Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ... |
Mine Life | 2028 |
The Akasaba West property is located approximately 30 kilometres from Goldex.
The Akasaba West project remains on schedule and budget with work on upgrading the Goldex mill that is used to process the Akasaba West ore completed in the fourth quarter of 2023. The first ore from the project was processed in November 2023.
Commercial production from the Akasaba West property is expected to be achieved in the first quarter of 2024. |
Source:
p. 219
The Agnico Eagle acquired the Akasaba West gold-copper deposit in January 2014.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Hydrothermal
- Breccia pipe / Stockwork
- Vein / narrow vein
Summary:
The mineralization zone on the Akasaba West property consists of a low-grade mineralized envelope characterized by the widespread presence of finely disseminated chalcopyrite; the mineralization is primarily contained within the quartz diorite unit.
The gold was thought to be associated with stratiformed disseminated to semi-massive lenses of pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite hosted in mafic lapilli tuffs and brecciated basalt altered with epidote- hornblend-actinolite related to contact metamorphism. The genesis of the deposit remains very controversial. Two master thesis present two different hypothesis. One of those masters (Lev Vorobiev, 1998) supports the hypothesis that the mineralization is emplaced during skarn development whereas the other the (Jeanne Lebel, 1987) was in favor a VMS genesis hypothesis. It is possible that the actual Akasaba deposit characteristics and geometry is a result of an overprinting of several gold mineralization events (hydrothermal, orogenic and skarn).
Goldex is a large, relatively low-grade orebody defined by the intensity of stockwork veins and gold grades rather than by individual veins. Most of the gold occurs as microscopic particles associated with pyrite, while the rest occurs as coarse native gold grains. There are several zones of gold mineralization with isolated ore-grade intercepts over mineable widths on the property, and all of them except the South Zone are hosted by the Goldex Granodiorite.
The sat ........
Summary:
The Akasaba West project is expected to be mined over four years by open pit methods using a conventional shovel/truck operation.
Starting in 2024, the Company expects to process ore mined from the Akasaba West property at the Goldex mill. The Akasaba West property is expected to provide an additional 1,500 to 1,750 tonnes of ore a day.
Flow Sheet:
Source:
Crushing
The crushing circuit at Goldex consists of one primary jaw crusher located underground and one secondary cone crusher with a three-deck scalping screen. Nominal circuit capacity is 600 t/h and final crushing product, presented in Table 1, is 100% passing 50.8 mm with a P80 of approximately 32 mm.
Grinding
Ore is conveyed from the crushing circuit to a 7000 live tonne (25 000 total) capacity stockpile protected by a dome to reduce dust and noise. Primary grinding is achieved by a 7.3 m x 3.7 m SAG mill with a steel charge of 18%, maintained by adding 127 mm balls. Lining consists of steel lifters and inserted steel rubber plates. Secondary grinding is done by a 5.0 m x 8.2 m steel and rubber lined ball mill in closed circuit with gravity concentrators. The circulating load averages 200% and the final grinding product P80 is 125 µm.
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Source:
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Production:
Commodity | Units | 2024 | LOM (Projected) |
Gold
|
oz
| ...... ^ | 115,000 |
Copper
|
t
| ...... ^ | ...... |
All production numbers are expressed as payable metal.
^ Guidance / Forecast.
Reserves at December 31, 2023:
Mineral Reserve: Net smelter value cut-off varies, not less than C$33/t.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven
|
203 kt
|
Gold
|
0.84 g/t
|
5 koz
|
Proven
|
203 kt
|
Copper
|
0.44 %
|
890 t
|
Probable
|
4,823 kt
|
Gold
|
0.89 g/t
|
138 koz
|
Probable
|
4,823 kt
|
Copper
|
0.5 %
|
24,262 t
|
Proven & Probable
|
5,025 kt
|
Gold
|
0.89 g/t
|
143 koz
|
Proven & Probable
|
5,025 kt
|
Copper
|
0.5 %
|
25,153 t
|
Indicated
|
4,044 kt
|
Gold
|
0.7 g/t
|
91 koz
|
Indicated
|
4,044 kt
|
Copper
|
0.43 %
|
17,270 t
|
Financials:
| Units | 2023 |
Capital expenditures
|
M USD
| ...... |
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Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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