Can you present IAMGOLD’s assets in Québec, particularly Westwood achieving its highest quarter of production since mining restarted in 2021?

Westwood is part of IAMGOLD’s aspiration to be a leading Canadian-focused gold producer with a modern multi-asset portfolio. Recently, all eyes were on our Côté Gold asset in Ontario, which has progressed extremely well and is positioned to be the third largest mine in Canada, but not to underestimate the work the company has done in Québec at our producing Westwood asset and our Nelligan exploration project. We have consolidated the Nelligan project, and we intend to continue growing this deposit as we see it as an opportunity to build a second good pipeline. 

Westwood is an extremely successful turnaround story where we restarted mining in 2021 with a different technical approach than what was taken in the past. We still have seismicity in the mine, but our revised methods of control and dispersion of energy have allowed us to continue and successfully mine underground. Although we are still in the process of bringing back all the high-grade zones from the past, we have already successfully brought back eight mining zones and turned Westwood into a positive cash flow producer as of Q4 2023. We have now proven the effectiveness of the new mining method to control seismicity, and in 2024 we plan to continue to ramp up the underground mine to its full capacity towards further profitability. By 2025/2026, our goal is to see the underground operation return to full high-grade production while still having excess capacity at the mill, which allows for further opportunities as we continue to mine in the district.

What is Westwood’s guidance for 2024, and are you leveraging any new technologies to achieve operational improvements? 

The full-year guidance at Westwood is between 100,000 and 120,000 oz Au, and Q1 performance has positioned us well to achieve this target. In the medium to long term, we see the Westwood underground capable of being a 120,000 to 140,000-oz/y mine, and eventually, we are going to replace the ounces from the open satellite mine with more ounces from the underground mine. 

We benefit from access to less expensive and clean hydropower in Québec, allowing for a great opportunity to introduce electric equipment in our underground mine to decrease our carbon footprint. A reality with Westwood is that it comes with an environmental liability from past operations, and as we turn the mine into a positive cash flow, our vision is to return a portion of that cash into a progressive environmental reclamation program. IAMGOLD also has the strategy to move towards 100% recycled water use at Westwood.

What are the catalysts ahead at Nelligan? 

Getting more from your assets is critical for value creation for stakeholders, and Côté Gold currently represents the biggest organic growth opportunity for IAMGOLD. As we unlock the potential of Côté Gold, we are thinking of growing our pipeline, and this is where Nelligan will play an important part as the property is in a great mining jurisdiction and we believe it has the potential to be in the range of 10 million ounces. The first step was to consolidate the Nelligan deposit with the acquisitions of Vanstar Resources, and with the benefit of flow-through programs in Québec, we plan to aggressively drill in the Chibougamau camp in 2024 and 2025 to drive further resource growth in what is Canada’s best mining regions.

How will gold producers navigate opportunities and challenges in 2024?

We are currently in an environment where gold producers in Canada have the rare opportunity to combine a very high gold price with a currency that plays in your favor. If you seize this opportunity one can deliver strong margins to investors, but one must be careful to not fall into the trap of growing ounces at all costs by mining lower grade gold material and thereby reducing these margins. The higher gold price allows for mining lower-grade stockpiles, and IAMGOLD is extremely well positioned to take advantage of the current opportunity and deliver a higher margin, but gold explorers should be careful that their studies are not based only on these high prices and margins, and must evaluate if a project will still be economic at a lower gold price. 

What are the key priorities for IAMGOLD in 2024 and beyond? 

IAMGOLD will continue to unlock maximum value at Côté Gold, and I believe we will be poised with incredible organic growth over the next few years.