Abcourt achieves record underground development progress at Sleeping Giant mine
Canadian miner Abcourt Mines produced 720 oz of gold in the quarter ended June 30, bringing its full-year total to 3628 oz.
The company owns the Sleeping Giant gold mine, in Québec, which achieved a significant 160% increase in ore processing during the reporting quarter, compared with the prior quarter.
The mill processed 11891 t of ore, compared with 7445 t having been processed in the quarter ended March 31.
The month of June marked a historical peak for the year with 5229 t milled, Abcourt explains.
The company also achieved a record 554 m of underground mine development in the last quarter of its financial year, including 215 m of underground development having been done in June alone. This compares to 307 m of underground development having been done in the third quarter.
Abcourt has started with a first long hole stope at the mine, with a drill rig currently operating in the mine for long hole stope extraction.
The average grade for the 2026 financial year was 4.18 g/t and 2.1 g/t in the fourth quarter, with the latter reflecting the processing of lower-grade development zones. This is typical of a transitional expansion phase in underground workings.
The lower grade impacted production in the reporting quarter, but was offset by the increased mill throughput.
Abcourt CEO and president Pascal Hamelin says the fourth quarter demonstrated the success of the company's ramp-up phase at Sleeping Giant. "Despite temporarily lower grades this quarter, owing to mine plan sequencing, mill efficiency and daily throughput have reached new heights. With more than 11 000 m of drilling and 1 052 m of rehabilitated galleries during the last quarter, we laid a solid foundation for the upcoming financial year," he adds.
