Thunder Bay ON – MINING NEWS – McEwen Inc. says construction of its new underground Stock Mine at the Fox Complex is nearing completion, with production scheduled to begin in December and commercial production expected in the first half of 2027.
The Toronto-based miner reported late Monday that it spent US$12.2 million on underground development at Stock during the third quarter. Total investment in the mine had reached US$73.7 million by Sept. 30, the company said.
McEwen said the work remained on time and within budget. Based on the current mineral resource estimate, the company believes Stock can operate for about 8.5 years. Definition drilling has resumed to improve confidence in the areas that are next in the mining sequence.
Stock is meant to replace production as the nearby Froome Mine approaches the end of its life in spring 2027. Both mines feed McEwen’s existing mill in the Timmins area, allowing the company to phase in new ore without building a separate processing plant.
McEwen expects Stock ore to cost less to produce than current Fox Complex output because it carries a lower royalty burden, travels a shorter distance to the mill and is softer to process. Those are company forecasts, and actual costs will depend on the mine’s ramp-up and grade performance.
The transition comes after a difficult quarter at Fox. The operation produced 4,427 gold-equivalent ounces, down from 6,386 in the same quarter a year earlier. Cash costs rose to US$2,911 per gold-equivalent ounce from US$2,132, while all-in sustaining costs increased to US$3,725 from US$2,352.
McEwen attributed much of the increase to completing the remaining underground development and drilling needed at Froome, along with processing low-grade stockpiled material. The company estimated those decisions added about US$780 and US$150 per gold-equivalent ounce, respectively, to third-quarter costs.
The company said October cash costs and all-in sustaining costs at Fox were expected to fall to US$2,531 and US$2,618 per gold-equivalent ounce. Those October figures were estimates disclosed by management, not audited quarterly results.
For 2026, McEwen maintained Fox Complex guidance of 20,000 to 23,000 gold-equivalent ounces. It also kept all-in sustaining cost guidance at US$2,650 to US$2,850 per gold-equivalent ounce.
McEwen recorded a company-wide third-quarter net loss of US$36.7 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with a loss of US$500,000, or one cent per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 14 per cent to US$43.6 million as the number of gold-equivalent ounces sold declined, partly offset by a higher realized metal price.
For Timmins and the wider Northern Ontario mining service sector, the immediate test is whether Stock moves from development into steady production on the announced schedule. A successful handoff from Froome would help preserve use of the existing mill and local operating activity while McEwen advances Grey Fox, a separate project the company says could begin production in 2029.
McEwen is scheduled to discuss the results on a conference call at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday. The December production target and the pace of the Stock ramp-up remain forward-looking and should be checked against any update given on that call.
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| META | McEwen says its new Stock Mine near Timmins is nearing completion, with production scheduled to begin in December. |
