The Wasamac project was acquired as part of Agnico Eagle’s purchase of Yamana Gold’s Canadian assets in March 2023.
The Wasamac property is comprised of six mining concessions, 266 mineral claims and five mining leases, covering approximately 10,547 hectares. The property is adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway and Ontario Northland rail line, and approximately 100 km west of the Canadian Malartic Complex. A secondary road leads directly to the Wasamac deposit from the Trans-Canada Highway.
The property contains three past producing gold mines: Wasamac, Francoeur and Arntfield. Historical production at the Wasamac mine occurred between 1965 and 1971 and approximately 254,000 ounces of gold (1.9 Mt grading 4.16 g/t gold) were produced. Historical production at the Francoeur mine occurred in three different time periods between 1968 and 2001 and approximately 508,642 ounces of gold (2.60 Mt grading 6.10 g/t gold) were produced. Historical production at the Arntfield mine occurred between 1935 and 1942 and approximately 61,500 ounces of gold (0.5 Mt grading 3.98 g/t gold) were produced.
A NI 43-101 technical report on the property (with an effective date of July 16, 2021) was filed on SEDAR by Yamana Gold on September 13, 2022 and at year-end 2022, Yamana reported probable mineral reserves of 2.2 million ounces of gold (26.8 million tonnes grading 2.52 g/t gold). While Agnico Eagle reviewed this historical estimate as part of its due diligence investigation of Wasamac and believes it to be relevant and reliable, the Company did not treat the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.
As at December 31, 2023 — in the first estimate of mineral resources at Wasamac published by Agnico Eagle — measured and indicated mineral resources were 2.2 million ounces of gold (27.8 million tonnes grading 2.43 g/t gold) and inferred mineral resources were 0.8 million ounces of gold (9.2 million tonnes grading 2.66 g/t gold).
Agnico Eagle believes Wasamac has the potential to be an underground bulk mining operation with production of up to 200,000 ounces of gold per year. A technical study by Yamana envisioned that the deposit would be mined via a ramp system with processing at a conventional mill.
Geology
Gold mineralization on the Wasamac property is predominantly hosted in sheared and altered metavolcanic rocks of the Blake River Group. The main ore hosting structure is the Francoeur-Wasa Shear Zone, which is a second order fault that is parallel and 2.5 km north of the Cadillac–Larder Lake Fault Zone.
Work by the previous owner determined that the Wasamac deposit is continuous over 900 metres vertically and 2.7 km along strike and it remains open at depth and on its lateral extensions. The Wasamac deposit is further subdivided into five mineralized areas, from west to east: Main Area, Area 1-2, Area 3-4, Wildcat Zone and MacWin Zone. Areas 1-2, 3-4, MacWin Zone and most of the Main Area are contained within the Francoeur-Wasa Shear Zone. The Wildcat Zone occurs within a different structure.
Mineralization
Gold mineralization at Wasamac is typically associated with finely disseminated pyrite and stockworks of pyrite-rich microveinlets hosted in albite-sericite-ankerite alteration zones confined within the shear zone. The albite-sericite-ankerite alteration related to gold mineralization is typically beige-brown and visually distinguishable from the surrounding sheared rocks. Quartz veins are not common and do not significantly contribute to the gold endowment of the system.
Development and Exploration
At the Wasamac project in 2023, exploration drilling of 16,600 metres was completed by Agnico Eagle after the closing of the Yamana Transaction. The full-year program, including drilling by the previous owner, was comprised of infill and conversion drilling of the main Wasamac deposit (19,000 metres for 27 holes) and exploration drilling at the Francoeur area (6,400 metres for 15 holes) and the Wildcat area (5,800 metres for 13 holes), for a total of 31,200 metres in 55 holes drilled during the full year.
At the Wasamac project in 2024, the Company expects to spend approximately $2.8 million for 16,700 metres of drilling that will target the Wasamac, Francoeur and Wildcat deposits.
The Company continues to assess various scenarios regarding optimal mining rates and milling strategies for possible mine construction at the project.
The consolidated Wasamac land package covers over 15 km along the main ore hosting deformation zone (the Francoeur-Wasa Shear Zone), and there appears to be good potential for additional discoveries on the property.