Overview
Agnico Eagle Mines Limited shares fell in premarket trading on Thursday after the company revised down its 2026 gold production outlook following an engineered response to a rock mass movement at its Quebec operations.
What happened
On July 1, 2026, a rock mass movement occurred along the north wall of the Barnat open pit at the Canadian Malartic complex in Quebec. In response, Agnico Eagle temporarily suspended in-pit mining at Barnat as a precaution. The company reported that there were no injuries, no equipment damage and no environmental impact from the event.
Geotechnical context and monitoring
The movement took place in an area previously identified by the company as having weaker geological structures. That area had been under enhanced geotechnical monitoring consistent with established mine planning and safety protocols. Agnico Eagle emphasized that the site had been subject to heightened observation prior to the event.
Production impact and guidance
Agnico Eagle expects the incident to decrease production in the second half of 2026 at Canadian Malartic by approximately 60,000 to 80,000 ounces of gold. As a result, the company now expects full-year 2026 production to be near the lower end of its previously disclosed guidance range of 3.3 million to 3.5 million ounces of gold.
The second quarter of 2026 was not affected by the event; the company anticipates roughly 845,000 ounces of gold for the quarter, which it said is slightly ahead of plan. While in-pit mining is suspended at Barnat, the Canadian Malartic processing plant will be fed with low-grade ore from existing stockpiles to maintain throughput.
Medium-term outlook
The Barnat open pit had been scheduled to be mined out by early 2029. Agnico Eagle currently expects the event to reduce production in both 2027 and 2028 by up to approximately 150,000 ounces of gold per year.
The company said the rock mass movement will not affect the development or production outlook for the Odyssey mine and that it does not alter the pathway to reaching annual production of 1 million ounces of gold from the Canadian Malartic complex in the early 2030s.
Next updates
Agnico Eagle plans to provide additional updates to production and cost guidance when it reports second-quarter 2026 results on July 29, 2026.