Kirkland Lake Gold produced a record amount of gold before it merged with Agnico Eagle.

Kirkland Lake Gold ended its last quarter with a high profile before its merger with Agnico Eagle Mines-its three businesses produced a record 380470 ounces of gold.

The gold miner's output also hit a record high of 1.4 million ounces this year. The latest guidelines, released in November, require gold production of between 1.35 million and 1.4 million ounces in 2021.

The positive results were driven by Kirkland's Lake's record production at the Detour Lake gold mine in Ontario and its strong performance at the Fosterville mine in Australia. The Detour Lake gold mine produced nearly 211000 ounces of gold (an increase of 38 per cent over the last quarter of 2020) as mining encountered some of the highest grade areas in the mine plan and production benefited from mill improvements completed during the year.

Fosterville contributed 108160 ounces of gold in the quarter; although production was lower than in 2020, the business beat expectations. The mine delivers 509600 ounces of gold throughout the year at a higher grade (677899 tons, with an average grade of 23.7g / tonne), while the guidance is 400000 to 425000 ounces.

The company delivered 210190 ounces of gold at its Macassa mine in Ontario for the year and 61340 ounces in the quarter, an increase of 17 percent over the same period in 2020. The mine's production guidance was cut to 190000 to 210000 ounces in November, below 220000 to 250000 ounces.

Kirkland Lake CEO Tony Makuch (, who will also lead the combined company, points out that both, Detour Lake and Fosterville are capable of meeting the three-year production guidance to be issued in December 2020. However, Macassa production is expected to decline.

At Macassa, we are reviewing operations to assess opportunities to integrate Agnico Eagle's Amalgamated Kirkland area into mining plans, to address ongoing performance and supply chain issues related to batteries and our battery-powered transport fleet, and to assess future plans for near-surface slopes and mineralized areas, "Makuch said in a press release. Based on our work to date, we expect production in 2022 to be lower than in our previous three-year guidance. "

The three-year guidance released at the end of 2020 expects total production of all three operations to increase from 13 to 1.45 million ounces in 2022 to 14 to 1.55 million ounces in 2023. The latest guidance figures and the consolidated budget will be released in late February, after the end of the merger with Agnico (expected from the end of January to mid-February).

Makuch also noted that as the Omicron variant continues to spread rapidly, the company is dealing with workforce reductions in all its businesses as a result of covid-19. However, he said it was too early to know whether such interference would have any impact on production.

The company completed the sinking of Shaft 4 at a depth of 6400 feet in Macassa this month. Additional work, including the construction of loading bags and other infrastructure development, as well as the connection of shafts to current operations, will be completed by the end of this year.

Kirkland Lake successfully expanded the resources of Lake Detour last year and carried out exploration in Fosterville.