The high-grade Meliadine gold project has 3.7 million ounces of gold in proven and probable reserves (16.1 million tonnes at 7.12 g/t) and a large mineral resource as of December 31, 2017. The reserves are in the Tiriganiaq and Wesmeg deposits, and the resources are in Tiriganiaq and Wesmeg plus another five nearby deposits within a large land package covering an 80-kilometre-long greenstone belt. The 111,358-hectare property is located near the western shore of Hudson Bay in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, about 25 km north of Rankin Inlet and 290 km southeast of our Meadowbank mine.
Based on the results of 2016 internal studies, in February 2017 the Company approved the construction of the Meliadine project, with operations initially expected to begin in Q3 2019. However, given the progress of construction and development activities in 2017 and through the first quarter of 2018, the Meliadine project is now expected to begin production in Q2 2019. With the advancement of the production schedule, new guidance estimates 2019 gold production of approximately 170,000 ounces, and 385,000 ounces of gold production in 2020. Production is now forecast to be approximately 5.7 million ounces of gold over a 15-year mine life. The Company is evaluating potential opportunities to increase production in 2019.
In 2018, the Company expects to spend $2.0 million on 10,000 metres of exploration drilling, and $5.6 million on 19,000 metres of conversion drilling at the project. As well, a 7,000-metre regional exploration drill program is planned.
Of the estimated $900 million initial capital costs, to the Company spent approximately $372 million in 2017. Capital spending in 2018 is forecast to be approximately $398 million, with the remaining project capital of approximately $130 million to be spent in 2019.
Project update:
- At end of Q2 2018, construction was 74% complete
- The mine dry, offices and the multi-service building were delivered to operations in Q2 2018
- The second phase of construction involving civil works at the crusher and paste plant was started in Q2 2018
- On July 9, 2018, the first vessel of the sealift shipping season arrived in Rankin Inlet; shipping activities are expected to continue into October 2018
- Mechanical/piping/electrical/instrumentation (MPEI) at both the process plant and power plant were essentially completed by the end of Q2 2018. The remaining components required for completion of these two plants are expected to be delivered during the 2018 sea lift
- Commissioning of the process plant is expected to begin in Q1 2019
- In Q2 2018, approximately 2,143 metres of lateral underground development was completed, which was slightly ahead of budget; the main development focus was on the lower levels and Ramp 3
- In Q2 2018, the Portal #2 production down ramp was connected with the up ramp from Portal #1
- In Q2 2018, approximately 6,707 metres of underground delineation drilling was completed, which is in line with the budget. As a result, 100% of the stopes that will be mined in 2018 have been delineated. The delineation of 2019 stopes is progressing as expected
- Results from the delineation drilling have generally been in line with the block model
- Production equipment (drilling and blasting) is being shipped to site in the current barge season, and will be used to begin mining of the delineated stopes in Q4 2018
Mine development plans
The current mine plan outlines a phased approach to the development of the Meliadine project. The Phase 1 mill capacity is expected to be approximately 3,750 tonnes/day, with ore being sourced entirely from underground accessed by two ramps. The mill capacity in Phase 2 is expected to increase to approximately 6,000 tonnes/day, with ore being sourced from both the underground and open pits starting in year five. The mill will employ conventional carbon-in-leach processing technology. Metallurgical recoveries are expected to average 96%, resulting in average annual gold production of approximately 400,000 ounces in years two through fourteen.
The Company believes that there are numerous opportunities to create additional value at Meliadine, both at the mine and on the large regional land package. These include: optimization of the current mine plan by advancing the Phase 2 expansion through either open pit development and/or deepening the underground mine; potential to optimize labour costs once the mine is in operation (via improved use of telecommunications or automation); minesite exploration upside through mineral resource conversion and expansion of known ore zones (most zones are open below a vertical depth of 450 metres); potential for the discovery of new deposits along the prospective 80-km-long greenstone belt.
Geology
Archean volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Meliadine greenstone belt underlie the property. The rock layers have been folded, sheared and metamorphosed. They trend west-northwest, dip steeply to the north, and have been overturned. The rock units are truncated by the Pyke Fault, a regional structure that extends the entire 80-km length of the property. Pyke Fault appears to control gold mineralization on the property. The Meliadine greenstone belt is like a smaller scale version of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt and its Cadillac-Destor-Porcupine Fault, which have hosted many prolific gold and polymetallic mines, including our LaRonde, Lapa and Goldex mines.
Mineralization
North of Pyke Fault is a splay (the Lower Fault) that separates sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The sedimentary sequence contains a series of oxide iron formation consisting of a northern magnetite-rich "upper" oxide iron formation and two southern "lower lean" weakly magnetic iron formations. These two oxide iron formations host five of the Meliadine deposits including the Tiriganiaq zone. The sixth deposit (Wesmeg/Normeg) is hosted by the Wesmeg mafic volcanics. The deposits are a combination of mesothermal quartz veins associated with the fault system as well as quartz lodes or sulphide replacement in the iron formation.