Argonaut closes $17.5M flow-through deal to advance Minago to first pour

Argonaut Gold (TSX:AR) closed its previously announced private placement of flow-through shares, raising $17.5 million to advance the Minago gold mine toward its first gold pour in the second half of May 2023. The project is located 40 km northeast of the town of Wawa, Ont.

The company issued approximately 6.6 million flow-through common shares to a syndicate of underwriters led by Scotiabank and Cormark Securities. The deal is subject to final approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The historic Magino mine was mined intermittently since the mid-1920s, producing a total of 114,319 oz. of gold from 803,135 tonnes of ore that graded 4.43 g/t gold. The project is expected to reach commercial production by the end of this year.

Earlier this year, Argonaut upgraded the Magino resources to 132.4 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.94 g/t gold for over 4.0 million contained ounces. The inferred resource is 20.9 million tonnes at 0.78 g/t gold for 526,000 contained ounces. Proven and probable reserves stand at 65.5 million tonnes grading 1.15 g/t gold for 2.4 million contained ounces.

The open pit mine will be a conventional truck and shovel operation at a rate of 10,000 t/d with an average head grade of 1.15 g/t gold. The mill will feature two stages of crushing followed by a semi-autogenous (SAG) mill and ball milling. Ground material will pass through a gravity circuit, followed by leaching, carbon-in-pulp recovery, and the gold and silver content eventually recovered by electrowinning. Gold doré will be smelted from the electrowinning sludge. Total pre-production capital costs were estimated at $980 million.

Argonaut also operates the Florida Canyon gold mine in Nevada as well as the El Castillo, San Agustin, and La Colorada gold mines in Mexico. Visit www.ArgonautGold.com.