Page 99 LaRonde has been in operation since 1988 and currently has over 700 employees. T o the present, over four mil lion ounces of gold have been extracted from this site. It now goes down 3,100 metres under ground. About 10 kilome - tres from LaRonde, there is the Lapa Mine. It has been in de - velopment mode for the last two years. It is considered eventually to be a high grade operation. At the entran ce of V al-d’Or , Gol - dex is anothe r under ground mine whose develo pment had to be re - viewed because of a risk of col - lapse of the drifts at the main site. After several months of analyses, AgnicoEagle chose to develop satellite sites. Richmont Mines Inc. experienced a diffcult period at the end of 2012. It had to stop the develop - ment of Francoeur Mine in Arn - tfeld, and postpone to a later date the W asamac project. However , it continues to operate the Camfo ore processing plant. In addition, it operates the Beau - for Mine which has had several lives thanks to the compan y’ s ex - ploration program. The next major project in the mining region of Abitibi-Te - miscamingue will be the Royal Nickel Corp’ s Dumont project in Launay . This open pit mine will require an investment of $1.4 bil - lion. The feasibility study tabled in 201 1 foresaw a production of 96 mil lion pounds of nickel over 19 years, with development begin - ning in 2015. A bit farther away from Launay , in La Corne, the Canada Lithium Company has started to develop its Quebec Lithium Mine. In Novem - ber 2012, the company , which has over 150 em - ployees, an - nounced the signing of a contract with a Chinese frm, T ewoo- ERDC, to supply it with the lithium carbonate it will produce in the next fve years. The Horne Smelter , symbol of the birth of Rouyn- Noranda and now owned by Xstrata, continues to m oderni ze to expand its activities. The closing of Xstra - ta’ s Kid Creek smelter complex in T immins in 2009 allowed the Horne Smelter to secure its future with a more dependable supply of copper . The electronic s recycling business remains a mainstay that the Horne Smelter would like to see grow . It plans a majo r investment to an - chor its position in this feld of ac - tivity . & BUILDINGS W orkforce Housing . Camps & Hotel Complexes Dormitories . Sanitar y units . Kitchens & Cafeterias Recrea tional zones . Offce spaces and more... 1-866-948-6161 | www .laprise .ca MODULAR C AMPS Custom Design Manufacturing Deliver y Installation RBQ: 8340-3220-01 Cont’d from pg. 98 Y our passport to export FEA TURE Northwestern Quebec mines come in clusters Page 98 In rece nt years, the wave of explo - ration that has given wings to the Abitibi-Temiscamingue Region has attracted a great of inte rest and development. The result has been to return the region to the forefront of the Que - bec mining industry . A mine that has made the headlines regularly is the Canadian Malartic operation of the Osisko Mining Corporation. In the fall of 2012, the government authorizat ion for an exceptional 34 second blast focused the attention of many on this mine situated on the edge of Malartic. However , whether there are people in favour or against Ca - nadian Malartic, data does not lie: over a billion dollars were invested to build the mine , not to mention the investments put into the com - munity by the company . Also,the original townsite was moved at the company’ s expense. Each year , for its projecte d lifes - pan of 12 years, the mine will ex - tract 600 000 ounces of gold. Aurizon Mines Ltd. is also among the companie s that have been the focus of atten tion in 2013. Alamos Gold announced a hostile takeover bid to buy back the compan y but it was turned down. Finally , a sale was negotiat ed with another company , Hecla Min - ing, which, if there are no de - lays, should be offcially accepted sometime before the end of 2013’ s second quarter . Aurizon has a gold mine, Casa Berardi, 90 kilometres north of La Sarre. Early in August 201 1, the company decided to push back its feasibility study on the Joanna project, situated between Rouyn- Noranda and V al-d’Or . If the latter ever is started up, its resources are estimated at 2.3 million ounces of gold. 2013 is the year that marks the offcial production start up of the W estwood Mine of Iamgold. Sit - ting on the Cadillac Fault, this mine was built from the workings of the former Doyon Mine, 1.1 kilometres from the W estwood Mine. During its 16 year lifespan, W est - wood will produce 186 000 ounces of gold each year . AgnicoEagle has three mines in a 70 kilometre stretch along the Ca - dillac Fault: LaRonde, Lapa and Goldex. Cont’d on pg. 99 FEA TURE MANY MINES now contributing to BOOM IN ABITIBI-TEMISCAMINGUE