Osisko Mining reports that construction and installation of the first of two cone crushers in the secondary crushing facility has been successfully completed. Commissioning of crusher number one at the secondary crushing facility is now underway. Crusher number two of the secondary crushing facility will be added upon arrival at site, which is still anticipated to be on schedule in June 2012. A planned maintenance shut-down of the mill was also completed in March, with a liner change out in the SAG mill.

The mill and the new secondary crusher line have been started and are ramping up towards their target of 50,000 t/d, as the manufacturer’s standard start-up test protocols are being completed. Osisko President and CEO Sean Roosen commented: “The addition of the new cone crusher sets the stage for us to pursue the ramp up to 50,000 t/d at the Canadian Malartic mill, which has a name plate design capacity of 55,000 t/d. Construction and commissioning has gone very well with the mild winter we had on site. We want to congratulate the team including Osisko workers and contractors for completing the construction and installation ahead of schedule executing the build with no time lost accidents.” Osisko Mining operates the Canadian Malartic gold mine in Malartic, Quebec and is pursuing exploration on a number of properties, including the Hammond Reef gold project in northern Ontario.