Canadian mining company Iamgold is optimistic that its newly established Côté mine may herald the beginning of a new mining district, as exploration results indicate the potential connection between the Côté and Gosselin zones.

In an update on Tuesday, Iamgold highlighted promising drilling results for the Gosselin zone, which lies immediately adjacent to the north-east of the Côté zone. These results suggest significant mineralisation extensions that could enhance the project's overall value.

In the third quarter of 2024, Iamgold reported Côté gold production of 68 000 oz on a 100% basis, of which 41 000 oz were attributable to the company. The processing plant ramp-up remains on schedule, with the aim being to achieve 90% of its design throughput rate of 36 000 t/d by year-end.

Mining activity for the quarter totalled 10.4-million tonnes, reflecting an improved strip ratio of 2.3:1, and total ore mined reached 3.2-million tonnes. Mill throughput increased to 1.6-million tonnes, nearly double the rate in the previous quarter.

Notably, a record daily throughput of 40 900 t was achieved following a scheduled shutdown in September, during which key optimisations were implemented to enhance the processing plant's performance.

Following the adjustments made in the third quarter, the processing rate has continued to improve, averaging 30 000 t/d since October 2, equating to about 83% of the plant's nameplate design.

Meanwhile, recent diamond drilling has successfully outlined extensions of the Gosselin zone beyond the December 31, 2023 resource pit shell.

Significant intersections have been reported, including 368.8 m at 0.96 g/t gold in drill hole GOS23-151 from 221.2 m, 235 m at 2.70 g/t gold in drill hole GOS24-160 from 697 m and 357 m at 1.10 g/t gold in drill hole GOS24-166 from 864 m.

Iamgold CEO Renaud Adams commended the Côté team for their commitment to safety and operational excellence. "We are seeing definitive signs that the improvements deployed throughout the quarter and during the shutdown in September, are having a measurable and meaningful positive impact on operations," he stated.

Adams highlighted the focus on optimising the crushing circuit and enhancing processing capacity to support the vision of a larger Côté gold operation.

“Our goal remains clear,” he added. “We are focused on ramping up Côté to achieve 90% of throughput by the end of this year and to reach nameplate capacity in 2025.”

On the Gosselin exploration results, he commented that it reinforced Iamgold’s belief that Côté was “just the start of what will be a mining district”.

“The exploration results today from Gosselin continue to demonstrate the potential for the Côté and Gosselin zones to connect, in addition to highlighting that the overall size and scope of these zones have yet to be defined – as both Côté and Gosselin remain open at depth in all directions.”