Deposit Type
The Doyon-Bousquet-LaRonde(DBL) mining camp is one of Canada’s largest VMS districts (Mercier-Langevin, Dubé and Blanchet, et al. 2017). The mineralization on the Property has been well documented by various researchers and is recognized as comprised of world-class, gold-rich VMS deposits formed in a submarine back-arc basin or submarine arc crust. Like other VMS-type deposits, the LaRonde Complex’s lenses were formed mainly by sulphide precipitation from hydrothermal fluids on an Archean seafloor and by sulphide replacement in the footwall below the lenses.

Two deposits styles are recognized on the Property:

• Gold-rich base metal massive sulphide lenses (LaRonde Penna, Bousquet No. 2-Dumagami), which represent the exhalative part of a VMS-type system above the seafloor.

• Gold-rich vein stockworks and sulphide disseminations (Bousquet No. 1-LZ5 and Ellison); which represent the sub-seafloor stockwork and replacement-style VMS-type system (feeder zone) into permeable (i.e., fragmental) facies in volcanic rocks such as breccia, volcanic tuff, pyroclastic unit, etc.

Mineralization
Mineralization at the LaRonde Complex is hosted within the Archean volcanic and intrusive rocks of the Bousquet Formation (2,699 to 2,696 Ma) which is one of the youngest assemblages of the Blake River Group (2,703 to 2,694 Ma). Approximately 50 km to the west, the Blake River Group also hosts several world-class deposits in the Rou ........

At the LZ5 Mine, two variations of longhole open-stope mining are used. The transverse longhole stoping is used in sectors with poor ground quality versus the longitudinal retreat method in areas with better ground quality, or the width of the orebody cannot justify the costs of transverse mining. A geotechnical analysis is used to determine the typical stope sizes. The rock quality and hydraulic radius of the exposed hanging wall, footwall and back of the stope are also critical factors. Stope dimensions range between 30 m and 40 m in height, 15 m in length and up to 30 m in width.

Requirement for Development
All horizontal development at LZ5 will be achieved with a dedicated mine development crew consisting of Agnico Eagle and CMAC contractor personnel. Over the mine life, 35.5 km of horizontal development will be needed to extract the mineral reserves at LZ5. However, the development will be decreased substantially after 2027 once the major mine infrastructure has been established.

Vertical development at LZ5 will be achieved with contractors for the larger 12’ diameter exhaust raises and an AEM raisebore for the smaller 6’ diameter raises. Vertical development is used at LZ5 to create the 6’ secondary emergency egress and the 12’ main exhaust raise.

Backfill
All stopes at the LZ5 Mine require backfill to maintain long term stability. Backfill is either an unconsolidated waste rock fill (“URF”) or consolidated paste backfill. URF ........

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