The American mining company Newmont has just sold the Éléonore mine, located in northern Quebec, to the British company Dhilmar for US$795 million.
The American company estimates that this agreement, combined with other sales announced during the year, will bring it $3.6 billion.
The Éléonore mine was put up for sale by Newmont last February. The mining company then set itself the goal of generating more than $2 billion through the sale of assets following its acquisition of Newcrest last year.
The deposit, discovered in 2004 by Quebecer André Gaumont, is located more than 300 km north of Matagami, in the heart of James Bay.
Goldcorp acquired it in 2006, then construction of the mining complex began after signing an agreement with the Crees in 2011.
The mine, which required investments of more than US$2 billion to reach the operating stage, finally gave rise to a first pour of gold in April 2015.
At the time, annual production of 500,000 to 600,000 ounces of gold was anticipated, and Goldcorp expected to make new discoveries in the territory and possibly extend the mine’s operating life.
Newmont became the owner of Éléonore a few years later, when it partnered with Goldcorp in April 2019.
A few years later, the dream slowly gave way to disillusionment, and it is clear that the mine did not keep its promises, which saw its reserves fall by 1.7 million ounces in February 2020.
The site’s new owner, Dhilmar, is a new UK-based private mining company led by Indonesian businessman Alexander Ramlie.
