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