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    Eldorado’s McIlvenna Bay first copper concentrate: ramp-up and design notes for mine engineers

    June 9, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    Eldorado’s McIlvenna Bay first copper concentrate: ramp-up and design notes for mine engineers

    First reported on MINING.com

    30 Second Briefing

    Eldorado Gold’s McIlvenna Bay underground mine in Saskatchewan has produced first copper concentrate after completing wet commissioning of its processing plant, and is ramping toward nameplate capacity of 4,900 tonnes per day with commercial production targeted for Q3 2026. The volcanogenic massive sulphide operation, valued at about C$1.24 billion and acquired via Foran Mining, is designed to average 41 million lb copper, 54 million lb zinc, 20,000 oz gold and 444,000 oz silver annually over an 18-year mine life. Near-term work centres on optimising the flotation circuit, reagent regimes and completing the paste plant and underground backfill infrastructure.

    Technical Brief

    • McIlvenna Bay lies 65 km west of Flin Flon and ~480 km north of Regina in the Flin Flon greenstone belt.
    • The volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit is described as one of Saskatchewan’s largest undeveloped VMS systems.
    • Eldorado acquired McIlvenna Bay and associated assets through its April takeover of Foran Mining.
    • Together with Skouries in Greece, McIlvenna Bay is positioned as a core copper growth pillar in Eldorado’s portfolio.

    Our Take

    The earlier C$3.8 billion acquisition of Foran Mining, which brought McIlvenna Bay and the Tesla Zone into Eldorado’s portfolio, effectively locked up a large VMS land package in the Flin Flon greenstone belt; this likely limits near‑term district-scale competition for copper‑zinc tonnes in Saskatchewan and adjacent Manitoba.

    The planned C$17 million‑scale exploration spend across McIlvenna Bay, the Tesla Zone and Bigstone this year suggests Eldorado is targeting a hub‑and‑spoke scenario similar to its Lamaque gold complex in Quebec, where our coverage shows it has already demonstrated an ability to bolt on satellite feed to a central plant.

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    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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