Groundbreaking marks start of Lynn Lake gold mine construction

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This article was published 25/03/2025 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Toronto-based Alamos Gold Inc. has turned sod in Lynn Lake for the first new major mine in Manitoba in 15 years.

The $1-billion project, located more than 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg, is expected to employe 600 people during the two-year construction phase and about 400 for the 27 years of planned production.

With gold prices now about $3,000 per ounce, Alamos could not have timed the project better. The mine has been about a decade in development, starting when the price of gold was about one-third of current levels.

Last year, Alamos signed an impact benefit agreement with Marcel Colomb First Nation, the first of its kind in Manitoba between a mining company and a First Nation.

The agreement will allow the small, impoverished First Nation to share revenue and provide training and jobs under a hire-local-first policy anticipated to create significant employment and economic opportunities.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, who attended Tuesday’s ceremonial groundbreaking, said in an interview it is an example of how government can help such plans become reality.

“We learned through the process what we can do as a province to move mines forward, making sure we are supportive of good relations with Indigenous communities and making sure we are willing to do whatever deal-making is necessary to get (a) mine moving forward,” he said.

Among other items, accessing Manitoba Hydro facilities in the Lynn Lake area was expedited quicker than originally estimated.

As was the case with the company’s successful gold mine in Mexico that started more than 20 years ago, “I think we are going to see something similar here in northern Manitoba,” said John McCluskey, CEO of Alamos.

McCluskey said the scale of the Manitoba investment would make it a big deal anywhere in Canada.

“If the federal government could get an American auto firm to invest $1 billion in a new plant in Canada, they would be crowing about it,” he said.

Alamos announced its decision to go ahead with construction in January, with a commitment to spend between $143 million and $171 million in 2025.

The company has about 60 workers currently at the site. It’s in the process of building out the camp, where there will be about 100 people by next spring.

With a population of about 600, the town of Lynn Lake will effectively double in size during construction of the mine, which is expected to be completed in 2028.

“We are all pretty excited in town. You could definitely feel it. At the ceremonies today there was overwhelming excitement and joy. It has been a long time coming,” said Lynn Lake Mayor Brandon Dulewich.

“Most of my friends I grew up with had to move out of their home town to find jobs and better lives for their families,” he said. “Now there will be jobs in the town we were all born and raised. There are people looking at housing, moving back to town. It is exciting to see.”

It’s been more than 30 years since any economic activity has taken place in this corner of the province at the end of Provincial Highway 391 — when mines in both Lynn Lake and Leaf Rapids were shuttered.

With a previous population of about 5,000, more than half of its homes are boarded up and many of the rest are in poor repair. There is no scheduled air service and no cellular phone service.

The Alamos development will definitely change the trajectory of the town’s fortune, officials said Tuesday.

“For the average person in a northern town or First Nation to hear there will be decades of work, that is really a good news story. Seeing hundreds of construction jobs, hundreds of mining jobs created at a time of uncertainty, this is a real bright light for the future,” Kinew said.

The development comes at a time of international trade uncertainties. And while gold is not one of the so-called critical minerals, the development of a new mine can focus attention for other exploration companies.

“This is a big deal for anywhere in Canada. We worked quietly and steadily for the past decade to bring this project forward,” McCluskey said.

Alamos acquired the property about 10 years ago when the price of gold was around $1,100/oz and the market was not very supportive of the deal.

“There were so many skeptics at the time,” said McCluskey. “It has come a long, long way.”

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The company’s geological work increased the size of the gold reserves it will be able to mine — it will be an open pit operation — and it was able to design a much larger project than was originally envisioned, bringing unit costs down.

“It’s huge,” said John Morris, director of the Mining Association of Manitoba. “The Alamos people are fantastic. They’ve worked very hard to collaborate with the First Nation communities.

“When the construction stops, you’ll see the prosperity and opportunities that these projects bring.”

Alamos is one of the country’s leading mid-sized mining companies. In addition to its mine in Mexico, it also operates two in Ontario, producing 567,000 ounces of gold in 2024, with operating revenue of $1.4 billion and profits close to $300 million.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca