Agnico’s C$57M Radisson stake: O’Brien gold mine access and PEA lens for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Agnico Eagle Mines is investing C$57.2 million in Radisson Mining Resources for a 10.5%–14.9% stake to advance underground access and infrastructure at the historic O’Brien gold mine in Quebec’s Bousquet-Cadillac camp along the Larder Lake-Cadillac Break. Funding will support an access ramp, underground workings, surface facilities and water management, complementing Radisson’s fully funded 140,000-metre surface drilling and a planned 11-year underground operation with toll milling at IAMGOLD’s Doyon plant. A July 2025 PEA at US$3,300/oz gold pegs O’Brien’s after-tax NPV5 at C$871 million with a 74% IRR, underpinned by recent intercepts such as 5.1 m at 316.31 g/t from 823 m.
Technical Brief
- Financing covers first modern underground access at O’Brien, including ramp, workings, surface plant and water management.
- Engineering design and permitting for underground works commence immediately, parallel with surface exploration activities.
- Radisson is running a fully funded 140,000 m surface drilling campaign to refine geometry and continuity.
- Historic O’Brien production totalled 587,000 oz from 1.2 Mt at 15.25 g/t Au between 1926–1957.
- March resource update reports 10.4 Mt inferred at 5.08 g/t (1.69 Moz) plus 3.49 Mt indicated at 5.59 g/t (627 koz).
- High‑grade intercept OB‑26‑385W4 returned 5.1 m at 316.31 g/t from 823 m, including 1 m at 1,603.95 g/t.
- Agnico acquires 53.4 million units at C$1.07, each unit one share plus half‑warrant, implying potential 14.9% stake.
- Agreement grants Agnico board representation, participation rights in future financings and restricts royalties, streams and secured debt until end‑2028.
Our Take
In our database, Agnico Eagle Mines has repeatedly used minority equity positions in Quebec and Canadian gold juniors (e.g. Wallbridge Mining and Cadillac Mines) to secure optionality around high-grade camps, so the Radisson Mining Resources stake fits a pattern of building a pipeline around its LaRonde–Canadian Malartic hub.
The preliminary economic assessment metrics at the O’Brien mine (notably the very high IRR and short payback against a modest initial capital cost) suggest this Abitibi project could be advanced with relatively low financing risk compared with many greenfield gold assets in the 1303 Mining stories we track.
With both gold and gallium appearing in this piece via Agnico and Alcoa, it sits among a small subset of our 427 keyword-matched pieces that combine precious metals with critical or specialty metals, signalling how Canadian jurisdictions like Quebec are simultaneously courting traditional gold investment and newer critical-mineral processing capacity through 2028.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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