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Words alone cannot properly describe the geological magnificence of the rich Abitibi Greenstone Belt and the sight of mine after mine along the Golden Highway where communities came into existence because of vast amounts of Gold and copper in the ground.  So we did a helicopter fly-over of part of the Cadillac Trend – from Val-d’Or to about 25 kilometres west of Rouyn-Noranda where Richmont Mines‘ (RIC, TSX) Francoeur Mine is set to go back into commercial production by early next year.  We have put together a few pictures in this posting that help to tell the story of this amazing area.  We’ll share more pictures later in the week.  Enjoy (no need to click on anything, pictures automatically change).

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The old Lamaque shaft at Val-d’Or where guided surface and underground tours are available during the summer at this former producing mine.

Underground production of 45,000 to 50,000 ounces is expected this year from Century Mining’s Lamaque Project where open-pit mining used to take place. Val-d’Or is in the background.

Agnico-Eagle’s Goldex 2 is one of the lowest-cost underground operations in the world. Commercial production started in August, 2008, as Goldex 2 became AEM’s second mine to open in the Abitibi region (followed by Lapa). The plastic “futuristic” dome is for ore storage.

Wesdome Mining’s Kiena Mine Complex at Lac De Montigny west of Val-d’Or.

Richmont Mines’ Camflo Mill in Malartic. It’s a Merrill-Crow conventional type mill with circuits for crushing, grinding, gold cyanidation and precipitation using zinc powder. Currently, the Camflo Mill processes ore from Richmont’s Beaufor Mine but has unused capacity.

The old East Malartic shaft was constructed out of cement during World War 2. A major underground fire in 1947 killed 12 miners. Osisko Mining’s core from Canadian Malartic is stored in the white building.

Osisko Mining’s rapid development of Canadian Malartic was incredible. Full design capacity at Canada’s newest and largest commercial gold mine is 60,000 tonnes per day. The first gold was poured from Canadian Malartic exactly five months ago on April 13.

A grass “wall” helps as a “buffer” between the huge Canadian Malartic open-pit and nearby homes.

The two-kilometre long Canadian Malartic open-pit mine will go to a depth of 380 metres at the end of its projected 16-year run.

The Canadian Malartic Project has nearly 500 workers on site.

Another view of the Canadian Malartic plant. The mine is expected to produce an average of 625,000 ounces of gold per year over the first five years of a projected 16-year mine life.

Another view of the Malartic area.

Agnico-Eagle’s Lapa Project is the company’s highest-grade mine (2.8 million tonnes averaging 7.4 g/t Au). Gold was first poured at Lapa in May, 2009.

Agnico-Eagle’s flagship LaRonde Mine has produced more than 4 million ounces of gold since 1988. The project employs over 700 people with an estimated mine life stretching to 2023. Access to the underground mining operation is through the 2.2-kilometre-deep Penna shaft, believed to be the deepest single-lift shaft in the Western Hemisphere. In 2006, Agnico-Eagle began to construct a deep extension of the mine to access higher-grade ore to a depth of about 3.1 kilometres and extend the life of the operation.

Production at IAMGOLD’s Westwood Project, 40 kilometres east of Rouyn-Noranda, is expected to commence in early 2013 at an annual rate of approximately 186,000 ounces.

A close-up view of IAMGOLD’s Westwood shaft.

Doyon was Canada’s largest open-pit mine in the early 1980’s.

The old Mic Mac Mine was built out of cement around the same time as East Malartic and started production during World War 2.

Drill pads at Aurizon’s Joanna Project, 20 kilometres east of Rouyn-Noranda.

View of Pit #1 West and site infrastructure including core shack at Gold Bullion Development’s Granada Project.

A view of Granada from part of the LONG Bars Zone Eastern Extension.

Drilling under the waste pile at Granada as GBB moves closer to a NI-43-101 initial resource estimate.

Part of the Wasamac area, immediately off the main highway approximately 15 kilometres west of Rouyn-Noranda. Richmont Mines’ growing Wasamac deposit is one of the most exciting and important exploration plays along the Cadillac Trend with Visible Gold Mines enjoying early exploration success at its nearby Wasa Creek and Wasa East properties.

Commercial production at Richmont’s Francoeur Mine, less than 10 kilometres west of Wasamac, is expected to commence during the first quarter of 2012.

Rouyn-Noranda, with a population of approximately 40,000, owes its existence to the mining industry. The Horne Smelter, site of the famous past producing Horne Mine which built Noranda Mines, is in the background.

John, BMR’s TA guru, racing down the Golden Highway (just kidding).

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