VANCOUVER – Commemorating the successes of Canadian gold mining, the Royal Canadian Mint recently launched a new bullion coin entirely sourced from a single mine in the province of Quebec owned and operated by Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) (TSX:NGT). According to Natural Resources Canada, more than 70% of the country’s gold comes from either Ontario or Quebec, and represents Canada’s most valuable mined commodity. Statistically, the country’s largest mine (Malartic) is located in Quebec, and is owned byAgnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) (TSX:AEM). However, there are several other promising gold mining developments in Quebec underway, including from Emperor Metals Inc. (CSE:AUOZ) (OTC:EMAUF), Osisko Mining Inc. (TSX:OSK) (OTC:OBNNF), and Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI).
Earlier this September, up-and-comer Emperor Metals Inc. (CSE:AUOZ) (OTC:EMAUF) hit upon some impressive results at its Duquesne West Gold Project in Quebec, to the tune of 11.7m of 5.6 g/t Au, including 5.8m of 8.0 g/t Au—located in hole DQ23-01.
Emperor’s flagship Duquesne West Gold asset is located 32 km northwest of the city of Rouyn-Noranda and 10km east of the town of Duparquet. It’s a project that’s situated inside the historic Duparquet gold mining camp in the southern portion of the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt and is a high-grade Archean Lode Gold Deposit.
"We are situated in a 'Tier 1 District,' with convenient access to multiple mills and infrastructure within a mere half-hour drive,” said John Florek, CEO of Emperor Metals. “This proximity holds immense promise for the future economics of our deposit. Our strategic location near the Rouyn-Noranda mining district of Quebec also opens up numerous possibilities for further growth and exploration at the edges of the high-grade Duquesne West gold deposit.”
According to Emperor Metals, this ongoing drilling campaign has the potential to grow the Historical Resource of 727,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 5.42 g/t Au, and potentially bring it into modern-day compliance.
“With the existing regional infrastructure, there is a unique opportunity to examine underground low-grade bulk tonnage scenarios at Duquesne West,” added Florek. “This encourages examination of the near surface open-pit potential above a high-grade gold deposit, which was never properly considered by previous explorers. We intend to examine the potential for defining a bulk tonnage, near surface, open-pittable gold deposit by assaying available historical core that was previously un-assayed. The emergence of various low-cost potential mining scenarios suggests that a path to a multimillion-ounce potential may exist at Duquesne West."
Amid the results, there was a large interval of low-grade, continuous mineralization at hole DQ23-02, which Emperor identified as being similar to intervals reported at the nearby Goldex mining operation owned by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) (TSX:AEM). At Goldex, Agnico had already reported an average grade of 1.62 g/t Au for contained gold of 3.3 Moz Au.
However, Goldex isn’t Agnico’s largest Quebec mine, as the company successfully acquired all of the Canadian assets of Yamana Gold earlier in 2023, which included 100% ownership of the Canadian Malartic mine, which has recently been ranked the top gold mine in Canada, by production.
Over the last couple years, Agnico Eagle has solidified its presence in the Abitibi gold belt, where its production is forecast to be approximately 1.9-2.1 million ounces of gold per year through 2025. As well, Agnico also has the unique ability to monetize future additional mill capacity at the Canadian Malartic mine, given its extensive operations and strategic land position in the region—including Goldex.
In another portion of the province, Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) (TSX:NGT) is producing from Éléonore—a world-class, state-of-the-art facility that is among the largest gold mines in Quebec. Gold from Éléonore is sourced from the Roberto Deposit, characterized by intricate folds and breaks. It remains unexplored deeper down. Mining happens on four levels using specific methods like sill and stope. Onsite processing involves steps like crushing, grinding, and using gravity, flotation, and cyanidation. The process successfully retrieves about 92% of the gold.
Now Newmont is working with the Royal Canadian Mint to produce a new batch of 1 oz gold coins sourced from the low-emission Éléonore mine, which had its first gold pour in 2014 and started commercial production the following year.
“With this new single mine coin, made of directly traceable gold from Newmont’s Éléonore mine to our gold refinery in Ottawa, we are demonstrating continued excellence in terms of precious metal sourcing, refining and manufacturing,” said the RCM’s President and CEO Marie Lemay.
Finally, mining giant Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) found its coveted entry point into the Canadian mining sector back in May 2023, through a joint venture to develop another mine in Quebec with Osisko Mining Inc. (TSX:OSK) (OTC:OBNNF). The C$600M deal will bolster efforts to develop the Windfall gold mining project, split across an initial C$300M to acquire 50% of the project, and an additional C$300M payable once the Canadian government has issued construction and operating permits.
“We are very pleased to be partnering with Osisko to bring the high-quality Windfall Project into production and believe that this will be the first mine of several in this partnership in a highly prospective region,” said Martin Preece, Interim CEO of Gold Fields.
Gold Fields’ deal came shortly on the heels of losing out on the bidding war for Yamana Gold’s Canadian assets, which went to Agnico Eagle. Now with its hand in the Windfall project,
Gold Fields finally has its highly-sought after exposure to Quebec’s Abitibi region. The company said a feasibility study had showed the Windfall project would have an initial mine life of 10 years, producing an average 294,000 ounces annually, which would potentially put it among Canada’s 10 biggest gold mines.
DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this publication shouldbe considered as personalized financial advice. We are not licensed undersecurities laws to address your particular financial situation. Nocommunication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalizedfinancial advice. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making anyinvestment decision. This is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer norrecommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses andare thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. Thecontent in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a viewtoward their individual circumstances. USA News Group is a wholly-ownedsubsidiary of Market IQ Media Group, Inc. (“MIQ”). MIQ has been paid a fee for EmperorMetals Inc. advertising and digital media from the company directly. There maybe 3rd parties who may have shares Emperor Metals Inc., and may liquidate theirshares which could have a negative effect on the price of the stock. Thiscompensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remainobjective in our communication regarding the profiled company. Because of thisconflict, individuals are strongly encouraged to not use this publication asthe basis for any investment decision. The owner/operator of MIQ own shares of EmperorMetals Inc. which were purchased in the open market, and reserve the right tobuy and sell, and will buy and sell shares of Emperor Metals Inc. at any timewithout any further notice commencing immediately and ongoing. We also expectfurther compensation as an ongoing digital media effort to increase visibilityfor the company, no further notice will be given, but let this disclaimer serveas notice that all material, including this article, which is disseminated byMIQ has been approved by Torex Gold Resources Inc.; this is a paidadvertisement, we currently own shares of Emperor Metals Inc. and will buy andsell shares of the company in the open market, or through private placements,and/or other investment vehicles While all information is believed to be reliable, it is not guaranteed by us to be accurate. Individuals should assume that all information contained in our newsletter is not trustworthy unless verified by their own independent research. Also, because events and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected, there will likely be differences between the any predictions and actual results. Always consult a licensed investment professional before making any investment decision. Be extremely careful, investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may likely lose some or all of the investment.
