In Canada, Agnico-Eagle enjoys political stability, mining-friendly governments and a low-cost structure. It is here that we have honed our ability to discover additional gold reserves and mine deep and complex ores efficiently. Our 1,000-strong workforce in Quebec is second to none, with many employees having been with the company since mining operations began.

Agnico-Eagle owns a long chain of properties in the gold-rich Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, which we are exploring and developing. At LaRonde, we have continued to mine the world-class orebody since initial production began in 1988. In 2006, we commenced construction of a deep extension that will lengthen the life of the LaRonde operation. Over the next year and a half, we intend to add low-cost production from the new Goldex and Lapa mines, situated within 50 kilometres of LaRonde.

In 2007, we expanded our Canadian presence with the acquisition of the Meadowbank project in Nunavut. Meadowbank gives us substantial and growing gold reserves and additional near-term gold production. Over the long term, we currently expect that as much as 75% of our gold production will be in Canada.

“I could not be more proud of our technical and operating teams. At the current operations, cost control has been excellent, as has been progress on the development projects. This success has been in spite of intense cost pressure industry-wide. Even after 23 years with Agnico-Eagle, I find reason to smile every day.”