KENORA — Orla Mining Ltd. announced on Monday that it has completed its acquisition of the Musselwhite Gold Mine from Newmont Corporation.
Jason Simpson, Orla Mining president and chief executive officer, said the addition of Musselwhite transforms Orla into a North American-centred, geographically diversified intermediate gold producer with multiple gold-producing assets and a self-funded growth portfolio.
"Orla intends to place a strong emphasis on local stakeholders in Northern Ontario," he said in a news release.
"We will maintain all existing relationships and honour all existing contracts with First Nations partners, businesses, suppliers, contractors, and vendors. To the Musselwhite employees, we are thrilled to welcome you to the Orla team and look forward to building upon your foundation of hard work, dedication, and success. We are committed to investing in you and the operation for many years to come and we're excited to hit the ground running."
Simpson added that Musselwhite strengthens Orla's North American presence and more than doubles its annual gold production.
"This important Canadian gold mine also offers growth potential through optimization and mine life extension, something we intend to aggressively pursue," he said.
During the Prosperity Northwest conference, facilitated in January by the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce and the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association, keynote speaker Andrew Cormier, chief operating officer for Orla Mining, called the acquisition a "new entry" into the northwestern region.
"This was a strategic asset for us," he said. "The current mine only has seven years of mine life, but we saw a great geologic resource, which we think is the fundamental asset for any mining operation. You have to have the belief that the mineralization is in the ground."
Cormier noted that Orla Mining saw a "fantastic workforce" at the Musselwhite Mine.
"Visiting the mine confirmed the strength in the relationships they've built in the communities over the long operation that it's had," he said. "Our vision is we want to invest in the north. We're going to be looking at an exploration program to grow the mine life and extend it well beyond the seven years."
He added that once they're able to do that, they'll look at economic investment to increase the capacity of the mine, but to do that, they need to hire more people.
"Prior to the close of the transaction, we were identifying all of the additional positions that we're going to need here in Northwestern Ontario," he said, adding the acquisition of the mine will immediately bring jobs to the region.
"Gold is increasingly seen as a critical asset, fuelling investment, innovation, and job creation in the region."
Located on the shore of Opapimiskan Lake in Northwestern Ontario, Musselwhite is a producing underground mine that has been in operation for over 25 years. To date, the mine has produced nearly six million ounces of gold with a long history of resource growth and conversion.
The planned acquisition was announced in November 2024.
