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'Preserving jobs'
Agnico Eagle looks to Amaruq property

Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Rankin Inlet
Agnico Eagle Mines is banking on its mine at Amaruq to open up in order to keep its current processing plant operation in Baker Lake going, according to CEO Shawn Boyd, who was in Rankin Inlet on July 25 as part of a tour for investors.

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Agnico Eagle CEO Scott Boyd said the company is hoping its mine project at Amaruq near Baker Lake, can provide more jobs to the community after its Meadowbank mine closes. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo

Board members from as far away as Finland and the United Kingdom were in the Kivalliq to get an update on the Meadowbank and Meliadine properties, which Agnico Eagle owns, as part of an annual trip to visit one of the company's investments. But Boyd said it is the Amaruq property located near Baker Lake which he could be the game changer for the company.

"We've got a couple of major decisions coming up for us as a company and one of them is Amaruq, looking at it as a satellite deposit for Meadowbank," Boyd said.

Meadowbank is expected to stop production sometime in 2018. The Amaruq property is currently going through the permitting process which it must complete before any work can being there. After Boyd and the board members had left late last month, the company announced that it had discovered a new vein structure at Amaruq with a yield of 15.5 grams per tonne of gold over 9.4 metres estimated true width at 18 metres depth.

It is expected to contain a total of 3,283,000 ounces of gold according to inferred estimates from December, 2015.

"That's going to be preserving jobs in the Kivalliq so that's critical for us. We think there's more potential there," he said.

Although the construction of Meliadine mine outside of Rankin Inlet is currently underway, Boyd said the company also needs to raise close to $1 billion in order to begin operation there.

He said the board would likely make a decision on how to proceed with the property next year. If they decided to invest, production could begin at Meliadine in 2020.

"We need gold prices to stay high, the low Canadian dollar helps, but we can't control those two things. What we're trying to do is position the project for success because that will allow us to leverage the skills we've built so far," he said.

Agnico currently employs 243 Inuit people from across the Kivalliq between its two mines. Baker Lake accounts for the highest number of employees with 157. Another 85 people are estimated to be employed by contractors working at the mines.

A total of 1,120 people are employed in the Kivalliq at the moment. There is a a target of 50 per cent Inuit employment laid out in the Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement that was signed in July 2015.

According to Puujuut Kusugak, co-ordinator of communications for the Meliadine project, the company has hired a number of Inuit but has had trouble retaining workers in the past.

However, he said it's making progress in preparing people, in particular through its mine readiness training program.

"Eventually we'll have people that know the mine cycle," he said, referring to the two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off schedule that most employees are on. "It's just a matter of adapting."

In order to hire more Inuit workers Agnico is spending approximately $750,000 a year on training. The company currently employs more than 30 per cent of all apprentices in Nunavut, according to Boyd. It also had several Red Seal graduates in recent years.

"The new apprentice program is extremely important because those individuals that are in the program and have graduated from the program are role models," said Boyd.

"So if you're willing to work hard you can actually accomplish a lot. I think it's really important to see that there's tremendous potential."

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