COMPANY PROFILE
"Building for the future"
Summary
Agnico Eagle is a senior Canadian gold mining company, producing precious metals from operations in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico. It has a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects in these countries as well as in the United States and Colombia. Agnico Eagle is a partner of choice within the mining industry, recognized globally for its leading environmental, social and governance practices. The company was founded in 1957 and has consistently created value for its shareholders, declaring a cash dividend every year since 1983.
History
Agnico Eagle has been in business for 66 years. It was founded in 1957, in Cobalt, Ontario, where it was producing silver, nickel and cobalt. The Company began producing gold in 1974, in Joutel, Quebec, and now owns and operates eleven gold mines in four countries, focusing on premier jurisdictions with high geological potential and low political risk. It is the largest gold producer in Canada and the third largest in the world.
Recent expansion activities include the acquisition of TMAC Resources and the Hope Bay properties in 2021 to consolidate the Company’s Nunavut operating platform, the merger of equals with Kirkland Lake Gold in 2022, adding the Detour Lake and Macassa mines in Ontario and Fosterville gold mine in Australia, the acquisition of Yamana Gold’s Canadian assets in 2023 which allowed Agnico Eagle to become sole owner of the Canadian Malartic and Odyssey mines in Quebec, further consolidating its land position and activities in the Abitibi gold belt of Quebec and Ontario, and finally, a 50:50 joint venture with Teck to develop San Nicolás copper-zinc mine project in Mexico.
Strategy
Our strategy is to build a growing, high-quality, low risk, sustainable business.
• Delivering on performance and growth expectations: Ensure our existing portfolio delivers on expectations, lowers operational risk and generates free cash flow.
• Building and maintaining a high-quality project pipeline: Ensure we develop a best-in-class project pipeline to replenish mineral reserves and production, while maintaining the quality, manageability and fit of our future portfolio.
• Developing our people: Develop and provide growth opportunities for our people, and provide the skills infrastructure to support development of our operations and projects.
• Operating in a socially responsible manner: Create value for our shareholders while operating in a safe, and socially and environmentally responsible manner, as we contribute to the prosperity of our people, their families and the communities in which we operate.
Agnico Eagle continues to demonstrate its commitment to ESG performance. In 2023, the Company recorded its best safety performance in its 66-year history and maintained or improved performance across other key ESG indicators, including efficient management of water resources and increased local employment. In addition, efforts continued in 2023 to maintain a climate resilient business and meet our interim reduction target of 30% of absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
Main Leadership
Our leadership team is responsible for implementing our strategy, overseeing our businesses and setting operating and financial performance targets.
• Sean Boyd, Executive Chair of the Board
• Ammar Al-Joundi, President and CEO
• Dominique Girard, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer – Nunavut, Quebec & Europe
• Guy Gosselin, Executive Vice President, Exploration
• Carol Plummer, Executive Vice President, Operational Excellence
• Jamie Porter, Executive Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer
• Jean Robitaille, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy & Technology Officer
• Natasha Vaz, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer – Ontario, Australia & Mexico
• Chris Vollmershausen, Executive Vice President, Legal, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Corporate Presentation
Main Assets
Agnico Eagle’s ability to consistently execute its business strategy has provided a solid foundation for growth. We continue to improve our production base by optimizing and expanding our existing mines, maintaining a high-quality project pipeline and exploring potential acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships.
The Company’s operating mines are located in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico.
• Canada:
Agnico Eagle owns the five largest gold mines in Canada and two of the largest ten in the world with multi-decade production. Its operations are located in Nunavut (two operating mines and one advanced exploration project) and in the Abitibi gold belt of Ontario and Quebec (five operating mines and two advanced exploration projects). In 2022, the Company produced 2.4 million ounces of gold from its Canadian operations (75% of its global production).
- Quebec:
Our Quebec operations are all located in the prolific Abitibi gold belt within 60 km of each other, along the Cadillac-Larder Lake fault. With the recent acquisition of Yamana Gold’s Canadian assets, Agnico Eagle has consolidated its position in this region where it also holds a competitive advantage from 50+ years of operations.
- LaRonde Complex – Comprised of the LaRonde and LZ5 mines. LaRonde is the Company’s oldest operating mine. It is celebrating 35 years in 2023. With 3.2 million ounces of gold in proven and probable mineral reserves, the LaRonde Complex still has one of the largest gold reserves at a Canadian gold mine.
- Goldex Mine – Commercial Production from M and E zones started in 2013, while the Deep 1 project started commercial production in July 2017 and is expected to extend the Goldex mine life through 2031. The Company has started development work at Akasaba West, a gold-copper deposit located less than 30 km from Goldex. The deposit has the potential to create flexibility and synergies for the Company’s operations in the region by using extra milling capacity while reducing overall unit costs. Starting in 2024, production is expected to be approximately 115,000 ounces of gold and 21,000 tonnes of copper over a five-year mine life.
