Lapa Shaft (Rivière-Héva)

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This the Lapa shaft house and hoist room which includes the refurbished former LaRonde Shaft #1 headframe and shafthouse. In July 2004, Agnico Eagle initiated the sinking of an 825-metre deep shaft at the Lapa property. In April 2006, 2,800 tonnes of ore development was extracted at Lapa and was estimated to contain on average 10.65 grams of gold per tonne. These results and results from other sampling methods were incorporated into a feasibility study and in June 2006, the Company accelerated construction of the Lapa Mine. This construction included extending the shaft to a depth of 1,369 metres, which was completed in October 2007. The dialmeter of the shaft is 4.9 metres and includes a double-duty production hoist, a manway or auxiliary hoist for man travel, and a large ventilation duct.

Two underground mining methods are used at the Lapa Mine: longitudinal retreat with cemented backfill and locally transverse open stoping with cemented backfill. Sublevels are driven at 30-metre vertical intervals. Stopes are mined in 12-metre sections and backfilled with 100% cemented rock fill. Excavated ore from the Lapa site is trucked via provincial highway to the processing facility at the LaRonde Mine.