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Canada
Young-Davidson Mine

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 Location:
75 km SE from Timmins, Ontario, Canada

  Address:
Highway 566, PO Box 187
Matachewan
Ontario, Canada
P0K 1M0
Phone705-565-9800
Fax705-565-2387
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeUnderground
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Transverse stoping
  • Longitudinal stoping
  • Paste backfill
Shaft Depth 1,500 m
Production Start2012
Mine Life15 years (as of Jan 1, 2022)
Young-Davidson is a low-cost, long-life operation and one of Canada’s largest underground gold mines.


Owners

Source: p. 12
CompanyInterestOwnership
Alamos Gold Inc. (operator) 100 % Indirect
Alamos Gold owns and operates the Young-Davidson mine.

Contractors

ContractorContractDescriptionRef. DateExpirySource
Hydro One Ltd. Power supply Power supply for the Young-Davidson site is 115 kV from a short tap connecting to an existing power transmission line from Hydro One’s Kirkland Lake transformer station approximately 54 km from the site. Dec 31, 2016
unawarded or unknown Drilling The mine is fully owner-operated with only diamond drilling and raising being contracted. Dec 31, 2021


Deposit Type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Volcanic hosted
  • Sediment-hosted

Source: Source p.32-33

Summary:

Young-Davidson is situated within the southwestern part of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The Abitibi Greenstone Belt consists of a complex and diverse array of volcanic, sedimentary, and plutonic rocks typically metamorphosed to greenschist facies grade, but locally attaining amphibolite facies grade. Volcanic rocks range in composition from rhyolitic to komatiitic and commonly occur as mafic to felsic volcanic cycles. Sedimentary rocks consist of both chemical and clastic varieties and occur as both intravolcanic sequences and as unconformably overlying sequences. A wide spectrum of mafic to felsic, pre-tectonic, syntectonic, and post-tectonic intrusive rocks are present. All lithologies are cut by late, generally northeast-trending Proterozoic diabase dikes. The Abitibi Greenstone Belt rocks have undergone a complex sequence of deformation events ranging from early folding and faulting through later upright folding, faulting, and ductile shearing resulting in the development of large, dominantly east-west trending, crustal-scale structures that form a lozenge-like pattern. The regional Larder Lake-Cadillac Fault Zone (“LLCFZ”) cuts across the Young-Davidson Project area. The LLCFZ has a sub-vertical dip and generally strikes east-west. The LLCFZ is characterized by chlorite-talc-carbonate schist and the deformation zone can be followed for over 120 miles from west of Kirkland Lake to Val d’Or, Québec. There are three important groups of Archean sedimentary rocks in the district. The oldest is Pontiac Group quartz greywacke and argillite, which occur as thick assemblages in Québec, while interbedded within the Larder Lake Group volcanic rocks are turbiditic siltstones and greywackes of the Porcupine Group. Unconformably overlying is Timiskaming Group Conglomerate, turbidite, and iron formation with minor interbedded alkalic volcaniclastic units. Archean intrusive rocks are numerous in the district but are largely manifested as small stocks, dikes, and plugs of augite syenite, syenite, and feldspar porphyry occurring in close temporal and spatial association with the distribution of Timiskaming Group sediments. The main syenite mass, which hosts most of the gold mineralization on Young-Davidson, measures almost 900 m east-west by 300 m north-south. Huronian Proterozoic sedimentary rocks onlap and define the southern limit of the Abitibi in Ontario. In the project area, these rocks are correlative to the Gowganda Formation tillite. Post-Archean dike rocks include Matachewan diabase and younger Nipissing diabase, which respectively bracket the Huronian unconformity in the project area. Essentially all of the historical production at the former Young-Davidson Mine and approximately 60% of the production from the MCM Mine was from syenite-hosted gold mineralization. Most of the current underground Mineral Resources are also related to syenite-hosted gold. The syenite-hosted gold mineralization consists of a stockwork of quartz veinlets and narrow quartz veins, rarely greater than a few inches in thickness, situated within a broader halo of disseminated pyrite and potassic alteration. Visible gold is common in the narrower, glassy-textured quartz veinlets. In general, gold grades increase with quartz veinlet abundance, pyrite abundance, and alteration intensity. Mineralized areas are visually distinctive and are characterized by brick red to pink K-feldspar-rich syenite containing two to three percent disseminated pyrite and several orientations of quartz extension veinlets and veins. The quartz veins and veinlets commonly contain accessory carbonate, pyrite, and feldspar.


