Canadian Malartic Mine (CMM) has announced that both of its 50:50 owning partners, Yamana Gold Inc and Agnico Eagle Ltd, have approved construction to transform the Odyssey Project in Quebec into the Odyssey Mine over the coming years. The state-of-the-art future Odyssey gold mine will feature an LTE mobile communication network, an automated fleet of 60 t trucks operated from the surface, on-demand ventilation, and with all of the major production fleet including trucks, LHDs and drills also being battery electric.

On the electric aspect, Yamana Gold states: “The Odyssey project is expected to be one of the most modernised electric underground mines. All major mobile production equipment (such as trucks, scoop trams, jumbos, bolters, and longhole drill rigs will be electric powered), greatly reducing carbon footprint. On the two main levels with loading pockets, trucks and hammers would be remotely operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from a surface control room, greatly increasing equipment utilisation.”

The preliminary mining concept is based on a sublevel open stoping mining method with paste backfill. Longitudinal retreat and transverse primary-secondary mining methods will also be used dependent on mineralisation geometry and stope design criteria.

Developing the continuity of the deposit in the Canadian Malartic and Barnat pits through four main mineralised zones at depth (East Gouldie, East Malartic, Odyssey North and Odyssey South) will require an investment of approximately C$1.7 billion over seven years. Work on the surface infrastructure needed to mine these zones, including an exploration ramp, began in December 2020. The infrastructure is located approximately 3 km east of the entrance to the Town of Malartic.

A new application to amend the decree to add the East Gouldie and East Malartic zones, among others, will be filed with the Québec Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC) in the coming days.

“While the process by which the government authorises us to mine all of our mineralised zones is well underway, the announcement of our partners’ investment is a major step forward. One of Canada’s largest underground gold mining projects will come to fruition right here in Malartic. The future mine’s life is expected to extend until 2039 and operations could continue well beyond that, given the deposit’s significant potential,” said Serge Blais, CMM General Manager.

The future Odyssey Mine will be accessed by a ramp and a shaft estimated to be 1,800 m deep. Plans are to extract 19,000 t of ore at an estimated grade of about 2.75 g/t gold and roughly 5,000 tonnes of waste rock per day during peak operations. The ore will be processed at CMM’s existing plant (hauled to the existing primary crusher using 240 t mining trucks then crushed ore to the CMM plant via conveyor), which will eventually be adapted to the future mine’s needs including shifting from 57,000 t/d to 20,000 t/d. The ore will be hauled to surface using Blair production hoists with use of both shaft bottom and mid-shaft ore handling systems.

“Between 200 and 500 people will be working at the site of the future Odyssey Mine until 2028. It is estimated that approximately 1,500 full-time employees will be needed at the peak of operations by 2031. This is huge for the region’s economy and that of Québec,” Blais concluded.

Yamana Gold stated: “The construction decision is a milestone in the ongoing evolution of the Canadian Malartic operation and is the culmination of several years of exploration, mineral resource development, and technical evaluation. It marks the transition point of the Odyssey underground project from the project definition phase to the construction and ramp-up phase, which will extend to 2028. From 2029 to 2039, the underground operation will be in full production, producing an expected 500,000 to 600,000 ounces per year. This represents an increase over the company’s initial estimate for an annual production platform of approximately 450,000 ounces. Further extension of the mine life beyond 2039 provides additional upside, with several opportunities under evaluation.”

Production via the ramp is expected to begin at Odyssey South in late 2023, increasing to up to 3,500 tpd in 2024. Collaring of the shaft and installation of the headframe is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2021, with shaft sinking activities expected to begin in late 2022. The shaft will have an estimated depth of 1,800 metres and the first loading station should be commissioned in 2027 with modest production from East Gouldie. The East Malartic shallow area and Odyssey North zones are scheduled to enter production in 2029 and 2030, respectively.