Canadian Malartic is one of the world’s largest gold mines. The 55,000-tonnes/day open-pit mine and plant produced 662,918 ounces of gold in 2019 (100% basis, and not including pre-commercial production from the Barnat pit). Mine life is expected to last through 2026.
Proven and probable mineral reserves total 2.39 million ounces of gold (67 million tonnes at 1.11 grams/tonne gold) on a 50% basis, as of December 31, 2019.
The Barnat extension project is allowing the Partnership to access the Barnat deposit. Pre-commercial production activities started at Barnat in late 2019, following completion of the deviation of Highway 117 in late 2019, with 3,137 ounces of gold produced during the fourth quarter of 2019 (50% basis).
The Odyssey, East Malartic, Sladen and Sheehan zones as well as the new East Gouldie Zone discovered in late 2018 are currently being explored and studied to determine their potential to provide new sources of ore for the Canadian Malartic mill.
Geology
The property lies in the southern margin of the eastern portion of the Archean-age Abitibi volcanic belt, mainly within the Pontiac Group of metasedimentary rocks. The Canadian Malartic property, together with the recently acquired adjacent Rand Malartic and Midway properties, cover in excess of 25 km along the Cadillac-Larder Lake deformation zone. The properties are underlain to the north by the Cadillac Group, in the centre by the Piché Group and in the south by the Pontiac Group. The mineralized zones are mostly located in the northern part of the Pontiac Group and in the Piché Group in proximity to the Cadillac-Larder Lake deformation zone.
Mineralization
Canadian Malartic is a large-tonnage, low-grade Archean gold system, consisting of a widespread shell of disseminated gold-bearing pyrite mineralization hosted by porphyritic felsic to intermediate intrusions and altered metasediments. The system is open to the west and to the south at depth. Mineralization in the Barnat deposit is largely along the southern edge of the Cadillac fault zone. The two deposits contain the bulk of the current mineral reserves and are part of one large pit. The Jeffrey and Gouldie deposits, a few hundred metres east and south of the pit, respectively, contain some of the mineral resources.
Mining
Canadian Malartic is a large open-pit operation using large-scale excavators and trucks, on the southern edge of the Town of Malartic. Since start-up, mining activities have been mindful of the need to limit noise levels from the mining operations, with drilling and blasting activities designed to control blast-induced vibrations and noise pressure on the neighbouring townsite. A 135-metre-wide buffer zone (the “green wall”) has been developed along the northern limit of the open pit to mitigate the impacts of mining activities on the residents of Malartic. The ridge has been planted with shrubs, trees and grasses. The green wall is enhanced by the addition of a park alongside, a bike trail and sculptures.
Processing
Ore is processed at the Canadian Malartic mineral processing complex, which has a 55,000-tonnes/day nominal throughput capacity. Ore is transported to a crushing circuit and the crushed ore is stockpiled in a covered pile, then conveyed to the semi-autogenous grinding circuit followed by three identical ball mills, each in closed circuit with hydro-cyclones. The slurry is thickened to about 50% solids before being fed to the leach tank circuit for conventional cyanidation followed by carbon-in-pulp processing technology. The product is doré bars containing gold and silver.
To reduce the environmental impact, tailings are thickened and detoxified prior to being pumped to a tailings impoundment facility. Excess water is mainly re-used in the plant or treated prior to being discharged to the receiving environment.
Exploration
Exploration is ongoing to evaluate a number of near-pit/underground targets. In addition, the Partnership is exploring the East Gouldie, Odyssey, East Malartic, Sladen and Sheehan zones, which are located to the east of the Canadian Malartic open pit. These opportunities have the potential to provide new sources of ore for the Canadian Malartic mill. The exploration focus at the mine in 2020 will continue to be the assessment of the potential of these zones.
Development Projects
Odyssey, East Malartic and East Gouldie Zones
The Odyssey Zone lies approximately 1.5 km east of the current limit of the Canadian Malartic open pit. East Malartic was previously a gold-producing property, located directly adjacent to and east of the Canadian Malartic mine, and west of the Odyssey Zone.
The Odyssey Zone is composed of multiple mineralized bodies spatially associated with a porphyritic intrusion close to the contact of the Pontiac Group sediments and the Piché Group of volcanic rocks. They are grouped into two elongated zones — the Odyssey North and Odyssey South zones approximately 500 m apart — that strike east-southeast and dip steeply south. Odyssey North plunges shallowly to the east and has been traced from a depth of 600 to 1,400 m below surface along a strike length of approximately 1.3 km. Odyssey South has been located between approximately 200 and 550 m below surface over a strike length of 1.2 km. In addition, there are internal mineralized zones between the Odyssey North and Odyssey South zones.
On a 50% basis, the indicated mineral resources at Odyssey are estimated at 68,000 ounces of gold (1.0 million tonnes grading 2.10 g/t gold), and inferred mineral resources are estimated at 833,000 ounces of gold (11.7 million tonnes grading 2.22 g/t gold) as of December 31, 2019. The Odyssey mineral resources do not form part of the Canadian Malartic mine’s mineral resource estimate.
At the East Malartic project, the Partnership is exploring three mineralized zones with distinct geology that come together beneath and to the east of the Canadian Malartic open pit. The East Malartic and Sladen zones are intertwined, extending from beneath the open pit eastward to beneath the Odyssey North Zone, while the Sheehan Zone lies immediately north of East Malartic and Sladen in a shear zone including porphyritic intrusives and ultramafic volcanic rocks. Both the East Malartic and Sladen zones are related to the Sladen fault that also includes Canadian Malartic mineralization (to the west) and the Odyssey North Zone (to the east). The Sladen fault is at least 5 km long, and hosts most of the mineralization at the Canadian Malartic, Sladen, East Malartic mines and Odyssey zones.
On a 50% basis, the East Malartic Zone has an initial indicated mineral resource of 347,000 ounces of gold (5.0 million tonnes grading 2.18 g/t gold) and an inferred mineral resource estimated at 2.6 million ounces of gold (39.4 million tonnes grading 2.05 g/t gold) to a depth of 1,800 m, as of December 31, 2019. The East Malartic mineral resources do not form part of the Canadian Malartic mine’s mineral resource estimate.
Deep drilling east of the open pit in late 2018 resulted in the discovery of a gold-mineralized zone, located south of the East Malartic and Odyssey zones. Follow-up drilling in 2019 has outlined a substantial mineralized body named the East Gouldie Zone that has a strike length of 1,300 m in an east-west direction, dips 60 degrees north, and extends from 700 m to 1,900 m depth below surface. The new zone is a silicified and carbonatized mineralized envelope with fine disseminated pyrite developed in sheared greywacke units.
The Partnership completed approximately 82,000 m (100% basis) of exploration drilling in 2019, culminating in the declaration of an initial inferred mineral resource in the central portion of the East Gouldie Zone of 1.4 million ounces of gold (12.8 million tonnes grading 3.34 g/t gold) (reflecting Agnico Eagle's 50% interest), as of December 31, 2019.
In March 2019, the Partnership acquired a 100% interest in the Rand Malartic property, which extends 1.7 km immediately eastward from the Odyssey project and provides an additional 262 hectares of prospective ground with the same favourable geological setting as the Odyssey zone. The host porphyry intrusion seen at depth at Odyssey is exposed at surface on the Rand Malartic property, providing both shallow and deeper drill targets.
Exploration in 2020 will primarily focus on declaring new inferred mineral resources at the East Gouldie Zone and infilling the current inferred mineral resources in the zone to convert them into indicated mineral resources by year-end 2020. Additional exploration drilling will test other regional targets near Canadian Malartic.