The City of Timmins is expected to play a major role in the future of IAMGOLD's Côté Gold Project once the recruitment process begins late this year.
The project is located 20 kilometres southwest of the village of Gogama, and approximately 130 kilometres southwest of Timmins.
Last September, an official groundbreaking ceremony was held, which was attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as Ontario Premier Doug Ford, among other officials.
Côté Gold President and CEO Gord Stothart said this week that plenty of progress is being made and construction is going well.
“It’s not quite full blast yet, but it will be shortly,” he said. “We’ve been advancing a lot of the supporting work as well.”
Detailed engineering for the project was reported at 73 per cent complete at year’s end 2020, and advances a few per cent each month.
“We announced that we started major earthworks in January, which is one of the milestones that we identified when we first announced the project. We were actually able to start it ahead of schedule by a couple of months. Obviously for me, that's pretty positive. The quicker we can execute this, the quicker we can get into business,” said Stothart.
There is plenty on the go at the Côté Project. There is the development of soil stockpiles which will be used at various points throughout site construction. Work is also progressing on the tailings management facility, as well as tree and brush clearing, and early soil excavation.
They are also focusing on a water course realignment and fish relocation program for the coming summer.
“We did fish relocation last year, in the summer and fall, in and around the tailings facility. This year, the program is more concentrated in the area where the pit will eventually be.”
Crews are busy levelling the site for the main plant, so that foundation work can begin later this year. Water management structures are also in the works.
“We’re drilling and blasting, and it’s a busy place. We really need to get ready for the spring melt and water runoff,” said Stothart.
A pre-construction camp was built last summer and fall, and recently a temporary construction campsite was completed.
“We're now working through the installation of the permanent camp, with those dorms ready for occupation in the summer. So there's a ramp-up period that goes not only with the construction, but also obviously with the accommodations.”
The company has decided to name the permanent camp Eagle Lodge.
“At the beginning, there was an eagle's nest in the area and we took that into consideration,” said Stothart.
“It certainly recognizes not only our site's own story, but it’s a significant cultural symbol of our First Nations partners, which is great.”
The site is located about six kilometres off of Highway 144 near Gogama, and while it does have road access, those roads will need major improvements.
“It’s always has road access, but obviously as we get into a full-blown mining operation, we need to upgrade that. Just to get the equipment in and out, we really need bigger and more substantial roads.”
“Within the site, with all the different facilities in and around the mine site, there are also a number of internal roads that need to be constructed.”
Stothart said the next big milestone is the construction of the main plant building, and enclosing that from the weather to allow for the mechanical and electrical installation work.
“Right now, that is scheduled to be completed sometime during the first quarter of next year, 2022.”
As with every business, the Côté Project has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Stothart said IAMGOLD has embraced it as a new item to be dealt with in a dynamic environment such as a construction site.
They observed procedures at their other operations, took advice from industry experts, as well as from contracting companies who have been working their way through the pandemic.
“We've established robust testing and operating protocols to protect not only the workforce, but also the local community. We have a very clear eye, that is part of our mandate. Knock on wood, but to date we have had no Covid-19 cases on site at Côté,” he said.
PCR tests are mandatory for anyone entering the site, and periodic follow up testing occurs through the rotations. They have tools for internal contact tracing, and temperatures are taken daily. They have recently added rapid testing capabilities. Stothart said everyone has embraced the rigorous safety standards.
“Obviously, like the rest of the population, we're looking forward to the rollout of the vaccines.”
Stothart said he is a near-constant observer of gold prices, which have climbed in the past 15 months.
“With the onset of the pandemic last year, the gold price strengthened very markedly. We saw an all-time historic high, I think it was in September last year. Gold has always been seen around the world as a store of wealth, and a counter to risky, uncertain times,” he said.
“When news of the vaccines started coming out, the gold prices backed off a little bit, but it’s still a lot stronger than it had been pre-2020.”
However, Stothart said the company is guarding itself against the inevitable fluctuations in the commodity markets.
“When we made a decision on Côté, we weren't banking on the current high prices. We were banking on much more conservative prices through the life of the operation. We want something that is viable at a wide range of gold prices. Happy to have the high one, but viability is proven by being able to survive lower price cycles, and that's an important piece of how we looked at Côté.”
They are fully funded for construction. They have $1 billion in cash on the balance sheet, as well as an untouched line of credit worth another $500,000. Those numbers are in US dollars to boot.
“So we are set up. This isn’t the kind of venture you go into without being sure you can see the end line. We continue to do all our evaluations and forecasts using much more conservative gold prices.”
The Côté Project is located approximately 20 kilometres west of the former Jerome mine, which was active in the 1940s.
Drilling on the Côté site began in 2009 by Trelawney, a junior mining company. IAMGOLD purchased Trelawney and the Côté deposit in 2012.
Stothart emphasized how long it really takes to make a mining operation happen in modern times.
“It’s not something to enter into for the light-hearted.”
Current life expectancy of the mine is 18 years. However, a property two kilometres northeast of Côté currently being explored called the Gosselin Deposit, could potentially extend the operation for many more years.
Once in full operations, expected in the second half of 2023, they are expecting to employ approximately 450 full-time workers.
“We'll start bringing on that operating workforce probably in 2022. Different parts of it will come on at different times, as we ramp up, but 450 people, its certainly going to be a strong employer for a long period of time for Northern Ontario.”
Stothart is expecting Timmins to be a big contributor, as he remarked on how warmly they have been welcomed by the community as a whole.
“Their support for our project is obviously very important. Strong, positive community relationships are a fundamental part of how we operate, wherever we are in the world. It’s an important facet of what we call our “Zero Harm Vision.”
A bus terminal has been established in Timmins, and the company expects to source nearly the entire workforce from North. Stothart said a supply chain manager will be in place later this year, and will begin relationships with local businesses, as Timmins has a strong reputation of being a quality supplier of goods and services for the mining industry.
