IAMGOLD Corporation has filed a technical report for the long life Côté Gold project in Canada which is expected to commence production in early 2024.
In 2019, SLR prepared an updated Côté Mineral Resource estimate which included the incorporation of additional drilling and updated mineralization wireframes, recognized local grade trends, eliminated the Fault domain, and used a new classification approach. Côté Measured and Indicated Resources total 365.5 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of
0.87 g/t Au, containing 10.20 million ounces (Moz) Au.
An additional 189.6 Mt at an average grade of 0.63 g/t Au, containing 3.82 Moz Au are estimated in the Inferred Mineral Resource category. The Mineral Resources are estimated at a 0.3 g/t Au cut-off grade, based on a gold price of US$1,500/oz Au, and have an effective date of December 19, 2019.
Exploration Status
Exploration programs to date have identified the Côté and the Gosselin deposits and have evaluated several nearby gold showings for their potential to be bulk-mineable gold deposits.
Exploration programs to date have been sufficient to screen many areas for the presence of a Côté-style deposit, with grid line spacing and general traverse spacing of <200 m (some areas <100 m spacing for traverse/grid line density). Litho-sampling and geological mapping is representative over much of the property land holdings, with some exceptions where glacial till and lacustrine deposits form thick mantles on the bedrock.
In areas of thick overburden, induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveys and diamond
drilling has helped screen these overburden-covered areas.
Capital costs spent on the Project prior to May 1, 2022, amount to $1,057 million. IAMGOLD has forecasted capital expenditures of $1,908 million for the remaining pre-production period. An additional $1,136 million of sustaining capital is estimated during the LOM.
Mining Method
Pit optimization parameters, financial assumptions, pit-shell selection, and mining dilution and recovery factors remain unchanged from 2018. The current Mineral Reserves are based on an updated mine design which optimizes pit phasing, ramp location, and waste stripping, resulting in negligible changes to Mineral Reserves compared to the previous estimate, and small reductions in waste.
Production Schedule
Pre-production commenced with contractor works in Q1 2021 consisting of overburden removal, supply of material for construction, and initial bench establishment. Contractor mining will continue for a period of two years until Q2 2023. In parallel, delivery and assembly of autonomous equipment has begun and owner mining will commence in Q1 2023. Mechanical completion, first gold, and commercial production are planned in Q4 2023.
Related: IAMGOLD reviews evaluation options for Rosebel
The Côté deposit is planned to be mined in five phases included within the ultimate pit limit. The scheduling constraints establish the maximum mining capacity at 70 Mtpa and the maximum number of benches mined per year at eight in each phase. Additional constraints were used to guide the schedule and to obtain the desired results.
The company says that the project may still experience further increases in capital expenditures, although given the stage of advancement, the risk is reduced. In addition, construction and permitting delays could result in a prolonged schedule and increased project costs, and delay impacting mining activity or commissioning of the mill plant, which ultimately could impact the timing of production.
