Newmont Gets C$1.75 Million from Quebec for Futuristic Gold Mine

Newmont Goldcorp (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM) has received C$1.75 million from the government of Quebec to fund a C$3.5 million project that will connect the Éléonore mine, located in Quebec, to a high-speed network.

The project, which is being touted as Quebec’s first interconnected “mine of the future,” will be delivered by non-profit organization Eeyou Communications Network (ECN). It involves 124 kilometers of fiber-optic cable that will be laid from the Eastmain 1A link to the mine site.

“With this technology backbone in place, new sustainable and responsible mining developments can consolidate the leadership role Quebec plays in Canada’s mining sector and beyond,” said Sophie Bergeron, general manager at the Éléonore asset.

The gold major hopes to have the new high-speed connection up and running by next year.

Quebec Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Julien, who is also responsible for the Côte-Nord region, strongly supports the project, as he believes that moving forward with the connection will allow the mining sector to enter into a new era with an interconnected mine of the future.

“Today’s funding will contribute to the Éléonore mine’s competitiveness in the future: access to a reliable and high-performance telecommunications network is fundamental for the industry to modernize,” Julien noted.

The Éléonore asset is one of the largest gold mines in Quebec, located in a remote corner of the Northern Quebec region, with a milling and processing capacity of 7,000 tonnes a day.

The asset had its first gold pour on October 1, 2014, and reached commercial production on April 1, 2015. In 2017, the mine produced 305,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of C$1,095.

Newmont Goldcorp plans to bring the mine to its full production capacity by increasing output by 20 percent before the end of 2021.

Bergeron noted that the announcement of funding is a step in achieving that 2021 goal and also is an “opportunity to highlight the merger of Newmont and Goldcorp.”

As of 10:25 a.m. EDT on Thursday (May 23), Newmont Goldcorp had climbed 1.52 percent to trade at C$42.75.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Nicole Rashotte, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.