Tag Archives: Meliadine

Agnico Eagle Arctic gold mining asset management program lowers costs, downtime

Equipment maintenance, Mine operation news, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , ,

Agnico Eagle is reflecting on a series of gains it has made on the asset management front, just over three years after beginning a project focused on maximising the value of its assets, ensuring peak performance and building resiliency while managing risk.

This journey started at its Arctic gold mining operations in Nunavut.

Facing logistical hurdles such as reliance on marine sealift and air cargo, coupled with the lack of a robust clean energy infrastructure, a new asset management program was introduced in 2020. This program focused on its Meliadine mine and Meadowbank complex, aiming to develop a collaborative framework based on the global standard: ISO 55000 for Asset Management.

In 2022, Agnico Eagle’s Asset Management team focused on effective communication and implementing new tactics across various departments. The goal was to blend the concepts of ISO 55000 standards with the unique challenges it faces, while enhancing value of its assets.

Rick Derkach, from the Asset Management team, highlights this journey, saying: “We wanted to add value to our mining operations by aligning with Agnico Eagle’s values and business strategies, aligning organisational objectives to tactical plans for maintenance and reliability. We carefully collaborated, creating detailed plans to support the new practices. Our intention was to make sure that these new practices would remain effective by standardising activities, ensuring resiliency year-after-year for any operations within Agnico Eagle.”

The collaborative effort involved over 15 internal departments and more than 40 individuals, forming partnerships with equipment manufacturers and suppliers. The Asset Management team notes: “Our impact extended across the equipment to safety, environmental considerations and a sustainable business plan. Through improved efficiency and innovation, we focused on optimising assets, reducing costs of ownership, and enhancing engagement with all our internal and external partners.”

Focusing on managing assets throughout their life cycle, Agnico Eagle made informed decisions on new investments, maintenance, refurbishment and retirement. This approach resulted in multi-million-dollar cost avoidance and the introduction of new processes for fleet renewal and new equipment purchases, emphasising cost, risk and performance management, while establishing equipment standards that can be reused across its divisions.

To support inventory control challenges, the team developed maintenance activity-related Bill of Material plans to support high value, long-lead time components. This increased accuracy of part requirements supported the Supply Chain, Inventory Management teams to better assess and align parts required for its asset maintenance activities.

One critical challenge addressed was the timely transportation of materials to Arctic operations within a defined operating window, due to sea-ice breakup. Through strategic planning, the Asset Management team implemented an 18-plus month forecasting tool for major and minor component changes, supporting parts orders.

Agnico Eagle also controlled and standardised its data usage, creating applications to improve data integrity for business analytics. This enhanced transparency and facilitated better decision-making.

The scope of the Asset Management team’s project reached across various services within the Nunavut division, collaborating with procurement, finance, operations, IT and operational technology, data management, training, regulatory compliance, risk management, and strategic planning. This resulted in substantial cost savings and avoidance events, the company said. The team’s strategies and tactics helped create a portfolio of tools for Agnico Eagle to deploy – tools that establish operational behaviours and program foundations that ultimately promote best practices in managing physical assets globally.

The team promoted a workplace culture centred around asset management, fostering collaboration and accountability. Noted by many partners in this journey from Nunavut, and across the organisation, the results increased inter-departmental relationships and synergies, creating an enhanced cultural environment of autonomy, mastery and purpose which greatly supported the nuances of asset management.

The hard work of the Nunavut Division and the supporting Service Groups, teamed with Asset Management, earned Agnico Eagle two awards in 2023. Nationally, within Canada, from PEMAC – Asset Management Association of Canada, and internationally from IAM – The Institute of Asset Management, United Kingdom, in the category of “Asset Management Excellence – Team Achievement Award for 2023”.

The company concluded: “These awards underscore the collaborative effort and extensive engagement of Agnico Eagle’s most important asset, our employees, who have played a crucial role in developing essential programs to help us build a high quality, easy to understand business, generating long-term value, and creating a great place to work, while contributing positively to our communities and the future of Agnico Eagle.”

Agnico overcomes adverse weather to reach Amaruq gold deposit milestone

Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Mining project news, Precious metals, , , , , ,

Agnico Eagle Mines says it has achieved commercial production at its Amaruq satellite deposit at the Meadowbank Complex, in Nunavut, Canada.

The achievement was completed on September 30, despite dewatering problems and adverse weather conditions in the June and September quarters, the company said.

