IAMGOLD Corporation has selected global engineering and consulting company Wood to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for the US$1.3 billion Côté Gold open pit gold mine.

The mine site is located near Gogama in northern Ontario, and contains estimated gold reserves of more than 7 million ounces. IAMGOLD wants to develop the site to be a model of a modern Canadian mine. Wood is providing EPCM services for the project, which is anticipated to generate over 1,000 jobs during construction and 450 during operations.

“This project strengthens our relationship with IAMGOLD as a trusted full life-cycle delivery partner and it solidifies Wood’s position as a global leader in the development of gold mines,” said Dave Lawson, president of mining and minerals at Wood. “Beginning with work on the initial scoping study in 2011, we have worked closely with IAMGOLD to guide the project toward successful execution, helping to identify more than $450 million of improvements in net present value. We were able to do so because of our unrivalled expertise in gold extraction technology having worked on some of the largest and most technically complex gold projects in the world.”

Over the last eight years, Wood has been working with IAMGOLD on every aspect of the Côté Gold project, providing design and project delivery solutions. Wood’s latest scope of work includes engineering, procurement and construction management for the 36,000-tonnes-per-day conventional gold processing plant, tailings and water management.

“We are pleased to move to construction on the Côté Gold Project with our long-time engineering partner Wood,” said IAMGOLD president and CEO Gordon Stothart. “We look forward to bringing this project from concept to reality with their team.”

Toronto-based IAMGOLD currently has three active gold mines on three continents that produce 800,000 ounces of gold annually. The Côté Gold project is expected to expand the company’s production profile for future growth, by bringing greater geographic diversity and a reduction in costs—enabling sustainable reserve growth and supply stability as demand factors shift in an uncertain environment.

Construction of the gold mine started in late 2020, and is expected be completed in mid-2023.  When fully operational, the mine is expected to produce an average of 367,000 ounces of gold per year over the course of its 18-year life.