The 27,073-ha land package that makes up Agnico Eagle’s Kirkland Lake project was formerly owned by a succession of junior exploration companies.
Agnico Eagle is focusing on the Upper Beaver and Upper Canada deposits, which are in close proximity to each other. Probable mineral reserves have been estimated at Upper Beaver of 8.0 million tonnes grading 5.43 g/t gold and 0.25% copper (containing 1.4 million ounces of gold and 19,980 tonnes of copper) as of December 31, 2018, as well as substantial indicated and inferred mineral resources, all at underground depths. At the Upper Canada deposit, there are inferred mineral resources of 12.1 million tonnes grading 4.50 g/t gold (containing 1.8 million ounces of gold) at underground and open pit depths.
In addition to exploration drilling, the Company is completing a technical review of the exploration data for the Upper Beaver and Upper Canada deposits, and updating the geological models. Environmental baseline studies continue at Upper Beaver. The Company is investigating various opportunities and potential synergies in terms of engineering concepts for future development of the Upper Beaver and Upper Canada deposits. One scenario is to develop the Upper Beaver deposit as a stand-alone operation, which could have potential synergies with the LaRonde operations given its copper content. Another scenario is to develop both the Upper Beaver and Upper Canada deposits using a central mill facility; an initial review shows the potential for consolidated annual gold production from these deposits of approximately 250,000 ounces of gold.
Recent work has resulted in mineral resources at two other deposits. The combined indicated mineral resources at the Anoki and McBean deposits have been estimated at 1.9 million tonnes grading 5.33 g/t gold (containing 320,000 ounces of gold) as of December 31, 2018, and there are also inferred resources, all at underground depths. At the Amalgamated Kirkland (AK) deposit, the underground mineral resource estimate includes indicated mineral resources of 1.3 million tonnes grading 6.51 g/t gold (containing 265,000 ounces of gold), as well as inferred mineral resources.
Geology
The properties lie within the southern Abitibi Greenstone Belt of the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield, approximately 110 km west of Agnico Eagle’s LaRonde mine. The area is underlain by an east-west-trending linear Timiskaming assemblage comprised of volcanic and sedimentary rocks as well as synvolcanic intrusion emplacements consisting typically of diorite, syenite, quartz-feldspar porphyries and monzonite. The assemblage, deposited in a sub-aerial to shallow marine arc-rift environment, is typically bound to the south by the Larder-Cadillac Break (LCB) – which is a major east-trending, south-dipping regional structure that juxtaposed Tisdale mafic to ultramafic rocks (south of the fault) against much younger Timiskaming sedimentary rocks. The LCB lies within the Larder Cadillac Deformation Zone (LCDZ), which is a wide structural zone cutting across several lithologies.
Mineralization
The main deposits on the properties are:
- the Upper Beaver deposit is atypical of the Kirkland Lake – Larder Lake mining district. Gold-copper mineralization is mainly hosted in the Upper Beaver alkalic intrusive complex and is associated with disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite, and magnetite-sulphide veining in strongly sodic-altered rock. The mineralization occurs as elongated tabular bodies that strike northeast, dip steeply northwest and plunge 65˚ to the northeast. The mineralization has been defined along a 400-m strike length from surface to a depth of 1,700 m.
- the Upper Canada deposit lies approximately 6 km southwest of the Upper Beaver property, and 1.6 km north of the main LCDZ, within a 300- to 400-m-wide strongly altered deformation corridor. Host rocks are primarily volcanic (trachyte) tuffs and sediments that have been intruded by syenite bodies. Gold mineralization is associated with intensely altered shear zones with fine pyrite and ancillary sulphide mineralization. En-echelon higher-grade lenses are present within a broader envelope of lower grade mineralization.
- the AK (Amalgamated Kirkland) deposit consists of lode-style gold mineralization hosted by altered and pyritic Timiskaming volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The deposit lies on one of many northeast-trending structures that lie between the Kirkland Lake Main Break and the LCDZ. The gold mineralization is of two types: gold-bearing quartz and quartz breccia veins, and gold within pyrite-altered host rocks.
Exploration
In 2019, the Company expects to spend $5.8 million to follow up on the positive recent exploration results and data compilation at the Kirkland Lake project. This will include a 16,500-m exploration drill program targeting the Upper Beaver deposit area as well as mineralized zone extensions at Upper Canada, including the newly-expanded Northland Zone. The drilling and additional studies in 2019 are expected to result in a new mineral resource estimate at year-end 2019.