The MacLellan mine was operated as an underground gold and silver mine between 1986 and 1989. The Gordon site, historically referred to as the Farley Lake open-pit mine, previously operated as two open-pit gold mines from 1996 to 1999.

Combined proven and probable mineral reserves at the two locations total 26.8 million metric tons (mt), grading 1.89 g/ mt of gold and 2.99 g/mt of silver and containing 1.6 million oz of gold and 2.6 million oz of silver.

The two deposits will be mined using conventional open-pit mining methods, with a single processing plant and tailings management facility located at MacLellan. Owner-operated mining is assumed in the feasibility study, as is capital leasing of mobile equipment.

Loading of ore and waste rock will be done by two 300-mt-class hydraulic shovels and two front-end loaders, primarily loading 144-mt-capacity mine trucks. After crushing, ore from Gordon will be transported approximately 55 km by road to the processing plant at MacLellan via a fleet of 23 trucks, each with capacity of approximately 30 mt.

Peak mining rates of will be 13 million mt/y at Gordon and 24.7 million mt/y at MacLellan. The Gordon and MacLellan deposits are expected to operate concurrently for the first six years of operation. As the Gordon pit nears depletion, mining equipment will be transferred to MacLellan and utilized over the remainder of its mine life.

The processing plant has nominal throughput capacity of 7,000 mt/d. The flowsheet includes crushing, grinding, thickening, pre-aeration and leaching, carbon-in-pulp processing, cyanide detoxification, carbon elution and regeneration, and gold smelting. Based on test work, gold recoveries from Gordon are expected to average 92.9% and gold and silver recoveries from MacLellan are expected to average 91.4% and 49%, respectively.

The feasibility study does not incorporate exploration success achieved over the past year, including newly outlined mineralization adjacent to both the Gordon and MacLellan pits.

“We acquired the Lynn Lake project in 2016 for $20 million and with the completion of the feasibility study have outlined solid base case economics for a project with an after-tax net present value over $120 million,” said Alamos President and CEO John A. McCluskey. “As we advance the project through permitting over the next two years, we see excellent potential to further enhance its overall economics through a number of avenues, including incorporating recent exploration success.”

“We expect stronger economics prior to making a construction decision,” he added. “With its location in one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world, Lynn Lake is an important piece of our longer-term growth strategy.”