The Westwood underground mine and the Grand Duc open pit are part of the Doyon-Bousquet-LaRonde (“DBL”) mining camp, which is located within the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Abitibi subprovince.

The Westwood mine is located within the limits of the Doyon Division mining property, which covers the Blake River Group (“BRG”) metavolcanic rocks and a part of the metasedimentary Cadillac and Kewagama Groups, which are localized respectively to the south and north of the BRG. The Westwood deposit is hosted in a volcano-plutonic sequence composed of felsic hypabyssal volcanic rocks (Zone 2 corridor), mafic to intermediate volcanic rocks (North Corridor) and intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks (Westwood Corridor), marked by a chlorite-biotite-carbonate-garnet-amphibole distal alteration and a pervasive quartz-muscovite- sericite-pyrite proximal alteration.

All lithologies of the DBL mining camp have been affected by a north-south compression event, which resulted in a subvertical to steeply south dipping homoclinal volcanic sequence with an east-west schistosity. High-strain anastomosing east-west corridors are observed throughout the property, mainly at geological contacts and within intense alteration zones. Outside of these narrow corridors, primary volcanic textures are typically well preserved.

The Westwood deposit mineralization consists of gold-sulphide vein-type mineralization similar to zones 1 and 2 of the former Doyon mine, which is loca ........

Mine operations are scheduled on two 10-hour shifts per day, seven days per week (development and production). Infrastructure allows mining to a depth of 2,000 metres, although mineralization continues at depth.

Underground Mining Methods
Production at Westwood commenced in 2010, and the mine operated continuously until 2020. Following an incident which lead to seismic events and a sizeable ground fall in 2020, production in various areas of the Westwood underground mine were suspended. An exhaustive investigation into the seismic event was required to make improvements to mining practices and obtain the necessary approvals from the Company’s management and local authorities to recommence operations in the suspended areas. In 2021, following the investigation, the Company prioritized an extensive rehabilitation program of the ground support system and a geotechnical drilling campaign. The Westwood mine completed an update to the geotechnical process for analyzing ground conditions, modeling data, assessing risk and updates to both strategic and tactical mitigations for risk reduction. Following completion of the actions identified in the investigation, mining operations were re-authorized in 2022, contingent on the continued application of changes identified. Technical studies to optimize mining methods and to further our understanding of the ore body are ongoing.

The Westwood underground mine has been developed principally as a mechanized mine. Th ........

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