- Canadian Malartic Complex – Comprised of the Canadian Malartic open-pit mine and underground Odyssey mine. Following closing of the acquisition of Yamana Gold’s Canadian assets on March 31, 2023, Agnico Eagle owns a 100% interest in the Canadian Malartic Complex. The Canadian Malartic mine is the second-largest gold mine in Canada and, once in full production, the Odyssey mine is expected to be the largest underground mine in Canada. The open-pit mine life is expected to last through 2029, and the ongoing development of the underground Odyssey project will extend overall mine life to 2042 (based the Company’s June 20, 2023, press release).
- Wasamac Project – Advanced exploration project located in the Abitibi region, 15 km west-southwest of Rouyn-Noranda and approximately 100 km west of the Canadian Malartic Complex. Agnico Eagle acquired a 100% interest in the Wasamac property through the acquisition of Yamana Gold’s Canadian assets in March 2023 and believes it has the potential to be an underground bulk mining operation.
- Ontario:
- Detour Lake Mine - The largest gold mine in Canada with the largest mineral reserves and substantial growth potential. As of December 31, 2022, its gold mineral reserves totalled 20.7 million ounces and its mine life extends to 2052. The Company is proposing to expand the operating Detour Lake mine (West Detour project) to provide additional ore to the site’s processing mill by developing two satellite open pits and the additional westward expansion of the currently operating open pit. There also appears to be significant underground potential. The Company expects to complete an initial internal technical evaluation of the underground potential at year-end 2023.
- Macassa Mine – Located in the Town of Kirkland Lake, it remains one of the highest gold grade mines in the world. The new shaft #4 which was fully commissioned in the first quarter of 2023 is expected to increase production, lower costs, improve working conditions, and increase exploration capacity. Internal evaluations are underway to assess potential production opportunities at the Macassa Near Surface and AK deposits, the Upper Beaver project and the newly acquired Wasamac project. These evaluations are expected to be completed by year-end 2023.
- Nunavut:
- Meadowbank Complex – Located in the Kivalliq District of Nunavut, the Meadowbank open-pit mine was the Company’s first Low Arctic mine. The Discovery and development of the Amaruq satellite deposit 50 km away extended the life of the Meadowbank Complex to at least 2026 by supplying a new source of ore to the existing Meadowbank mill.
- Meliadine Mine – Also in the Kivalliq District, it is Agnico Eagle’s second mine in Canada’s Low Arctic. Meliadine includes seven gold deposits, six of which are part of the current mine plan. The 98,222-hectare property covers an 80-km-long greenstone belt. The current mine life extends to 2032.
• Australia:
- Fosterville Mine – Largest gold producer in the state of Victoria. High-grade, low-cost underground mine with extensive in-mine and district-scale exploration potential. Fosterville. The Fosterville property includes approximately 1,400 sq. km of additional land package with numerous brownfield and greenfield exploration targets that are a key aspect of the Company's ongoing exploration efforts. Exploration programs to date have traced only 20 km of potential gold-bearing structures, highlighting the exceptional exploration potential of this premier gold district.
• Finland:
- Kittilä Mine – Located in the Lapland region of northern Finland, it is the largest primary gold producer in Europe. It achieved commercial production in May 2009, becoming Agnico Eagle’s first mine outside of Canada. A major expansion project, including expansion of the mill with 25% increase in milling capacity and the sinking of a 1,044-metre deep shaft is expected to increase the efficiency of the mine and decrease or maintain current operating costs while providing access to the deeper mining horizons.
• Mexico:
- Pinos Altos Mine – Located in the state of Chihuahua, Pinos Altos achieved commercial production in 2009. It has since produced over 2.4 million ounces of gold, including production from the nearby Creston Mascota satellite deposit, which was built in 2010 as a standalone heap leach operation and achieved commercial production in 2011. Initial production at the advanced Cubiro underground project, is expected in the second half of 2024, providing additional production flexibility to the Pinos Altos operations.
- La India Mine – La India is an open pit mine and heap leach operation, located in the state of Sonora, at approximately 70 km northwest of our Pinos Altos mine, providing operating synergies between the two operations. The 638-square-km property includes the La India mine site, the Chipriona gold resource and several other prospective exploration targets situated in the prolific Mulatos gold belt. Internal studies are ongoing to evaluate the potential to develop Chipriona, located 1 km north of the La India operations, and other satellite zones in the area such as El Realito and Tarachi.