Agnico to invest $10B in Ontario operations, province says

Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX, NYSE: AEM) plans to spend C$14 billion ($10.2 billion) in Ontario by 2030 as the province moves to accelerate mine permitting and development, the Ontario government said Tuesday.

The investment package includes spending on mine expansions, new project development and exploration across the province, Ontario Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce said Wednesday in a statement. Agnico is Canada’s largest mining company and the world’s second-biggest gold producer.

Toronto-based Agnico is working to boost gold output by 20% to 30% over the next decade, with a first step-up expected in 2030 before annual production tops 4 million oz. early in the next decade.

Expansions of the company’s Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec and Detour Lake operations in Ontario will anchor the projected growth, as will the construction of the Upper Beaver, Hope Bay and San Nicolas mines, Agnico said April 30.

Red tape cuts

News of Agnico’s Ontario expansion comes after the provincial government introduced rules in October designed to cut mine approval times by half – a move that Lecce insisted at the time would make the province more competitive in the global race to extract critical minerals. Ontario climbed to No. 2 behind Nevada in the most recent Fraser Institute global survey of mining jurisdictions, which was released in February.

“Ontario is becoming the mining and critical minerals capital of the G7, and this historic C$14 billion investment sends a powerful message to the world: Ontario is open for business,” Lecce said Wednesday.

Agnico’s investment, one of the largest private-sector commitments in modern Ontario history, “will create thousands of good-paying jobs, drive economic growth in the North, strengthen Indigenous partnerships and secure Ontario’s place as a global leader in responsible mining, critical minerals and resource development for decades to come,” the minister added.

Ontario’s new “One Project, One Process” (1P1P), framework creates a centralized permitting and authorization model that aims to approve advanced exploration and mine development projects in a maximum of two years. The reform was intended to give investors and developers the confidence to build mines and create jobs across northern Ontario.

The province is also planning to bring forward an additional package of “red tape reduction” to “streamline” approvals for early and advanced exploration and shorten mining permitting timelines for expansions of existing mines, according to the government’s statement. No other details were immediately available.

Detour Lake

About C$2 billion of Agnico’s planned C$14 billion outlay will go toward the Detour Lake underground project and the Upper Beaver gold-copper project, creating up to 1,600 jobs, Ontario says. The investments could boost gross domestic product by nearly C$5 billion, according to the province.

Spokespeople for Agnico didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment from The Northern Miner Wednesday.

Located about 900 km north of Toronto, near the Quebec border, Detour Lake is Canada’s largest gold mine and holds the country’s largest reserves of the yellow metal. The C$1 billion underground project is designed to expand production beneath the existing open-pit operation, extending the mine’s life to 2054.

At Upper Beaver, which is located about 20 km east of Kirkland Lake, Agnico will seek to redevelop a historic mine into a modern underground and open-pit gold-copper operation that will also include a processing facility and related infrastructure. The expansion is projected to cost over C$1 billion and create 800 jobs, resulting in an operation capable of producing 210,000 oz. of gold and 3,600 tonnes of copper a year over 14 years.

“Ontario is central to our long-term growth strategy, and the strength of our operations today reflects years of disciplined investment in our people, our partnerships and the communities where we operate,” Agnico CEO Ammar Al-Joundi said in the statement. “We value our ongoing collaboration with the government of Ontario and its continued focus on creating a competitive environment for responsible resources development.”

Agnico’s announcement comes as gold producers continue to benefit from elevated bullion prices and strong operating margins. Agnico reported record first-quarter earnings last month on the back of higher realized gold prices and strong production from its Canadian operations.