Mining Methods

  • Transverse stoping
  • Longitudinal stoping
  • Paste backfill

Source:

Summary:

Open pit mining commenced in November 2011, and ceased in June 2014, upon depletion of the in-situ open pit Mineral Reserve. While the mining of the open pit has ceased, a sizeable stockpile of open pit ore was used to augment underground production until early 2020 but has now been depleted. Over the life of the open pit, approximately 20.9 Mt of waste rock was generated by the open pit and placed in the waste dump to the north of the pit. Commercial production was declared for the Young- Davidson open pit mine and mill effective September 1, 2012.

In October 2013, the Company commissioned the mid-shaft loading pocket and shaft hoisting infrastructure and began hoisting underground ore to surface via the Northgate shaft. Prior to October 2013, ore was being trucked to surface through the exploration ramp. On October 31, 2013, commercial production at the Young-Davidson underground mine was achieved.

The underground deposit is located approximately 210 m to 1,500 m below surface. During 2013, AuRico completed the sinking of the Northgate shaft down to the mid-shaft loading pocket to access the first eight years of mine production. The Company has since completed vertical access in the underground mine below that of the mid-shaft loading pocket, to the ultimate depth of 1,500 m. In 2017, raise boring of the Northgate shaft was completed to the ultimate depth of 1,500 m and ground supporting of the shaft was completed in 2018. Completion of the lower mine development and the tying in of the Northgate shaft extension was completed in mid-2020. In 2015 the existing MCM #3 shaft was extended to a depth of 1,500 m to provide for the hoisting of personnel, materials, and ore and waste. Commissioning of the MCM #3 shaft was completed in the first half of 2016. The mine is also accessed by a ramp, which was extended to the bottom of the mine from the existing exploration ramp and was completed in the first half of 2020. The mine design has taken into consideration the existing MCM #3 and the Northgate shafts and other existing openings for ventilation. Additional ventilation raises to surface have been established and the underground ventilation circuit continues to be upgraded as the mine deepens.

The underground mine has been designed for low operating costs using large modern equipment, gravity movement of ore and waste through raises, shaft hoisting, minimal ore, and waste re- handling, high productivity bulk mining methods, and paste backfill. The mining method employed is a combination of transverse and longitudinal stoping, followed by paste backfill, on 30 m sub- levels. Below the 9,400 m level sub-levels are being developed on 35 m intervals. Given the significant orebody widths, it is expected that approximately 90% of the remaining Mineral Reserves will be transversely mined. The mine operates scoop trams to load, haul and transfer stope production to the ore pass system from where it is hoisted to the surface via two 24.5 tonne skips in the Northgate shaft.

With the commissioning of the lower mine, the Northgate shaft hoisting capacity is approximately 10,500 tpd of ore and waste.

Lateral development of the underground mine will average approximately 11,000 m per year including capital, operating, and ore categories for the first ten years of the underground mine operation. In the last five years of the underground mine life, the development requirements drop off sharply as the mine is close to being fully developed.

The average underground hourly mining personnel requirements at 8,000 tpd are estimated to be approximately 380 persons. The mine operates seven days a week with two 10.5 hour shifts per day working five days on and four days off followed by four days on and five days off schedule. The mine is fully owner-operated with only diamond drilling and raising being contracted.


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

  • Hydrochloric acid (reagent)
  • Carbon re-activation kiln
  • INCO sulfur dioxide/air process
  • Crush & Screen plant
  • Flotation
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Carbon in leach (CIL)
  • Carbon adsorption-desorption-recovery (ADR)
  • Dewatering
  • Solvent Extraction & Electrowinning
  • Cyanide (reagent)

Source: Source

Summary:

The metallurgical test programs supported the selection of single stage semi-autogenous grinding circuit followed by flotation. The flotation concentrate is further ground and leached in a conventional carbon-in-leach circuit. The flotation tailings are also leached in a carbon-in-leach circuit. The gold is recovered from the carbon followed by electro-winning and pouring doré bars.

The combined leach tailings were used for the cyanide destruction test work. The Young-Davidson carbon-in-leach tailings are treated with the SO2/Air cyanide destruction method.

