But McCluskey saw the potential.
Now with gold around $1,800 an oz., he’s getting ready with the ruby slipper of a $756 million phase-three overhaul to more than double annual output to nearly 300,000 oz. by 2026.
Island is becoming one of Alamos’s most important assets, McCluskey says. After its expansion, it’s set to churn out at least 17 years of production at all-in sustaining costs of less than $600 an ounce.
Island’s Cinderella story mirrors that of Alamos itself, which closed its first acquisition when gold was at $265 per oz. The gold miner has grown from a C5¢ stock with a C$500,000 market value in 2001 to a $4 billion ($2.9bn) company today.
As the world faces decades-high inflation and a looming global recession, McCluskey believes the long-term outlook for gold is strong, even though it’s been “lacklustre” so far.
And with the US dollar bound to lose power as a recession hits the world’s largest economy, McCluskey sees the yellow metal strengthening “quite dramatically.” Just in time for Island to shine.
Check out the full story in The Northern Miner’s “One Project” video.
