Agnico-Eagle loses $600M in fourth-quarter
Decision to stop mining poorer grades of ore will reduce Meadowbank Mine's life by three years
CBC News
Posted: Feb 16, 2012 12:50 PM CST
Last Updated: Feb 16, 2012 1:20 PM CST
Agnico-Eagle, the company that owns the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake, Nunavut, is restructuring and creating new plans in an effort to stop losing money.
The company posted its fourth-quarter results Wednesday. In the final three months of 2011 it lost more than $600 million.
Gold miners work in the open pit mine at Agnico-Eagle's Meadowbank site in 2011. The mine is situated north of Baker Lake. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)“There’s no question 2011 was very difficult,” said Sean Boyd, the company's CEO, during a public conference call.
He said one of the main challenges the company faced in 2011 was the high cost of its operations at Meadowbank, which is 110 kilometres from Baker Lake.
According to the company's website, it costs Agnico-Eagle $700 to produce an ounce of gold at Meadowbank but, during the conference call, Boyd confirmed that cost is actually closer to $1,000 per ounce. That compares to $54 per ounce at the company's LaRonde mine in Quebec.
Because of those higher costs, the company will no longer mine some of what was previously considered ore at Meadowbank. That decision will reduce the life of the mine by three years, meaning it is now scheduled to close in 2017 rather than 2020.
“Although Meadowbank has been a tougher situation than we had expected, it certainly doesn’t diminish our enthusiasm for doing business in Nunavut,” Boyd said.
Share Tools
Latest North News Headlines
- Helicopter takes out power lines in Whitehorse
- A helicopter pilot is safe after running into a power line Monday morning in the Whistle Bend area of Whitehorse. more »
- Northern Canada's telecom services to expand
- Private telecom companies Ice Wireless and Iristel are partnering to expand cellular and Internet services in Canada's Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. more »
- RCMP say bullet hit Yellowknife float plane in mid-air
- Police are investigating after they say a float plane in Yellowknife was hit with a bullet in mid-air on Sunday afternoon. more »
- Inuit broadcasting pioneer Jonah Kelly dies
- One of the pioneers of Inuit broadcasting in Nunavut, Jonah Kelly, has passed away. more »
Top News Headlines
- B.C. police shooting video sparks calls for new probe
- Amateur video of the shooting of a mentally ill Vancouver man five years ago has prompted calls for B.C.'s police complaint commissioner and Crown prosecutors to take another look at the case. more »
- 'Engine shutdown' forced Air Canada jet to land
- A Japan-bound Air Canada Boeing 777 made an emergency landing at Toronto's Pearson airport on Monday, after one of its engines failed. more »
- CP Rail union, Tories battle over collective bargaining
- The federal Conservatives are defending their plan to force striking Canadian Pacific Railway employees back to work as a way to keep the economy on track, while the union representing 4,800 workers says their collective bargaining rights are under attack. more »
- Quebec student talks resume amid continuing protests
- A new round of negotiations between students and Quebec's Liberal government over the province's tuition-fee crisis extended into the night, while thousands took to the street in protest, leading to dozens of arrests. more »
- RCMP say bullet hit Yellowknife float plane in mid-air
- Helicopter takes out power lines in Whitehorse
- Housing more affordable in North, says housing corporation
- Coyote bites girl in Whitehorse
- Northern Canada's telecom services to expand
- Yellowknife toddlers catching hand, foot and mouth virus
- Nunavut search for missing mayor to resume
- Inuit broadcasting pioneer Jonah Kelly dies
- Highest number of preventable deaths happen in territories
