Lode gold deposits (gold from bedrock sources) occur dominantly in terranes with an abundance of volcanic and clastic sedimentary rocks of low to medium metamorphic grade (Poulsen, 1996). The Magino Mine is an orogenic gold occurrence related to longitudinal shear zones (greenstone-hosted quartz-carbonate vein deposit). Greenstone-hosted quartz-carbonate vein deposits are a subtype of lodegold deposits (Poulsen et al., 2000). They correspond to structurally controlled, complex epigenetic deposits hosted in deformed metamorphosed terranes (Dubé and Gosselin, 2007).

Greenstone-hosted quartz-carbonate vein deposits consist of simple to complex networks of gold-bearing, laminated quartz-carbonate fault-fill veins in moderately to steeply dipping, compressional brittle-ductile shear zones and faults with locally associated shallow-dipping extensional veins and hydrothermal breccias. They are hosted by greenschist to locally amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks of dominantly mafic composition and formed at intermediate depth in the crust (5 to 10 km). They are distributed along major compressional to transtensional crustal-scale fault zones in deformed greenstone terranes of all ages, but are more abundant and significant, in terms of total gold content, in Archean terranes. Greenstone-hosted quartz-carbonate veins are thought to represent a major component of the greenstone deposit clan (Dubé and Gosselin, 2007). They can co-exist regionally with iron-formation-hosted vein and disseminated deposits, as well as with turbidite-hosted quartz-carbonate vein deposits.

Mineralization occurs in two main regions: the Michipicoten-Mishubishu belt in the Wawa area and the Shebandowan-Schreiber belt to the west (Percival, 2007). Gold deposits in this region occur within veins associated with shear zones in plutonic rocks of variable composition and age. The most significant is the Hemlo gold camp, a large disseminated deposit (Muir, 2003) in a strongly deformed, circa 2.693 to 2.685 Ga volcano-sedimentary sequence (Davis and Lin, 2003).

Gold mineralization at the Magino gold mine occurs primarily within the Webb Lake granodiorite Stock. The Webb Lake Stock underwent variable metasomatic alteration during deformation and gold mineralization (Heather and Arias, 1992). Distinct haloes of quartz-sericite with minor pyrite, iron-carbonate and hematite alteration are typically located adjacent to the quartz vein systems. In addition, narrow zones of mineralization have also been identified in metavolcanic rocks in both the footwall and hanging wall of the Webb Lake stock.

Gold mineralization occurs in several sub-parallel high-strain zones striking 070º to 080º within the Webb Lake Stock and within mafic metavolcanic rocks immediately along the northern and southern margins of the stock (Heather and Arias, 1992). Deevy (1992, 1994) distinguished and described two types of mineralized material shoots, namely “zones” and “veins”. The “zones” are usually 2 to 4.5 m wide and have a strike length of 25 to 70 m. They consist of foliated, bleached, and silica-flooded granodiorite. The zones are folded in places, which, during underground mining, produced mineable widths of up to 10.5 m. The zones dip at about the same angle as the foliation and have a vertical plunge. The vertical continuity of the zones is at a vertical to horizontal ratio of 2.5:1 (Deevy, 1994). Weak to moderate bleaching and silica flooding are the distinguishing features of the zones (Deevy, 1994). Silica flooding consists of incipient pale gray quartz occurring within the foliated granodiorite. Gold content is directly related to the amount of silica flooding and quartz veining (Deevy, 1994).

The veins consist of discrete pale grey to pale green to almost white quartz veins varying in width from a few to 45 cm. They have a strike length of several to 35 m. Gold values are distributed erratically within the veins, but overall grades can be quite high. The veins are folded in places, with gold sometimes concentrated in fold noses (Deevy, 1992, 1994). Vertical continuity of the veins is similar to that of the zones, and the plunge is also vertical.

Native gold occurs in zones of pervasive silicification and in narrow (i.e., less than 1 to 20 cm wide) quartz veins that form complex systems 1 to 3 m wide. Gold occurs within both quartz veins and foliated and altered wall rocks, but the better gold grades are in the veins (T. Deevy, Magino mine geologist 2001, personal communication, as cited in Heather and Arias, 1992). Finely disseminated leaf-like visible gold can be observed in quartz veins exposed in diamond drill cores (Koskitalo, 1983). The gold tends to form plates or leaves along fractures in quartz rather than coarse nuggets. The quartz hosting the gold tends to be fine-grained and dull milky grey (Koskitalo, 1983). Up to 10% disseminated pyrite is locally present, most commonly found in alteration haloes around the gold-bearing quartz veins (Heather and Arias, 1992).

