 2024. Mining is already underway, having started last July. In the course of digging out the pit, 3.7 million tonnes of gold-enriched material has been stockpiled, on track to compile 5 million tonnes by year’s end.

Communities on the Move: How Dryden is preparing for a mining boom – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 16, 2023)

October 17, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Northwestern Ontario pulp mill town plans for population surge, expanded housing needs over the next decade

The construction of an open-pit gold mine outside the City of Dryden could turn this northwestern Ontario community into a boom town practically overnight.

Should Treasury Metals greenlight construction on its Goliath Project at the end of 2024, Dryden will have a two-year headstart to put its plan into motion to accommodate an influx of new arrivals and businesses before the mine goes into production in 2026.

US DOI draft study poses further setback for Alaska’s Ambler road project – by Staff (Mining.com – October 16, 2023)

October 17, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

The proposed 211-mile transportation corridor for accessing untouched mineral deposits in northwestern Alaska, also known as the Ambler road project, will likely cause harm to wildlife and disruptions to local communities, according to the latest environmental review by the Biden administration.

In a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) released on Friday, the U.S. Department of the Interior found that as many as 66 communities whose subsistence-style living activities could be affected. Nearly half of those could face significant impacts because of the road, the agency added.

Barrick cleared to restart Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea – by Staff (Mining.com – October 13, 2023)

October 13, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD) (TSX: ABX) has received the go-ahead from the government of Papua New Guinea to restart the Porgera mine, which has been placed on care and maintenance for three years.

On Friday, the gold miner announced that New Porgera Ltd. (NPL) was granted a special mining lease by the island country’s Governor General, clearing the way for the 700,000 oz./y operation to return to production.

Centamin unveils new mine plan for Sukari targeting over 500,000 oz. gold per year – by Staff (Mining.com – October 12, 2023)

October 12, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Egypt-focused Centamin (LSE: CEY) (TSX: CEE) has published a new, more ambitious plan for the Sukari gold mine.

According to the company, the new mine plan will push production to an average 506,000 oz. per year at all-in sustaining costs below $1,000 per ounce, for the next nine years and contribute to a 5% increase in total gold production over the mine’s 11-year life.

Provincial decision looms for Cariboo Gold Mine at edge of Wells, B.C. – by David P. Ball (CBC News British Columbia – October 9, 2023)

October 10, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Residents divided over plans for large mine building at edge of their 220-resident community

The tiny community of Wells, B.C., will soon learn if it will be home to a new gold mine — one that’s divided the historic gold-rush district of just 220 residents. After it passed its environmental review last month, the proposed $588-million Cariboo Gold Mine is awaiting a final decision from provincial cabinet ministers, who have until Wednesday to say yes or no.

Particularly divisive has been Osisko Development’s plan to build a 36-metre-high, 200-metre-long mining building at the southern entrance of the community, within municipal limits.

Shoppers are scooping up Costco’s gold bars. But does it really pay to invest in gold? – by Srivindhya Kolluru (Toronto Star – October 8, 2023)

October 10, 2023

https://www.thestar.com/

Gold has a reputation for acting as an inflation hedge, where investors seek out safer assets during times of economic uncertainty.

On top of home decor and bulk-sized bags of candy, Canadians are now rushing to Costco to add gold bars to their (online) shopping carts.

Last month, Costco Canada began selling one-ounce, 24-karat gold bars — priced at $2,679.99 a piece — online. According to Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti, the bullions sell out within hours whenever they’re added to the retailer’s website. It’s one of the reasons shoppers are only permitted to buy two at a time.

OPINION: The case for leaving gold in the ground – by Christopher Pollon (Globe and Mail – October 10, 2023)

October 10, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

We already have plenty of gold for its practical uses, yet we pay a heavy environmental and social price to extract more. Could we agree that enough is enough?

At Barrick Gold Corporation’s 2021 annual general meeting, I was waiting in an online queue with a few other journalists when my turn came to ask a question to chief executive Mark Bristow, who at that moment presided over the second-biggest gold mining company on Earth.

“At a recent mining conference, you were talking about ESG [environment, social and governance issues] and said, ‘Everyone uses metals from mining every day, but it’s an unloved industry, and we’ve got to change that.’ My question is, how is Barrick currently working to change that?”

Adventus, Salazar delay construction of Ecuador project – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 3, 2023)

October 3, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Canadian miners Adventus Mining (TSX-V: ADZN) and Salazar Resources (TSX-V: SRL) have delayed the start of construction at their $250 million Curipamba-El Domo copper-gold project in Ecuador from October to the second quarter of 2024.

The schedule revision comes as the Andean country’s constitutional court suspended in August an executive decree allowing environmental consultations for mining and other projects. President Guillermo Lasso’s move sought to speed up permitting before the end of his term this year.

Yields Spike and Gold Shrugs. What’s Driving Bullion Now? – by Eddie Spence and Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg News – September 24, 2023)

September 28, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — What determines the price of gold? For much of the past decade the answer was easy: the price of money. The lower rates fell, the higher gold climbed, and vice versa.

Gold is the quintessential “anti-dollar” — a place to turn for those who distrust fiat currency — so it seemed natural that prices would rise in a world of low real interest rates and cheap dollars. Or when rates went up, gold, which pays no yield, naturally became less attractive, sending prices tumbling.

Nunavut communities look to future as Meliadine mine extension hearings wrap up – by Emma Tranter (CBC News North – September 20, 2023)

September 21, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Participants weigh importance of jobs in small communities with concerns about caribou

After almost a week of technical meetings, communities had their turn to speak at a final public hearing that could determine the future of Nunavut’s Meliadine gold mine, and therefore the entire region.

Agnico Eagle Mines is looking to expand Meliadine near Rankin Inlet, extending the mine’s life by 11 years until 2043 and building 11 wind turbines, among other changes.