(Kitco News) – The grade or concentration of a mineral or metal in ore directly affects costs associated with mining as well as its subsequent beneficiation and extraction of precious components.
Kitco ranked currently active gold operations in Canada based on gold grade in a tonne of processed ore reported for Q2 2021. Kitco looked at operations that are separate reporting units and which have gold grade figures disclosed by the owners/operators.
Kirkland Lake Gold’s Macassa mine, located in the Municipality of Kirkland Lake, within Teck Township, District of Timiskaming, in the northeast of the province of Ontario, is the richest gold mine in Canada and one of the richest gold operations worldwide. The company reported an average processed grade of 19.3 g/t gold for Macassa in Q2 2021.
Wesdome Gold’s Eagle River mine, located 50 kilometres due west of Wawa, Ontario, is the second richest gold operation in Canada with 15.1 g/t gold reported in Q2 2021.
SSR Mining’s Seabee, the third highest-grade gold mine in Canada, is located along the Trans-Hudson Corridor in east-central Saskatchewan. Seabee mill feed grade was 13.2 g/t gold during the second quarter of 2021.
Located in the Kitikmeot District of Nunavut, Canada, approximately 125 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay, Hope Bay, which is fourth richest gold mine in Canada with 8.9 g/t gold grade reported in Q2 2021, was acquired by Agnico Eagle in February 2021. Ore is currently being sourced from the high-grade BTD Zone, which shows potential for expansion.
Pretium’s Brucejack mine sits fifth with 8.6 g/t gold grade in Q2 2021. Brucejack is a high-grade gold mine located in northwestern British Columbia, approximately 65 kilometers north of Stewart.
All top 10 richest gold mines in Canada are underground operations. The complete list is below.
Top 10 richest gold mines in Canada in Q2 2021
