Sumitomo Metal Mining has been developing the Cote Gold Development Project (in Ontario, Canada) together in partnership with the Canadian gold producer Iamgold. Sumitomo Metal Mining announced that from March 31st the mine has begun the production of gold doré (gold/silver alloy containing around 90% gold). The mine is scheduled to begin commercial production during the July-September quarter, and it is aiming to reach an operating ratio of 90% within this year.
The Cote Gold Development Project is a large open-pit gold mine development project being carried out in a location about 125 km south-southwest of Timmins, Ontario. The mine’s minable ore volume is 235 million tons (on average the ore is expected to contain 1.01 grams of gold per ton). The mine is expected to have a life of around 18 years, and in total 205 tons of gold is scheduled to be produced from the mine. One of the unique characteristics of the mine is that it has adopted the use of heavy machinery (trucks and drills) with automated operating systems. In addition, mining exploration is being conducted in the surrounding areas as well, including at Gosselin Mining Lot (Gosselin Zone), which is 1.5 km northeast of the Cote project. If additional amounts of resources can be acquired from these exploration efforts, there are high expectations that this will lead to improving the value of the Cote project.
Sumitomo Metal Mining decided to participate in the Cote project in 2017. The company has a 36.7% interest in the project. Construction work for the project began from 2020.
