Argonaut Gold hit a series of milestones in January in its efforts to build a $480-million gold mine in Northern Ontario.

The Toronto company announced on January 4 that it had entered into a fixed-price contract with Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services at its Magino mine site.

The site is located about 14 kilometres southeast of Dubreuilville and 195 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie.

Argonaut’s contract with Ausenco is worth 40 percent of the project’s estimated capital value of between $480 million and $510 million. The contract calls for construction of the mine processing facility and other parts of the project.

"We are very pleased to partner with Ausenco on the Magino project construction,” said Argonaut president and CEO Pete Dougherty. “Ausenco is an industry leader in the field of building high-quality processing facilities in the mining industry and recently did an excellent job with the Moose River project in Nova Scotia. We are excited for Magino to be one of the first projects entering construction in the current gold price environment, as we feel first mover advantage is critical when securing a construction team of the highest quality and with a superior track record."

Two weeks later, on January 21, the company announced that the Ontario Government had approved the mine’s closure plan.

A mine closure plan is a mandatory document that details how all land affected by mining will be rehabilitated at the end of the mining operations. It also includes financial guarantees from the mining company to cover the costs of any required environmental rehabilitation work.

Approval of the plan allows Argonaut and Ausenco to start construction work. Argonaut said in a release that site preparation “is expecting to commence imminently, with construction scheduled to begin as soon as site preparation is complete.”

Construction work is expected to last two years, and Argonaut expects to complete its first gold pour at the mine in 2023. The project could create as many as 550 construction jobs and 350 mining jobs.

"The filing of the Closure Plan is a significant milestone and allows us to begin site preparation activities for construction of the Magino mine and processing facility,” said Dougherty. “Magino is truly a valuable and strategic asset given existing infrastructure, the already-known mineral endowment of the ore body and the existing exploration potential, its location within the mining-friendly jurisdiction of Ontario, and its proximity to other strong cash flowing operations such as the Island Gold mine."

A feasibility study suggests the Magino mine will be a strategic, scalable, long-life asset. Some of the project’s highlights include a 10,000 tonne per day processing facility, an average annual gold production of 150,000 ounces over the first five years, and a 17-year mine life.