Project Development

Project Overview

At the beginning:

  • The Federal EA and Provincial EA were approved in December 2018 and March 2019, respectively, and the Closure Plan was filed in January 2020.
  • An updated 43-101 Technical Report was filed in January 2021
  • The Notice to Construct was filed in February 2021.
  • Three long-term relationship agreements are in place with Indigenous communities and implementation activities are well underway on consultation, business opportunities and training.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Greenstone Project was held on October 27, 2021, marking the culmination of several years of engineering, permitting, and de-risking work to advance the Project to full-scale Construction.

Recent Highlights (at November 10, 2023 unless otherwise noted)

Project

  • Schedule– The Greenstone Project is 96% complete. Pre-commissioning activities are ongoing in most of the main process plant areas, including the crushing and grinding circuits, and wet commissioning is underway in select areas.
  • Budget– The Greenstone Project remains on track for a total spend of $1,225 million. At September 30, 2023, $1,087 million (89%) of the budget had been spent (100% basis).

Construction & Commissioning

  • Facilities completed – The realigned 4.7 km of Highway 11 was opened to traffic in August and the power plant was turned over to the operations team in September, both ahead of plan. The permanent effluent water treatment plant, truck shop, warehouse, sewage treatment plant, potable water treatment plant, pit and plant site fuel stations, reagent storage, site mixed emulsion (explosives) plant and natural gas pipeline to site were previously turned over and are all in operation.
  • Construction progress – All major equipment is now on site and construction is 96% complete. The focus is on remaining electrical and instrumentation installations in the process plant. In October, the tailings storage facility (“TSF”) was completed to planned elevation. Commissioning of the TSF is on track for December 2023.
  • Commissioning– Pre-commissioning activities are ramping up in coordination with final construction activities, with systems checks underway at the crusher, ball mills, ore storage dome and high-pressure grinding rolls (“HPGR”) areas. Wet commissioning has commenced at the leach tanks and in the crusher area.

Mining & Operational Readiness

  • Pre-production mining– The third Epiroc Pit Viper 235 drill has been commissioned. Commissioning of CAT 793F haul trucks 9 and 10 is underway, and haul trucks 11 to 14 and the LeTourneau 1850 loader will be ready for service in early Q1 2024. More than 15 million tonnes of material has been moved to date and build-up of the ore stockpile is ahead of plan and on track to exceed the 800,000 tonnes start-up target.
  • Operational readiness – Operational readiness activities and hiring are progressing in-line with plan. An update on Greenstone 2024 operating costs and production estimates will be reported in connection with the Company’s annual production and cost guidance in Q1 2024.