KL Gold's Macassa ranked #1 in the world - Fosterville #2
By Kevin Vincent
The best gold-bearing mines on the planet belong to Kirkland Lake Gold. That's according to a new report released by MinesandMetals.com. The site lists the Macassa Mine in Kirkland Lake and the Fosterville Mine in Australia as #1 and #2 in the world. Alamos Gold's Island Mine ranks #6.
"Mines and Metals ranked currently active gold operations throughout the world based on gold grade in reserves. We looked at operations that are separate reporting units and which have recent reserves evaluation figures disclosed by the owners/operators," reports the site.
The top 10 underground mines include, in order: Macassa; Fosterville; then Barrick's Turquoise Ridge in the USA - Bulyanhulu in Tanzania - Leeville in the USA; Alamos Island Gold; Anglo Gold's Mponeng in South Africa; Barrick's Goldstrike in the USA; AngloGold's Obuasi in Ghana; Lundin Gold's Fruta del Norte in Ecuador.
The grade and concentration of gold directly affects costs and thereby profitability of an operation.
"Why only reserves have taken into account? This is because mineral reserve is the part of mineral resource that demonstrated economic viability in current market conditions. Therefore, ore reserves are way less speculative than ore resources and relatively precisely reflect changes in economic “wellbeing” of mines," added the site.
Mines and Metals says for a more accurate basis of comparison, gold operations were split into underground and open-pit.
The research focused on ore grade in reserves for gold deposits with more than 1,000,000 ounces in Proven & Probable categories. The site analyzed both the richest and the biggest gold operations worldwide.
The site describes Macassa, Fosterville and Island Gold this way:
MACASSA - "Richest gold mine measured by gold grade in reserves is Macassa underground gold mine, Ontario, Canada, owned by Kirkland Lake Gold. Macassa is part of one of Canada’s oldest and richest systems. Macassa commenced operations in 2002, and with the discovery of the South Mine Complex (SMC), has been able to increase its level of production significantly over the past five years. The SMC has been driving grade improvement at Macassa, with results from ongoing exploration drilling continuing to extend the SMC mineralization and adding to the Mine’s Mineral Resources in support of growing production and extending mine life."
FOSTERVILLE - "Second place belongs to another Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville mine located in the state of Victoria, Australia. Production at Fosterville in FY 2019 increased by a whopping 74%, to 619,366 ounces. The Fosterville mine features growing gold production at increasingly high grades, as well as extensive in-mine and district scale exploration potential."
ISLAND GOLD - "Alamos Gold’s Island Gold operation is one of Canada’s highest grade and lowest cost gold mines. Through ongoing exploration success, its Mineral Reserves and Resources have continued to grow in size and quality. This has supported a multi-phase expansion of the operation, driving production higher, costs lower, and strong free cash flow growth."
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