Agnico Eagle Mines promotes its booth at the PDAC convention in Toronto on March 3.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. AEM-T plans to spend $14-billion in Ontario during the next five years, the provincial government and the company jointly announced Wednesday.
At an event at George Brown College’s waterfront campus in Toronto attended by Agnico president and chief executive officer Ammar Al-Joundi, the company said it will spend $12-billion by the end of 2030 on its operating, development and exploration assets in Ontario. Another $2-billion will be spent on expanding the operational Detour Lake mine and developing Upper Beaver, a historic gold-copper project, both in northeastern Ontario.
Genevieve Latour, Agnico’s director of communications, clarified in a statement that none of that $14-billion represented new investment, and all of it was “in line with what we’ve already disclosed.”
“The announced planned spending and investments by Agnico Eagle through the end of 2030 primarily reflect expected operating and capital expenditures at its existing mines and exploration assets in Ontario, as well as planned investments in key growth projects currently under development in the province,” Ms. Latour wrote.
Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines, hailed Agnico’s spending as “historic” and said it represented one of the largest investments by any Canadian mining company in the province’s history. He attributed it to the province’s efforts to reform its permitting processes to deliver approvals more rapidly, and said it would create 1,600 new jobs.
“I’m very proud of the fact that, after reforming and seriously upending the permitting systems of Ontario and giving some sense of certainty and imposing timelines, so that investors know when they put a dollar in this province they are going to get to yes,” he said.
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Agnico did not grant an interview for this story.
Mr. Al-Joundi lavished praise on Mr. Lecce and the government during his speech at the Toronto event.
“Today’s announcement is an important reflection of our confidence in Ontario, and our confidence again in this government,” he said.
“Companies like Agnico Eagle can make investments anywhere in the world. We’ve chosen to be in Ontario for almost 70 years now, and chosen to invest heavily and to continue to invest heavily in this province, because we know Ontario is a place we can make long-term investments.”
Agnico describes itself as Canada’s largest mining company and the world’s second-largest gold producer; it also has operating mines in Mexico, Finland and Australia. Nearly two-thirds of its production comes from mines located within a few hundred kilometres of one another in northern Ontario and Quebec.
Agnico recently reported that it spent $109-million in capital expenditures during this year’s first quarter at its four Ontario projects, which include Detour Lake and Upper Beaver.
The miner previously announced plans to increase annual gold production by as much as 30 per cent over the next decade through proposed projects, some of which involve beginning underground operations at large existing open-pit mines. That could represent as much as 1.5-million additional ounces of gold produced each year.
Presenting at a conference on Wednesday, Jamie Porter, the company’s chief financial officer, boasted that the company’s balance sheet was the strongest in its history, affording “the financial flexibility and strength to be able to execute on our long-term strategic plan.”
Mr. Porter said Agnico planned to decide next year whether to begin construction on Upper Beaver, one of the projects detailed Wednesday that the provincial government said would represent over $1-billion in planned spending.
He added that the company is “planning to announce a construction decision” concerning its Hope Bay project in Nunavut next week. Agnico acquired the property in 2021 and suspended production at the existing gold mine the following year to focus on exploration of two gold deposits.
Mr. Porter said the Hope Bay property could produce as much as 400,000 ounces of gold annually. Production could begin as early as 2030.