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Agnico-Eagle Finland’s Kittilä Mine is one of Europe’s largest and most exciting gold deposits; and exploration of the site’s enormous untapped reserves looks set only to increase

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Agnico-Eagle Finland’s Kittilä Mine is one of Europe’s largest and most exciting gold deposits; and exploration of the site’s enormous untapped reserves looks set only to increase

Agnico-Eagle Finland: Kittilä Mine

Finland

Agnico-Eagle Finland: Kittilä Mine

It may not be a well-known fact that one of the largest gold deposits in northern Europe is to be found in Lapland. Known reserves at the Kittilä Mine contain more than four million ounces; and there is a strong probability that much more will yet be found in a series of deposits running along a 25-kilometre trend.

The mine is located approximately 900 kilometres north of Helsinki and 150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Its first gold was poured in January 2009 and commercial production began four months later. Approximately 3,000 tonnes of rock a day must be crushed and processed to extract a yield which is currently in the region of 150,000 ounces of gold a year.

www.arcticdrillingcompany.com

Agnico-Eagle Finland: Kittilä Mine

mine. “Finland has a strong mining history, but has had fewer operational mines in recent years, so there is a lack of experienced engineers. We are heavily involved in a whole range of training initiatives and we are very supportive of the University of Helsinki, which is doing an 18 month conversion course to give engineers from other disciplines the skills necessary to adapt to mining,” she explained.

Language is another major challenge for this English speaking manager, particularly in a highly technical environment where health and safety must always be a priority. “The

site has two full-time translators and a multi-lingual management team. It is critical that we understand each other—the terminology we use is not something that can be looked up on Google. Just sending out an email can be a challenge because our use of language has to be precise and fully understood by everyone,” she commented.

As well as the site’s excellent safety record, the mine also works to exceed government environmental guidelines in the management of the waste rock it produces. “We have a very competent environmental team in place and aim to have as little impact as possible.”

Extracting gold might not be about medieval

Most of Agnico-Eagle’s work has focused on the 4.5 kilometre segment of the Suurikuusikko Trend that hosts the five main zones of the known gold reserves and resources: Ketola, Etela, Suuri, Roura and Rimpi. Recent exploration drilling at Kittilä resulted in one of the best intercepts ever reported from the property, showing that the Rimpi zone could become a significant source of gold reserves in the future. Exploration will now be accelerated with the addition of a 2,400 metre exploration ramp built over a three-year period from the Suuri zone to the Roura zone between 500 and 800 metres depth. Underground ramp development began in early April and drilling

from the ramp is expected to begin later this year. Originally running as an open pit operation, with

underground mining to extract the deeper ore beginning in 2010, Kittilä is the furthest north of all the mines in the Agnico-Eagle portfolio. However, the mine’s general manager Carol Plummer has been quick to dispel images of empty frozen tundra. “In fact, the temperature here is much more moderate than that found in northern Canada. The Gulf Stream from the Norwegian coastline has a moderating effect, so even though we are well within the Arctic Circle, there are trees and shrubs which you might not expect to find,” she said.

Battling with the cold is much less of a challenge than finding the skilled people needed to operate the

Agnico-Eagle Finland: Kittilä Mine

alchemy, but it is still a complex and demanding process, particularly in this instance, where geology dictates that the rock does not easily give up its prize. The underground method of mining is open stoping followed by delayed backfill. The individual mining blocks, or stopes, are 25 to 40 metres high, and each yields approximately 10,000 tonnes of ore. Approximately five kilometres of tunnels will be developed each year to ensure sufficient ore production

is available to keep the mill supplied. After extraction, stopes are filled with

cemented backfill to allow the safe mining of adjacent stopes, and ore is trucked to the surface crusher using underground haul trucks via the 3,000 metre long ramp access system.

The ore at Kittilä is treated through grinding, flotation, pressure oxidation and carbon-in-leach circuits. Kittilä can lay claim to Agnico-

Eagle’s only pressure oxidation circuit, which is required because of the ore’s refractory nature. Gold from the leach circuit is stripped from the carbon and recovered from solution using electro-winning, and then smelted in a furnace and poured into doré bars. Gold recovery of more than 83 per cent is expected over the life of the mine.

A feasibility study regarding a 50 per cent increase in mill throughput at Kittilä

Agnico-Eagle Finland: Kittilä Mine

is expected to be reviewed in the fourth quarter of 2011. The exploration results from the first half of 2011, particularly the downward extension of the Rimpi zone, could enhance the economics for the study. With the continued success expanding the mineralization to the north and at depth, the company is already considering a second expansion, likely involving the sinking of a shaft. This study for this expansion opportunity is expected to begin in 2012.

For Plummer, one of the advantages of being part of a larger group is the sharing of best practices, both from a technical perspective and from the point of view of developing human resources. “For example, our supervision formula was pioneered in Québec and is used by the Agnico-Eagle mines there. As a group, we have developed a very specific way in which we want our managers to supervise and communicate. A standard approach and a common

communication tool ensures that engineering or maintenance personnel are immediately informed of anything unusual or out of the ordinary. It is important for productivity, but above all for safety that all our supervisors work to the same high standards. There are very clear guidelines in place regarding what should be verified and checked in each operation with specific check lists for each task that must be undertaken.”

Looking to the future, it is clear that with proven and probable reserves of 33 million tonnes of ore, and a mine life estimated until 2032, Agnico-Eagle’s Kittilä mine has what can only be described as enormous untapped potential. http://www.agnico-eagle.com/English/Our-Business/Operating-Mines/Kittilä/default.aspx BE

The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) produces and disseminates geological information for industry and society to promote systematic and sustainable use of crustal resources and the national geological endowment.

Applying geoscience expertise for industry needs

T. +358 20 550 11 E: gtk@gtk.fi www.gtk.fi

AGNICO-EAGLEKITTILAMINE

www.agnico-eagle.com