Martin Preece, Interim CEO, GOLD FIELDS
Can you give an overview of the latest activities at Gold Field’s Windfall project?
Gold Fields is extremely excited to be in Québec, especially with the partners we are working with. For long, we wanted to expand into Canada, and the Windfall project was an exceptional opportunity as it is a great project run by a great team. We have been collaborating with the Osisko team for the better part of the year, providing technical input, particularly on the processing side. The partnership is a great marriage where Gold Fields and Osisko’s skill sets greatly complement each other.
Can you elaborate on Gold Field’s ESG initiatives?
Gold Fields has set six targets in terms of ESG. The first is safety, wellness, and environment. We are aiming for zero fatalities, zero serious injuries, and zero environmental incidents. Our second target is around gender diversity, and we are pushing to get to at least 30% female representation in our business by 2030.
Thirdly, we are focused on stakeholder value creation, ensuring that those around us benefit as well. We are aiming for 30% of the value we create to go to host communities.
Gold Fields’ fourth ESG target is around decarbonization, and we are pushing towards 50% absolute emission reductions by 2030 and net zero by 2050. We have led the way in decarbonization across the mining industry globally.
The fifth ESG target is around tailings management and conformance to the global standard. We have two high-risk dams that we will be reporting on in August this year in terms of our conformance to the standard.
The last element of our ESG targets is water stewardship, where we are aiming to get 80% of our water recycled and have a 45% reduction in our freshwater intake.
What technologies and tools are Gold Fields leveraging to make the company’s operations more efficient?
We are currently trailing an AI satellite-based exploration tool to help us improve target drilling at our Australian operation. We are also starting to deploy automated digital solutions at our operations. We have already implemented remote loading solutions at some of our operations to increase efficiency.
Mathieu Savard, President, OSISKO MINING
What are the latest milestones achieved by Osisko Mining?
A lot happened in the past 15 months. In 2022 we completed the bulk sample at Windfall, for which we published results that captured a lot of attention: 65 g/t Au for 4,800 t. We published the results of the feasibility study in December 2022, and the report in January 2023, which showed a robust project with strong economics. We signed an agreement with Miyuu kaa Corp., a subsidy of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, whereby they will finance, build and own a powerline to transport hydroelectric power to Windfall. We filed the Environment Impact Assessment report in late March, which triggered the permitting process for the project. Finally, we struck a deal with Gold Fields in May where Gold Fields acquired a 50% interest in the partnership at Windfall, in exchange for payments of C$600 million in cash plus C$75 million for the exploration properties. We are advancing the impact and benefit agreement and are preparing to answer the first round of questions from the COMEX environment impact assessment process. We are three months into the permitting process and expect it to take around 18 months. We are fully funded for our portion of the project and foresee production by the year-end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026.
As an explorer, what will make Québec an attractive jurisdiction in 2023?
Fiscal regulation and a predictable regulation and permitting process are the main ones. It is one of the best jurisdictions in the world, that gathers talent, expertise, and service providers from drilling to engineering. Miners have the whole value chain in Québec. There is also strong political will to develop projects to tackle the new era of minerals.
What will make Osisko Mining a great story for investors?
Windfall will be a key part of the story as it has the potential to become a cornerstone asset for the corporation. The project has a lot of upsides, Osisko’s is fully financed for its portion and we are just at the beginning of what we believe will be a highly successful story.