Amaruq is around 50 km northwest of the Meadowbank mine, which in turn is located some 110 km by road north of Baker Lake in the Kivalliq District of Nunavut, Canada. Development of Amaruq was approved in February 2017 as a satellite deposit to supply ore to the existing Meadowbank mill.

Sean Boyd, Agnico Eagle’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Congratulations to all of our employees at Amaruq for achieving commercial production in line with the original schedule despite ongoing challenges related to dewatering and adverse weather conditions in the second (June) and third (September) quarters of 2019. We would also like to thank the various government agencies and the local communities for their continued support in Nunavut.”

With the start of production at both Amaruq and Meliadine in 2019, the company is well positioned to deliver on its goal of generating net free cash flow in the second half of this year, Boyd said. “This is expected to allow us to reduce net debt and potentially increase the dividend while continuing to steadily grow our business,” he added.

The Amaruq mining operation uses the existing infrastructure at the Meadowbank mine (mining equipment, mill, tailings, camp and airstrip), but additional infrastructure has been built at the Amaruq site (truck shop/warehouse, fuel storage and an additional camp facility). Amaruq ore is transported using long haul off-road type trucks to the mill at the Meadowbank site for processing.

Amaruq ore processing commenced in August 2019 using low-grade stockpiles. In the September quarter of 2019, production at the Meadowbank Complex totalled 48,869 oz of gold, which included 13,588 oz from Meadowbank and pre-commercial payable gold production at Amaruq of 35,281 oz, compared with pre-commercial production guidance of 40,000 oz of gold. Pre-commercial production gold sales totalled 32,042 oz.

An update on total project capital costs will be provided with the company’s 2019 September quarter results scheduled for release on October 23.

The company noted: “During the third (September) quarter of 2019, mining activities at Amaruq continued to be affected by slower than expected dewatering activities (largely related to heavier than expected rainfall). Dewatering is now substantially complete (approximately one month later than previously expected).

“Given the slower than expected ramp up of mining activities, the company took the opportunity to accelerate planned maintenance to the milling and crushing circuits, which was originally scheduled for 2020. As a result, the mill was temporarily shut down in mid-September and is expected to restart on or about October 14, 2019. During the shutdown ore continues to be mined and trucked to the Meadowbank mill, where it is being stockpiled for future processing.”

As a result, production guidance at the Meadowbank Complex for 2019 is now anticipated to be 200,000 oz of gold (previous forecast of 230,000 oz). Despite the lower forecast for the Meadowbank Complex, the company’s full year 2019 production guidance of 1.75 Moz of gold remains unchanged.

Agnico Eagle brings Meliadine gold mine in ahead of schedule and budget

Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Precious metals, , , , ,

Agnico Eagle Mines says it has achieved commercial production at its Meliadine gold mine, in Nunavut, Canada, ahead of the original schedule and below initial guidance.

The company hit this mark on May 14, less than nine years after the company acquired the project and just over two years since the board of directors approved the mine’s construction.

Meliadine is Agnico Eagle’s largest gold deposit in terms of mineral resources, boasting 3.18 Moz of gold in the measured and indicated categories and 2.60 Moz in the inferred category.

Sean Boyd, Agnico Eagle’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “With Meliadine ramping up production over the balance of the year and Amaruq (also in Nunavut) on schedule to achieve commercial production in the third (September) quarter of 2019, the company is well positioned to achieve its gold production target of 1.75 Moz for 2019.”

The current mine plan at Meliadine outlines a phased approach to the development. The Phase 1 mill capacity is expected to be around 3,750 t/d, with ore being sourced entirely from underground accessed by two ramps. The mill capacity in Phase 2 is expected to increase to approximately 6,000 t/d, with ore being sourced from both the underground and open pits starting in year five.

The mill will employ conventional carbon-in-leach processing technology, with metallurgical recoveries expected to average 96%, resulting in average annual gold production of approximately 400,000 oz/y in years two through 14.

Initial ore processing commenced in early February using low-grade stockpiles, with pre-commercial payable gold production totalling 47,281 oz, compared with guidance of 60,000 oz.

Total project construction costs (after crediting pre-commercial gold sales) came in below the 2017 guidance of $900 million, according to Agnico, explaining that a further update on capital costs will be provided with the June quarter results.

Expected production at Meliadine for 2019 remains unchanged at approximately 230,000 oz of gold (including pre-commercial production) at total cash costs of $612/oz.