The Young-Davidson mill can be considered a standard flotation/CIL gold mill. The mill was commissioned during Q1 of 2012 and the first gold pour occurred on April 30th, 2012. Ore is currently sourced from two sources, the underground mine and from low grade surface stockpiles, produced by the open pit between 2011 and 2014.

The cyclone overflow feeds a trash screen prior to feeding the flotation conditioner. The flotation conditioner overflows into the first flotation cell. The flotation circuit is comprised of four tank cells.

The flotation concentrate is pumped to the concentrate thickener. Thickener underflow is pumped to the regrinding circuit. The thickened concentrate is pumped to the regrinding circuit, comprising a vertical tower mill, where the solids are reduced to a size distribution with a nominal P80 target of 15 µm, operated in closed circuit with a cyclone cluster. The cyclone underflow returns to the tower mill box while the cyclone overflow flows directly to the concentrate CIL circuit.

The flotation tailings are pumped to the flotation tailings thickener. The flotation tailings thickener underflow is pumped to the combined CIL circuit. Thickener overflows from both thickeners report to the mill process water tank for reuse.

The flotation concentrate from the regrind circuit reports to a pre-leach tank. The slurry overflows from the pre-leach tank into a series of four CIL tanks providing a total of 48 hours of retention time.

The loaded carbon extracted from the first tank of the concentrate CIL tank is pumped to the carbon stripping circuit for carbon elution.

The flotation tailings, along with the previously leached flotation concentrate are fed to the combined CIL circuit consisting of five leach tanks providing an overall retention time of 24 hours. The combined leach circuit tailings report to the cyanide destruction circuit.

The carbon elution circuit has been sized for processing 4 t/d of carbon. The loaded carbon is pumped from the first flotation concentrate leach tank across a loaded carbon screen. The loaded carbon flows by gravity into the acid wash vessel where the loaded carbon is rinsed by a solution of hydrochloric acid followed by neutralization. The loaded carbon is transferred by a recessed impeller pump to the elution vessel. The stripped carbon is reactivated in an electric kiln and reused in the CIL circuit.

The carbon stripping circuit elutes the precious metals into the pregnant solution. The pregnant solution feeds the electrowinning circuit. Pregnant solution is pumped through the electrowinning circuit to produce sludge on the cathodes containing the precious metals. The cathodes are washed, dewatered and dried. The dried cathode sludge is melted in an electric induction furnace and poured into doré bars.

The combined leach circuit tailings report to the cyanide destruction circuit using the SO2/air process and copper sulphate solution. The treated tailings slurry is pumped to the tailings impoundment area for settling or to the paste fill plant and a portion of the reclaim water is sent back to the process plant as process water.

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameter2022202120202019201820172016
Gold Recovery Rate, % 91919291929291
Gold Head Grade, g/t 2.312.312.082.462.312.472.19

Production:

CommodityUnits2023202220212020201920182017
Gold koz 185-200 ^192195136188180200
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics202220212020201920182017
Daily ore mining rate 7,627 t7,889 t5,345 t6,720 t6,248 t6,639 t
Daily processing rate 7,835 t7,899 t5,960 t7,045 t7,353 t7,494 t
Daily processing capacity 8,000 t8,000 t8,000 t8,000 t8,000 t8,000 t
Ore tonnes mined 2,783,831 t2,879,662 t1,956,198 t2,452,623 t2,280,399 t2,423,289 t
Tonnes processed 2,859,608 t2,883,241 t2,181,324 t2,571,319 t2,683,962 t2,735,267 t
Daily mining capacity 10,500 t
Total tonnes mined

Reserves at December 31, 2022:
Mineral Resources Cut-off grades are: Young-Davidson - Surface - 0.5 g/t Au; Young-Davidson - Underground - 1.23 g/t Au.

Mineral Reserves Cut-off grades are: Young-Davidson - Surface - 0.5 g/t Au; Young-Davidson - Underground - 1.5 g/t Au.

CategoryOreTypeTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven Total 24,896 kt Gold 2.32 g/t 1,858 koz
Probable Total 19,312 kt Gold 2.38 g/t 1,477 koz
Proven & Probable Total 44,208 kt Gold 2.35 g/t 3,335 koz
Measured In-Situ (OP) 496 kt Gold 1.13 g/t 18 koz
Measured In-Situ (UG) 5,058 kt Gold 3.26 g/t 529 koz
Measured Total 5,554 kt Gold 3.07 g/t 547 koz
Indicated In-Situ (OP) 1,242 kt Gold 1.28 g/t 51 koz
Indicated In-Situ (UG) 3,585 kt Gold 3.6 g/t 414 koz
Indicated Total 4,827 kt Gold 3 g/t 465 koz
Measured & Indicated In-Situ (OP) 1,739 kt Gold 1.24 g/t 69 koz
Measured & Indicated In-Situ (UG) 8,643 kt Gold 3.4 g/t 944 koz
Measured & Indicated Total 10,381 kt Gold 3.03 g/t 1,013 koz
Inferred In-Situ (OP) 31 kt Gold 0.99 g/t 1 koz
Inferred In-Situ (UG) 1,586 kt Gold 2.89 g/t 147 koz
Inferred Total 1,617 kt Gold 2.85 g/t 148 koz

Commodity Production Costs:

Commodity2023202220212020201920182017
Total cash costs (sold) Gold 925 / oz ^†  USD 878 / oz†  USD 846 / oz†  USD 1,019 / oz†  USD 800 / oz†  USD 822 / oz†  USD 658 / oz†  USD
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold 1,200 / oz ^†  USD 1,133 / oz†  USD 1,072 / oz†  USD 1,214 / oz†  USD 1,047 / oz†  USD 1,017 / oz†  USD 834 / oz†  USD
^ Guidance / Forecast.
† Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs:

Units201720162015
UG mining costs ($/t milled) USD 34  33  32  

Financials:

Units2023202220212020201920182017
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD 65 *  
Growth Capital M USD 17.7  38.3  75.6  53.7   50.8   46.2  
Sustaining costs M USD 48.8  43.8  26.1  46.2   35.8   34.1  
Capital expenditures M USD 71.5  88.6  101.7  99.9   86.6   80.3  
Revenue M USD 347.8  350.5  239.4  262.1   236.3   249.7  
Operating Income M USD 93  105.4  38.1  31   1.3   36.3  
Operating Cash Flow M USD 172.8  188.9  101.3  112.7   97.5   114.5  
* According to 2023 study.


Pipelines and Water Supply
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Heavy Mobile Equipment as of December 31, 2016:
Source: Source p.201
HME TypeModelSizeQuantity
Bolter MacLean 5
Concrete sprayer 2
Drill (long hole) 4
Drill jumbo (two boom) Epiroc Boomer 282 5
Grader 2
Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) Caterpillar R2900G 12 cu. yd 9
Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) Caterpillar 1700 8 cu. yd 8
Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) Caterpillar 1300 3.5 cu. yd 2
Scissor Lift MacLean 10
Trans Mixer 2
Truck (boom) 5
Truck (underground) Caterpillar AD45B 3
Truck (underground) Caterpillar AD30 3
Truck (underground) Atlas Copco MT42 5

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
Health & Safety Superintendent Dan Demers LinkedIn Apr 26, 2023
Maintenance Superintendent Greg Rooney LinkedIn Apr 26, 2023
Mine General Manager Léon G. LeBlanc LinkedIn Apr 26, 2023
Underground Superintendent Joey Santi LinkedIn Apr 28, 2023
VP, Technical Services Chris Bostwick LinkedIn Apr 26, 2023

Staff:

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
735 55 790 2022
729 50 779 2021
696 128 824 2020
696 208 904 2019
621 2018

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Corporate Presentation 2023
Annual Information Form 2022
Corporate Presentation 2022
Management Discussion & Analysis 2022
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2022
Annual Information Form 2021
Corporate Presentation 2021
Management Discussion & Analysis 2021
Annual Information Form 2020
Corporate Presentation 2020
Management Discussion & Analysis 2020
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2020
Annual Information Form 2019
Management Discussion & Analysis 2019
Press Release 2019
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2019
Annual Information Form 2018
Management Discussion & Analysis 2018
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2018
Annual Information Form 2017
Management Discussion & Analysis 2017
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2017
Annual Information Form 2016
Corporate Presentation 2016
Management Discussion & Analysis 2016
Press Release 2016
Technical Report 2016
Management Discussion & Analysis 2015

Aerial view:

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