Argonaut Gold has announced it will proceed with construction of its Magino mine near Wawa, and Lake Superior.

Construction of the facility was approved by the company’s board of directors on October 14. Work on site is expected to begin in January and last two years. The company expects construction to cost between $360 million and $380 million. It has already received a fixed-bid pricing proposal for about half of the estimated project cost.

"Argonaut is currently reviewing the fixed bid pricing proposal and, if satisfactory terms can be met, anticipates entering into a negotiated contract before the commencement of construction in January 2021," it said.

The first gold pour is anticipated during the first half of 2023.

The Magino mine property is a past-producing underground gold mine located about 40 kilometres northeast of Wawa, approximately 14 kilometres southeast of the town of Dubreuilville.

The property consists of seven patented mining claims, four leased mining claims and 69 unpatented mining claims totaling about 2,204 hectares.

“We spent three years looking for a Canadian asset to provide diversification to our asset portfolio,” said Bob Rose, Argonaut’s vice-president of technical services. “What we love about the Magino project is the location of Ontario, the proximity to infrastructure compared other Canadian projects, the resource size and the simple metallurgy of the ore.”

On-site infrastructure development will include relocating a local public road and powerline, constructing internal haul and access roads, a substation, step-down transformers, and water supply and sewage treatment systems.

A new public bypass road of approximately eight kilometres will be built to the northwest and west of the mine to allow for independent vehicle access from Dubreuilville to the settlement of Goudreau. The road will replace the current public road that passes through the project pit area.

New service roads, internal to the project site, with the capacity to accommodate two-way traffic will also be required. These will connect the process plant, the office and warehouse complex, the mine camp facilities, explosives storage facility, and the tailings management facility.

Construction is expected to create approximately 600 jobs, while approximately 350 Argonaut employees will be engaged as part of ongoing operations.

When the mine is operational, Argonaut expects to process about 10,000 tonnes per day, and realize an average annual gold production of 150,000 ounces over the first five years. The mine is expected to have a 17-year life.