There is a chance that you don’t know Agnico Eagle, one of the most promising mining companies in the world. It has been around longer than many, yet it has remained partially in the shadows.
Truth be told, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited has brought attention to its operations recently due to the fast-growing numbers that the company is enjoying. In fact, Agnico Eagle reported US$1,896.8 million in revenue by the end of 2014, representing a whooping 15.8 percent increase.
For this and other reasons, paying more attention to this Canadian mining colossus would be a good idea for investors thinking about the future.
A Decades-Old Gold Mining Company
It’s true that Agnico Eagle Mines Limited isn’t a new player. In 1953, Cobalt Consolidated Mining was born in Canada as a merger of five different mining companies that were facing important challenges. Four years after that, the group decided to change its name to Agnico Mines.
Again, six years later, Agnico Mines merged with Eagle Mines Ltd, a company that was mostly dedicated to gold exploration with modest success. This merger allowed the growing company to fruitfully develop projects based on the yellow metal, which can supply the ever growing technology sector along with selling to gold bullion refiners sectors. A decade later, Agnico Eagle would acquire Dumagami Mines Limited’s assets, including the mine that is now called LaRonde mine, which is currently the company’s main operation.
During the 90s and 00s, Agnico Eagle continued its expansion steadily, acquiring operations in Canada, Mexico, and Finland. Other remarkable acquisitions by the company were the Meadowbank gold project, the Meliadine property, and Rubicon Minerals’ participation.
Active Mining Operations
Nowadays, Agnico Eagle has remarkable mining ongoing operations with no cease at sight. The magnitude of these greatly varies, with LaRonde mine being the biggest one for the company and at the same time, the deepest mine in America.
Now, let’s get into the details.
LaRonde: This underground mine has an estimated life from 1988 to 2024, reporting productive numbers around 305,788 ounces of gold, 988,000 of silver, 4,687 tonnes of zinc, and 4,416 of copper in 2016.
Lapa: A considerable smaller underground mine, it’s located near to LaRonde site. This operation has an estimated life from 2009 to 2017, reporting a production of 73,930 ounces of gold during 2016.
Goldex: In the same region as the previous two, the Goldex operation consists in a multipurpose underground mine. While Agnico Eagle is the operation’s owner, the national government joined the activities to progressively restore the Manitou mine tailing site. Its estimated life is between 2013 and 2025 and 2016 operations produced 120,704 ounces of gold.
Meadowbank: This open pit mine is expected to complete its operative life by 2018 while it produced 312,214 ounces of gold and 221,000 of silver in 2016.
Pinos Altos: Outside Canada, we have the Pinos Altos mine in Mexico, with an estimated life between 2009 and 2023. In 2016, it produced 240,068 ounces of gold and 2.7 million ounces of silver.
La India: Also in Mexico, La India mining operation produced 115,162 ounces of gold and 486,000 of silver in 2016. This open pit mine is expected to be fully operative until 2022.
Kittila: The Kittila mine is the only Agnico Eagle operation outside America. This mine is located in Northern Finland and its one of the largest gold deposits in Europe. It produced 202,508 ounces of gold in 2016 and the estimated life is between 2009 and 2034.