While Ontario’s producers reap the rewards of a US$2,700+ /oz gold price, they are focusing their attention on managing costs across their operations. With the price of materials, labor and equipment rising sharply since the Covid pandemic, majors are placing increasing emphasis on capital discipline, prioritizing operational efficiency at their existing projects rather than embarking on new greenfield projects. For Agnico Eagle, Ontario’s largest gold mining company by market cap, taking advantage of the economies of scale and expanding the mill-constrained Macassa mine is the strategy taken to reach its 2025 target of 300,000 oz/y at the site. Rather than building a whole new plant from scratch at great cost, Agnico Eagle invested in improving milling rates at its existing mill to overcome the bottleneck. “Our focus must remain on cost control and optimization, as we cannot influence gold prices but can manage our operational costs effectively,” shared Andre Leite, vice president – Ontario operations, Agnico Eagle.

Agnico Eagle also has high ambitions for its other producing asset in Ontario – Detour Lake. Despite already being the largest gold mine in Canada with 677,466 oz of gold produced in 2023, Agnico Eagle still sees an opportunity for expansion and has the ambitious goal of eventually boosting gold production to 1 million oz/y by 2030. “One of the challenges at Detour Lake is advancing the exploration work quickly, particularly to the west, where we have observed promising results. While the current NI 43-101 report offers a snapshot of the asset, we believe there is significant untapped potential that has not been identified. We are beginning to excavate an exploration ramp to access the ore body at depth and establish underground drilling platforms by late 2026 or early 2027, which will help us understand the potential of this world-class deposit,” continued Leite.

Like Agnico Eagle, Alamos Gold has also enjoyed a very successful period seeing its valuation increase by 50% over the past year. A major contributor to this growth was the acquisition of Argonaut Gold and its Magino mine in Ontario, which neighbors Alamos Gold’s Island Gold mine. John McCluskey, Alamos Gold’s president and CEO, shared the strategy behind the acquisition: “Historically, we have only made acquisitions when gold prices were low. However, the Argonaut acquisition was an exception, with its share price declining even as gold prices rose. This decline presented a rare opportunity, as Argonaut had over 4 million oz of reserves and about C$1 billion of capital invested in Magino. We acquired Argonaut for an enterprise value of US$727 million and identified US$515 million in total synergies.

The addition of Magino contributed to Alamos Gold raising its 2024 production guidance by 20% and the company has not wasted any time integrating the mine into its existing Island Gold operations. In acquiring and expanding the Magino mill, Alamos has been able to boost efficiency at both sites by handling ore from both the Magino and Island Gold mines. “The integration has been less challenging than expected. This is likely because our operations are located side by side in a remote area, with a shared local workforce. Many of the employees at Magino and Island Gold are neighbors, and in some cases, family. It has been a smooth process overall, and the community aspect has made integration easier,” continued McCluskey

In the furthest northwestern reaches of Ontario, Australian major Evolution Mining has also been focused on efficiency and cost reduction at its Red Lake complex. Since acquiring it from Newmont in 2020, Evolution Mining has faced growing pains and struggled to get the mine to produce reliably due to seismic-related issues, among others. However, the first half of 2024 saw massive operational changes at the mine that allowed it to reach its second consecutive quarter of positive cash flow in Q4 2024. “The first step will be to reach 150,000 oz/y, with 2024 guidance placed at 125,000 oz/y to 145,000 oz/y. Once we achieve consistency and reliability in the operation, we will then consider options to increase production and lower overall unit operating costs,” said Lawrie Conway, managing director and CEO, Evolution Mining.

Although Ontario is relatively similar to Australia as a mining jurisdiction, Evolution Mining has demonstrated its ability to run a mine on the other side of the globe, and its success at Red Lake exemplifies Ontario’s appeal to miners everywhere. “We are now four and a half years into our ownership of Red Lake, and we have found working with the local community and various governmental organizations to be smooth and reliable. We have learned a lot about how to operate in the region, and similarly, people have learned how Evolution Mining operates, especially from a safety and environmental standpoint,” continued Conway.

In Ontario’s far west, near the Manitoba border, New Gold spent 2024 stabilizing production at its Rainy River operations: “In 2024 we made excellent progress in the development of the Underground Main Zone, which contains the majority of underground mineral reserves and will be an important source of higher-grade production in the coming years to supplement mill feed from the open pit and the Intrepid Underground Zone. The Underground Main project is on track to commence stoping in the first half of 2025 and ramp up to an underground production rate of approximately 5,500 t/d by 2027,” shared Patrick Godin, New Gold’s president and CEO.

With its two key assets, Rainy River and New Afton in BC, now running smoothly, Godin revealed the company’s next move will likely be a measured one, despite the ongoing spree of acquisitions in the gold space: “A company that has three or four assets that are generating cash flow and with good financial ratios can put in place healthy debt, use part of their cash flow, and have other financing mechanisms such as a revolving credit facility to minimize dilution and ensure that shareholders’ investments are not the last money out. Ideally, for the mine building scenario to work, you need to have more than two producing assets.”

Rising labor and energy costs have been putting pressure on smaller miners to remain profitable and are pushing the industry toward consolidation to leverage economies of scale. Recent deals such as Alamos’ acquisition of Argonaut Gold may become more prevalent in 2025, especially with global uncertainty around the US election now settled. This is true for near-producing projects as well, which have to contend with unfavorable equity markets and lower valuations despite record gold prices. “M&A activity has been high throughout 2024. We continue to see strong interest in acquisitions, particularly for projects that are capital-constrained or are so far from production that they cannot otherwise easily finance,” said Ian Mitchell, partner and leader, national mining group, Gowling WLG.

Although the US election has been settled, some uncertainty remains regarding the new Trump administration’s stance on Canada and its natural resources. Moreover, Canada is expecting a federal election in 2025, which could have further ramifications for the regulatory and financial climate in Ontario. “CEOs today are more cautious than ever before. Companies want to grow but they are now doing it responsibly driven by heightened expectations for mine and workplace safety. In line with broader market trends, there is also a greater emphasis on long-term value creation and shareholder returns. Companies are looking for the right opportunities with minimal risk to expand,” said Wes Hall, chairman and CEO, Kingsdale Advisors.

Despite global uncertainty, Ontario’s gold miners are in a strong position. The annual survey of mining companies by the Fraser Institute ranked Ontario in the top 10 out of 86 jurisdictions globally in its ‘Investment Attractiveness Index’. Additionally, Mining Journal Intelligence’s 2024 World Risk Report ranked Ontario as the lowest-risk jurisdiction globally, a major vote of confidence from investors in a world that is seeing increasing conflicts and geopolitical tensions. “We are in exciting times for mining despite the situation in the wider world, and we are well-positioned in Ontario to weather the storms that may be on the horizon,” said Minister Pirie.