Iron ore weakness to continue into 2025 and beyond, says Fitch Solutions’ BMI
Looking beyond 2024-2025, BMI analysts maintained their view that iron ore prices will likely follow a multi-year downtrend.
Kirkland Lake Gold has released three-year production guidance for its Macassa mine in Ontario, Canada and Fosterville mine in Victoria, Australia and provided an update on Holt, also in Ontario.
Next year, production from the three assets is expected to total 950,000 to one million oz. at all in sustaining costs of $570-$630 per oz. This is unchanged from this year’s total production guidance with Fosterville contributing additional ounces and a slight decrease in output at Holt. All-in costs are forecast at slightly above this year’s guidance of $520-$560 per oz. Macassa and Holt appear to be the drivers of this increase.
Next year, the company expects to spend $70-$80 million on a company-wide basis on growth projects
“Going forward, our top priority will remain investing in Fosterville and Macassa given the substantial opportunities that exist at both operations for continued exploration success and additional growth. We will also look to increase the amount of capital we return to Kirkland Lake Gold shareholders through our dividend program and normal course issuer bid and continue to look for investment opportunities capable of generating attractive returns,” said Tony Makuch, the company’s president and CEO in the release.
An additional 100,000-120,000 oz. is expected from the Northern Territory; however, this production will be added to the guidance once the company reaches a decision to resume commercial operations, which could be as early as February.
In October, Kirkland Lake announced that it was reviewing future plans for its Holt operation in Ontario. It expects this review to continue into 2020.
Next year, no changes are expected to output from Macassa, which is expected to stay at the 240,000-250,000 oz. level for the next two years. Production is expected to grow to over 320,000 oz. by 2022 with the commencement of the #4 Shaft and increasing to over 400,000 oz by 2023.
In terms of growth projects, Kirkland Lake will start development work on two new mining fronts: one at Robbin’s Hill at Fosterville and another at Macassa to access high grade zones along the Amalgamated Break.
While no major changes are anticipated to output from Fosterville over the next three years, the Robbin’s Hill zone could potentially start contributing ounces in 2023.
Next year, the company expects to spend $70-$80 million on a company-wide basis on growth projects. This includes $50-$55 million at Macassa, primarily for the #4 shaft project, and $20-$25 million at Fosterville.
The Detour Gold acquisition, announced in November, is not currently included in next year’s guidance: it will be revised following closing of the transaction.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
