A gold mine in Canada's Nunavut territory in the far north, owned by Agnico-Eagle, has produced its first gold bar, the company told AFP on Wednesday.
The bar, weighing 8,134 grams (287 ounces), was poured at the company's Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake on Saturday, spokeswoman Hazel Winchester said.
Commercial production is anticipated for April 2010. Thereafter "we aim to produce about 350,000 ounces per year through 2019," she told AFP.
The Meadowbank property is located in the Kivalliq region, nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) north of the nearest city of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Its proven and probable gold reserves total 3.7 million ounces.
With the suspension of Tahera Diamond Corporation's Jericho mine in 2008 due to financial woes, Meadowbank is now Nunavut's only operating mine.
But the local government is actively seeking new investment in the sector. According to Emily Woods, spokeswoman for Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak, an increasing number of prospectors are visiting the region.
Global warming is expected over the coming decades open up the Arctic to development of vast resources hidden beneath the ice and snow.
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