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Quebec gold miner looks to process ore in Timmins

Monarch Gold studying Glencore's Met Site for possible toll milling job
Northern Ontario Business Staff
Glencore Met Site
Glencore's Metallurgical Site, east of Timmins (Supplied)

A Montreal gold mine developer is eyeballing Glencore's Metallurgical Site (Met Site) near Timmins to process its ore.

Monarch Gold is bringing its Wasamac property in western Quebec into production and had been looking at toll milling options on both sides of the border.

In a May 14, Monarch announced the signing of a  memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Glencore Canada for the potential use of the Kidd concentrator to treat ore mined from the Wasamac  deposit, 15 kilometres west of Rouyn-Noranda. 

Wasamac is one of Monarch's properties on its 330-square-kilometre package in the Abitibi gold country. The feasibility study for the proposed mine is complete and the permitting is underway.

Wasamac has a measured and indicated gold resource of 2.6 million ounces of gold, with Monarch's goal to turn it into a 100,000 to 200,000-ounce-per-year producer.

Transporting ore west to Timmins would mean some freight business for CN Rail and the Ontario Northland Railway.

According to the terms of the MOU, Monarch will fund an upgrading study on part of the concentrator in a proposed plan that involves shipping ore by rail from the Wasamac property for processing into dore bars.  The deadline to finish the upgrading study is next Dec. 31.

If both companies agree the results of the study is in each other's interests, Monarch and Glencore agree to negotiate a toll milling agreement by March 30, 2021.

Monarch would also agree to fund upgrades to the concentrator and any related infrastructure by July 2023.

Potentially, the first carloads of ore from Wasamac could arrive by December 2023.

In the coming weeks, Monarch will name a consultant to do the study.

Glencore's Kidd operations consists of the Kidd Metallurgical Site and the Kidd Mine. The concentrator is located on the property of the Kidd Metallurgical Site, 27 kilometres east of Timmins.

The Met Site was built in 1966 with numerous upgrades performed over the years. With a capacity to process 12,500 tonnes daily, the concentrator currently handles metal ore to produce copper and zinc concentrates.