Agnico buys Quebec gold junior stake for $57M

Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX, NYSE: AEM) is investing $57.2 million (US$41.4 million) in Radisson Mining Resources (TSXV: RDS; US-OTC: RMRDF) to help revive one of the Abitibi region’s highest grade historical mines, O’Brien. The junior’s shares soared to an all-time high.

The Canadian gold major will buy 53.4 million units — one Radisson share and half of a share purchase warrant — at $1.07 each, a 6% premium to Friday’s closing price, Radisson said Monday. The investment will give Agnico a 10.5% stake on a non-diluted basis and up to 14.9% on a partially diluted basis if warrants are exercised.

“The advanced underground exploration program that will now commence is designed to extend our understanding of potential mining conditions at O’Brien,” Radisson president and CEO Matt Manson said in a release. “This investment by Agnico Eagle will fund the first modern underground access at O’Brien, which will assist us in developing the project’s full potential.”

The backing expands Agnico’s footprint in Quebec’s Abitibi region, where it already operates the LaRonde, Canadian Malartic and Goldex mines as Canada’s largest gold producer by output and market capitalization. The O’Brien mine produced 587,000 oz. of gold from 1.2 million tonnes grading 15.25 grams gold per tonne from 1926 to 1957.

Shares in Radisson Mining rocketed 21% to $1.24 apiece in Toronto on Monday morning, valuing the company at $557 million. They’ve traded as low as 53¢ over the past year.

 

Underground

The financing will fund an access ramp, underground workings, surface infrastructure and water management facilities at the site in the Bousquet-Cadillac mining camp along the Larder Lake-Cadillac Break 470 km northwest of Montreal. Engineering and permitting will begin immediately, while Radisson continues its fully funded 140,000-metre surface drill campaign.

The agreement also gives Agnico board representation and participation rights in future financings, while restricting certain property transactions, royalties, streams and secured financings through the end of 2028.

Radisson is planning the project as an 11-year underground mine with a $175-million initial capital cost and toll milling at nearby Doyon, according to a July 2025 preliminary economic assessment. Using a gold price of US$3,300 an oz., the study gave O’Brien an after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate of $871 million with a 74% internal rate of return and a one-year payback.

No. 1 core

The project retuned the top gold assay globally during the June 17-July 15 period this year. Drill hole OB-26-385W4 cut 5.1 metres grading 316.31 grams gold per tonne from 823 metres downhole for a width x grade value of 1,613. The interval included 1 metre at 1,603.95 grams gold, the highest assay reported from the historic mine.

The result followed a March resource update that increased inferred contained metal by 82% to 1.69 million oz. gold in 10.4 million tonnes grading 5.08 grams gold. It also has 3.49 million tonnes grading 5.59 grams gold for 627,000 ounces.