Argonaut is currently focusing its evaluation of the regional deformation zones of gold-bearing quartzsericite- mineralization that contain narrow higher-grade gold-bearing quartz veins and stockworks which were the focus of former underground mining.

The Magino deposit is amenable to development as an open pit (OP) mine. Mining of the deposit is planned to produce a total of 59.0 Mt of ore and 232.4 Mt of waste for a 3.9:1 overall strip ratio, over a 14-year mine production life (including one year of pre-production). The current life of mine (LOM) plan focuses on achieving consistent ore production rates, and mining of higher grade material in the production schedule, as well as balancing grade and strip ratios.

The average OP diluted gold mill head grade is estimated to be 1.13 g/t and contain 2.1 M oz of gold. Lower grade material that is above the marginal cut-off but below the operational cut-off is planned to be stockpiled and processed at the end of mine life (Years 14 through 17).

- One year of pre-stripping prior to plant start-up;
- Pit phases to be mined concurrently;
- Mine rock will be used in the construction of roads and other earthworks projects during the construction period, as well as construction material for the TMF throughout the life of the Project;
- Low grade material that is above the marginal COG of 0.41 g/t Au but below the operational cut-off to be stockpiled and processed at the end of mine life (included in the Mineral Reserves);
- Given the deposit and pit geometry and mining sequence, there is no opportunity for backfilling into mined out pits;
- Conventional, diesel-powered truck-shovel mining methods;
- Ultimate pit limits constrained to maintain a minimum 50 m offset from Goudreau Lake.

Haul roads and in-pit ramps were designed at 10% gradient and a 25 m width, which will provide a
running surface of triple the width of the primary haulage fleet consisting of 140 t haul trucks. The road width will provide sufficient room for two-way road traffic, a safety berm, and includes an allowance for a drainage ditch.

The ramp width was narrowed to 15 m and steepened to a 12% gradient in the lower portions of the pits to reduce waste stripping by switching to single lane traffic. The 15 m width provides a running surface of two times the width of the 140 t trucks, a safety berm, and includes an allowance for a drainage ditch.

For the most part dual ramp access (dual lane) was the basis for the pit designs for Magino. Mining bench heights of 5 m were selected to be within the safe and efficient digging envelope for 16 m3 bucket capacity diesel hydraulic shovels. The 5 m height takes into account swell and the maximum reach of the shovels (double benching to be incorporated into final pit high walls).

The ultimate Magino pit design is approximately 1,600 m long and 500 m wide. The base of the pit is at an elevation of 70 masl, resulting in a maximum pit depth of approximately 335 m.

Mine rock from the OP at Magino will be primarily deposited in an engineered mine rock facility to the north of the deposit, but will also be used in the construction of the TMF. Tailings from the process plant are proposed to be delivered to a TMF northwest of the proposed plant location. Higher grade ore will be hauled directly to the process plant site, while low grade material will be redirected to a stockpile for processing later in mine life.

• Primary crushing;
• Secondary crushing;
• Crushed ore stockpile and reclaim;
• SAG milling;
• Ball milling in closed circuit with cyclones.

The process plant was designed based on a throughput of 10,000 tonnes of ore per day with an average gold head grade of 1.25 g/t and to achieve an overall 92.0% gold recovery.

The process plant flowsheet design utilizes primary jaw crushing followed by a single stage semiautogenous (SAG) mill for grinding. The SAG mill is in closed circuit with cyclones for classification and a gravity circuit to remove coarse gold. Prior to the leaching and Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP) circuit, the ground product (cyclone overflow) will be thickened in a pre-leach thickener to reduce the slurry volume and reagent requirements. The thickener overflow will be recirculated to the process water tank for re-use as process water. The thickener underflow will be pumped to the leach circuit, be dosed with lime and cyanide, leached for 36 hours, and will then flow into the CIP circuit to recover dissolved gold and silver from the leached slurry.

Loaded carbon from the CIP circuit will be acid ........