Nunavut mine pours 1st gold bar
Mine hopes to produce 300,000 ounces a year
Last Updated: Monday, March 1, 2010 | 7:15 PM CT
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Some of the 500 workers at Agnico-Eagle's Meadowbank mine touch the first gold bar after it was poured on Saturday afternoon. (Bill Braden)Nunavut's newest gold mine produced its first gold bar over the weekend, marking a milestone for owner Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.
The gold bar, weighing 8,134 grams (287 ounces) was poured at the company's Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake on Saturday.
"The target is to produce about 300,000 ounces per year, so we should pour, once a week, a few bars," on-site manager Denis Gourde told CBC News on Monday.
The Meadowbank property is located about 110 kilometres by road north of Baker Lake in Nunavut's Kivalliq region.
About 500 people currently work at the mine site, including construction workers, but that number is expected to drop to 340 when the mine begins regular production.
Officials with the Toronto-based company say the open-pit mine is expected to produce gold until 2019.
Meadowbank now becomes Nunavut's newest and only operating mine. The territory's last mine, Tahera Diamond Corp.'s Jericho mine, suspended operations in 2008 due to financial constraints.
Corrections and Clarifications
- Agnico-Eagle Ltd.'s Meadowbank mine is not Nunavut's first gold mine, as previously reported. The Lupin gold mine near the Nunavut-N.W.T. border has produced more than three million ounces of gold since 1982, most recently by Kinross Gold Corp. from 2003 to 2005. March 2, 2010 | 11:30 a.m. MT
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