Ontario Construction News staff writer
Wood., a global engineering and consulting company based in Toronto will provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for IAGOLD’s Côté Gold open-pit gold mine near Gogama.
The US $1.3 billion mine project is currently underway and expected to generate more than 1,000 jobs during construction.
Côté is a world-class deposit located in northern Ontario, with estimated contained gold reserves of over 7-million ounces. IAMGOLD is developing the site “to be a model of a modern Canadian mine as it seeks to efficiently unlock the reserves.”
“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,” Dave Lawson, president, mining & minerals at Wood said in a press release.
“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.”
Over the last eight years, Wood has worked with IAMGOLD on the Côté Gold project. The 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 Gordon Stothart, president and CEO at IAMGOLD. “We look forward to bringing this project from concept to reality with their team.”
Toronto-based IAMGOLD currently operates three active gold mines on three continents that produce 800,000 attributable ounces of gold annually. The Côté Gold project is expected to expand the company’s production 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 began 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 mine life.